3 Ways Companies of All Sizes Manage Contact Data

Increasingly, large and small organizations alike are relying on data to deliver positive customer experiences while tackling the rapidly increasing speed of business and other challenges. Whether they’re using customer data to send direct mail inserts promoting an upcoming sale or capturing leads from online forms to filter them into email marketing campaigns, it’s vital they have management systems in place to maintain the accuracy of data.

According to “Data Quality and the Customer Experience,” a white paper published by Experian QAS, 98 percent of organizations have a process in place to manage contact data. Organizations utilize a variety of tools to manage the accuracy of their data. Here, we examine a few of the most widely used tools.

Manual Management

Sixty-six percent of companies use at least one manual process to manage data accuracy. Analysis in Excel and use of response rates from campaigns are the most common manual data management efforts utilized by organizations, according to the aforementioned white paper. Roughly 23 percent of organizations only use manual processes to measure data accuracy. While this may work for small businesses, it’s generally not recommended for large organizations with expansive data.

Automated Management

According to “Data Quality and the Customer Experience,” 62 percent of organizations use some sort of automated contact data management, including point-of-capture verification tools and front-office software products.

• Point-of-capture: Point-of-capture is the term used to describe when a customer’s contact details are first put into your database. This can be done over the phone in a call center environment, in store at the time of purchase or with an online form. Point-of-capture verification tools help ensure the contact data collected is accurate at the time it’s entered into your data system.
• Front-office software: Front-office software is technology that enables customer-facing personal to communicate more effectively with customers and other stakeholders. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is one of the most popular types of front-office technology. (In fact, according to an Inc. article, there are literally thousands of CRM software providers!) CRM software, like point-of-capture verification tools, helps organizations manage the accuracy of data.

Software-as-a-service (SaaS)

SaaS, a software delivery model in which software and associated data are centrally hosted on the cloud, is a growing data quality deployment model in the United States. About 60 percent of organizations are using SaaS tools for data quality and 19 percent exclusively use SaaS technology to manage contact data.

While these data management tools are effective at correcting human error and weeding out inaccurate data when it’s entered into your system, frequent address changes and other factors cause the accuracy of your overall database to erode over time. That’s why it’s essential organizations invest in data cleaning services to maintain the quality of their customer data.

TowerData provides technology-driven direct marketing solutions that can quickly and cost-effectively validate, correct and enhance your customer touchpoints. Contact TowerData today to discuss how we can clean your data to increase accuracy and improve overall marketing ROI.

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