Excerpt
“Once you have determined what data is important to the business determine how to clean and protect it.”
The importance of data quality
As we think about the world we live in today and the various applications we use to drive our business-related decisions, what does it mean to have good data and why is it so important? No matter which application you are using—including everyone’s favorite, CRM—good data could mean the difference between being profitable and muddling through to complete failure.
It seems like a stark statement, but we’ve seen how bad customer data affects client interactions, how bad opportunity data affects pipeline forecasting, and how bad prospect data affects both Sales and Marketing efforts and outreach. Everyone continually looks for a CRM’s ROI, but a CRM is only as good as the data being put into it. CRM ROI can only be achieved if the data that’s contained within it is good enough to produce quantifiable metrics.
Let’s think about this in terms of work effort. Bearing in mind that time equates to real dollars in staff cost; how much time and effort does it take a sales representative to contact a prospective client if there is no email or phone number or if there are duplicate contacts with differing information? How much time does it take a marketing team member to derive good target lists if email addresses are incomplete and prospect title, industry and other segmentation metrics are missing? How can a customer service team member respond quickly, efficiently, and give the optimal client experience if they do not know what the person has purchased, the contracts they have signed or the product maintenance they are entitled to? We could easily come up with many more examples.
From experience I have seen many instances of these issues, and each inevitably costs a business not only the expense of time wasted, but additional revenue that could possibly be obtained by having better customer and prospect data.
So how can you assess the quality of your data and how much it’s really costing you? You should ask the following questions:
1. Can we obtain the metrics we need to run our business?
2. Can we trust the data used to create those metrics?
3. How up-to-date is our data, and what are its sources?
4. Do we have processes and rules in place to ensure data quality?
5. Do we have multiple disconnected systems that have some or all of the same information?
6. Do we have someone that understands our data model, information flows and manages them effectively?
7. How automated is our reporting, and how long does it take us to create manual reports and dashboards without automation?
Chances are that if you answered NO to any of these questions your data is costing you more than you think. In the simplest of calculations, it’s the amount of time * employee rate * number of non-value tasks undertaken. More specifically, it’s the missed opportunities, poor decisions made, and time diverted from value-added tasks to support your bad data; aka the opportunity cost of bad information that is destroying your profitability.
So, how can you rectify the situation?
1. Start by knowing what data is important to your business. This will be different based on user, role and department, so each unit of the business should be a part of this exercise.
2. Once you have determined what data is important to the business determine how to clean and protect it.
3. Work to establish an authoritative master source of data and determine in which system that data “lives”. If data needs to be shared between multiple systems, then determine the best way of automatically sharing that information with those other systems and controlling additional edits and inputs within those applications.
4. Work to integrate systems and strive to create a single platform solution. In the end it will help you save time and money, help with control and make training and adoption easier.
5. Create processes and create ownership that help maintain good data. Keeping your data clean, actionable, and relevant is an ongoing task. Most businesses believe that cleaning and maintaining data is a one-and-done operation; it’s not.
6. Review your data needs, quality and processes on a regular basis to make sure you are always going in the right direction.
7. Invest in, or work with someone that understands data, your business and the systems you use. This investment will pay for itself simply but cutting down on the amount of time you spend on manual non-value add tasks you perform every day.
If you undertake these steps and understand why they are important; you’ll be able to find the ROI you are looking for. If you’re looking to get more insight into your data, your CRM and how to get the most out of your investment; please contact your partners at MyCRM Support Desk.
212-253-2428
info@mycrmsupportdesk.com
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