3 ways to show your data some love

Our report shows that 85% of businesses believe that having inaccurate contact data has a negative impact on their processes and efficiency. In turn making it difficult for them to be responsive and make accurate business decisions.

In this blog, we’ll explore 3 key steps your business can take to show your data some love, ensuring optimum Data Quality today and into the future.

1. Prioritise your data quality strategy

The first step in taking care of your data is to establish a comprehensive strategy for maintaining and utilising data within your organisation. To do this you need to establish your data objectives along with a sustainable Data Quality management plan that involves the necessary tools, processes, and techniques.

After outlining the strategy it’s vital that everyone within the business understands the value of Data Quality and is bought into the strategy. Without an effective plan and employee buy in businesses expose themselves to risks including:

• Wasted Time: Errors such as duplicated and outdated data will result in excessive costs, diminished productivity, and harm to a brand’s reputation.
• Missed Opportunities: Mistakes in formats or inaccurate entries may divert potential opportunities to competitors with superior Data Quality strategy.
• Compliance Issues: Poor data practices not only higher the risk of security issues but also neglect compliance with the latest data regulations.
• Poor Customer Experience: Inaccurate data adversely affects customer experience, hindering the ability to analyse consumer behaviour, consumption patterns, and purchase history.
• Unreliable Decision-Making: Unreliable data hampers the ability to make precise and informed decisions, jeopardising businesses to achieve their goals.

A clear data strategy enables businesses to collect and manage high quality data from beginning to end. Whilst getting buy in from all stakeholders within the business ensures everyone has a role to play in your company’s data strategy and will attribute to accurate decision making, regulatory compliance and high customer satisfaction.

2. Invest in real-time data validation

It’s essential to show your data some love at the point of capture. We all know putting inaccurate data into your CRM, POS or ERP system only causes more problems further down the line. Real-time validation technology ensures only up-to-date and accurate data enters your business.

Validating customer data in real-time offers benefits such as:

• Successful Email Campaigns: Email Validation ensures the validity of email addresses, reducing the likelihood of bounced emails.
• Accurate Mail Delivery: Address Validation scans for formatting errors, mismatched city and postal code data, and potential spelling errors, ensuring successful mail delivery.
• Effective Communication: Phone Validation verifies whether a number is active and can receive calls, increasing the likelihood of successful responses for direct calls or text message campaigns.

By implementing Experian’s real-time Data Validation tool, Comic Relief, has saved time and money on wasted mailing and fundraising packs.

We need accurate data to fulfil our operational objectives of maximising donor revenue. Address cleaning from Experian Data Quality helps us do this It is easy to use, throughput is quick, and it ultimately improves our Data Quality.

Liz Curry, CRM Manager, Comic Relief

3. Find a partner that loves you back

Investing in your Data Quality journey by utilising the right technology and resources is essential. But it’s also essential to work with a technology company who understands your needs and challenges and works with you to find solutions. This is something we pride ourselves on at Experian Data Quality, but don’t just take our word for it. Industry leaders such as Yodel and Charles Tyrwhitt, highlight the importance of choosing the right partner and technology for Data Quality.

We needed a partner that truly understands our business, who we could work closely with, and has the tools to handle the high volumes of data that we are processing. Experian continues to be that partner for us, giving us a solution that pays for itself.

Ashraf Adil, Director of DevOps at Yodel

We chose Experian because it’s a market leader with a mature, easy-to-integrate solution.” “It’s stable, works well, and does what we need it to do. If a business isn’t using Address Validation, they should have it, and yes, I would recommend Experian.

Doug Wooten, IT Director of Charles Tyrwhitt

By putting these 3 steps into practice, companies may gain a deeper understanding of their data assets, which facilitates more accurate, automated, and efficient business process decision-making. As you take care of your data, you empower your organisation to thrive in the digital era, driving growth, innovation, and customer satisfaction.