One hundred per cent data quality is a myth. And it is this very realisation that is the starting point you need to actually achieve better data quality. The second realisation is that without commitment data quality is almost a lost cause. The third realisation is that you need to get on and use all the tools you have available to improve your levels of data quality and keep on using them.
Why is data quality important?
Marketing campaigns to both existing customers and prospects are only ever as good as the data on which they are based and the data on which they use. For example, if your data is out-of-date, your direct communications will be incorrectly addressed and sent to the wrong person within an organisation. This not only wastes you time and money, it also has the potential to damage your business reputation. What would you think if you’ve been in a role for over a year and still getting direct mail addressed to the person you replaced?
With business data changing at a rapid rate and with rates of business data decay at more than 35 per cent, keeping your data clean and up-to-date can be difficult. However, if you can keep these rates of decay at a minimum you’ll be rewarded with more targeted campaigns, cost savings and a better return on investment.
1. Be realistic
The key to improving data quality is to understand first of all that your data is never going to be as good as you think it is. There is no such thing as 100 per cent accurate data. Once you see the truth about data you can see the weaknesses and understand what steps you need to take to improve your levels of data quality.
2. Get ownership
If data quality is the responsibility of marketing, sales, customer services or more or less everyone within your organisation then you have no responsibility – you are lacking commitment.
For real data quality to have a chance the commitment needs to come from above and be assigned to a named individual – the higher up the food chain the better.
3. Get the processes right
Ever heard the saying garbage in, garbage out? When it comes to data quality you need to have the best processes in place to ensure that all data captured is collected and stored in a consistent manner.
Data will typically come in from lots of different sources so it is essential that this information is always added into your databases in a correct format. This could be as simple as ensuring that all the relevant fields are completed such as the contact’s name, address, including correct postcode and telephone number. If there is missing information, it should be checked and added in.
4. Manage customer interactions
Touch points occur when a company encounters business contacts as part of regular business processes. These encounters provide opportunities for acquiring new data, for qualifying existing contacts by adding supplementary information to their records, verifying or updating existing data. They offer an important protection against data attrition. You should consider all these encounters within your business processes where they occur and how the opportunity may be maximised.
5. Audit your data
Data audits are a good way of checking what data you have, how up-to-date it is and what gaps you need to fill. The data audit also helps to identify which parts of your data processes are working and which need updating. For example, where are errors being created? Is it when information is being keyed in or errors as a result of lack of training?
Either way, it is crucial to identify where the errors are occurring so that the processes can be corrected to prevent the errors occurring in the first place – so that data is correct first time it is added.
Data audits can be carried out both internally and externally, and in combination. For example, most data suppliers will provide free data health checks so you can check the quality of your data. Once the health check is complete and you understand some of the issues that are present in your data, you can then utilise internal and external data sources to improve the formatting of your data and to match and enhance your data. The use of suppression files such as the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) are also essential.
6. Prevention is better than a cure
It is more cost effective and efficient to maintain your data regularly as opposed to overhauling it every couple of years when it is completely out of date and you have to start again from scratch.
It is also important to understand data quality in the context of how the data is to be used and how it is collected in the first place. Quality for one purpose doesn’t mean quality for another. For example, the collection and use of trading addresses may only be useful in one context but not if it’s the registered office details you need instead.
7. Demand better
If you are using a data supplier to provide you with data you need to undertake your marketing campaigns, make sure you are getting the highest quality data. If you are getting a high rate of goneaways, demand better and don’t just put them in a pile and forget about them – send them back to your data supplier, ask for them to correct them and don’t forget your refund. Buy data only when you need to use it or clean it just before using it so it is as up-to-date as possible.
