On a list of the things you dread most, a data cleansing project probably ranks right alongside a trip to the dentist or gift shopping on Christmas Eve. Unfortunately, dirty data is an issue for the vast majority of companies with a customer relationship management (CRM) system. Indeed, in my experience, approximately 70% of UK companies have a chronic data problem that is preventing them from gaining maximum return on their CRM investment.
 
It’s often possible to ignore the imperative for data cleansing because users tend to find workarounds to access the information they need – or just to accept that they can’t do certain things because the data isn’t right. The costs to the business of this approach are high, though. It is estimated poor quality data costs a company 15% of its renewable revenue each year. Team effectiveness and informed decision making are undermined, but poor quality data also adds strain to IT infrastructures and can be a compliance risk.
 
Of greatest concern is that dirty data limits customer engagement. If your people can’t seamlessly access, share and respond to customer information, their ability to manage relationships with your customers is severely inhibited. Likewise, a lack of data quality prevents managers from deriving the actionable insights about the business and needs of customers necessary to drive competitive advantage.
 
However, data doesn’t have to be a dirty word. Bluewolf’s data analysis and cleansing services help companies transform and optimise their CRM data sets, typically within weeks. After evaluating a client’s data quality and governance model, Bluewolf recommends processes and tools for the initial cleansing, as well as for ongoing maintenance to ensure continued business value. Using a tool like Data.com for Salesforce®, our team then fully executes on the cleanse plan, avoiding interruption to the productivity of your users and/or the reallocation of internal resources to staff the project. Once your data is optimised, we can then help you to identify key customer trends and translate the information into actionable insights for your business.   

Five Benefits of Quality Data 

1. Sales Effectiveness
   1. Reliable pipeline and management information
   2. Improved reporting and decision making
   3. Better customer knowledge
   4. Streamlined sales processes
2. Marketing Effectiveness
   1. Better contact and response rates
   2. Improved customer segmentation and profiling
   3. Timely and accurate customer communications
3. Data Integration and Migration
   1. Reduced error handling time and cost
   2. Improved testing efficiency
   3. Reduction of build costs
   4. Better understanding of volumes
4. Regulatory compliance
5. Reduced data storage

Research shows that data quality best practices can boost revenues by approximately 66%, so contact Bluewolf to learn more about our data analysis and cleansing services.