In the age of the customer, the old rules and standards of database marketing will be the downfall of traditional retailers. While financial services, travel, and a handful of cutting-edge merchants forge ahead with building evolved Customer Intelligence capabilities, most retailers are taking a wait-and-see approach. But to stay ahead of the pack and remain relevant, retailers must develop operational excellence in five critical CI competencies: 1) a consolidated view of the customer; 2) one-to-one targeting; 3) lifecycle management; 4) campaign management, and 5) analytics and insight.