top of page

Data Decay


What is data decay?


No, this is not the result of failing to brush your data daily, but instead, failing to check the accuracy of your data and keep it up to date.

 

Impacts of data decay

 

With out-of-date data come a myriad of problems.

 

Scenario one

Your business is sending out a mailshot to its clients. Some of these clients have since passed away. The mailshot is sent out and unfortunately to the deceased and widower. An unfortunate and sensitive mistake, but one that could have been avoided with regular data checks and appropriate data governance in place.

 

Scenario two

There's interest in your business and a potential acquisition is on the horizon. A report is required to highlight the net worth of your client base as well geographical spread.

 

The report is created, only to later discover that both the figures and the geo-map are inaccurate. The cause? In both cases, no process or ownership was in place to ensure records were checked or updated accordingly.

 

Scenario three

This scenario, everyone can relate to. The unsolicited mail or call. A client has made a request to be opted out of all methods of correspondence, yet a mailshot is sent out and you now have an irate client. In this instance, a process was not followed, or feature was unavailable for the client to reflect this change.

 

There are more examples, but the outcome for each is the same.

  • A blemish on your business and its practices.

  • A loss of confidence and trust in your business and its ability to preserve data accuracy.

  • Wasted time and resource focussing on inaccurate data.

  • Important business decisions made based on inaccurate reporting.

 

How do I check my data?

 

There are many ways to check data accuracy, but the first place to start, is at initial capture.

 

Some areas to focus on:

 

  • Have data validation rules in place at point of data capture by implementing mandatory fields and ensure data required is not left blank.

  • Integrate with other systems such as postcode lookups to ensure accurate address capture.

  • Invest in a client portal to allow clients to verify their own data, sign it off or update it.

 

Invest in data cleansing services

 

Data cleansing services can help identify missing data, duplicate data, incorrect spelling, fix inconsistencies in formatting, date checking and more.

 

The time spent in cleansing data will pay dividends. Not only will it ensure your business is working from clean data but also enable it to make accurate and informed decisions.

 

Master data

 

Another area to focus on is master data, the one source of truth or as it is also known "The Golden Record".

 

Having multiple system within as business is unavoidable. Therefore, ensuring all systems can integrate and accept updates from one another, is key to ensuring there is one golden record throughout your systems. Failure to do so will result in data decay and inconsistencies in what is the real source or truth.

 

Summary

 

Ensure your business implements validation rules into your CRM from the outset, to capture exactly what is required.

 

Implement a process whereby regular validation checks are performed and more importantly where data is updated and treated as a priority. Everyone in your organisation is responsible for this duty of care to your clients.

 

In all cases, incorrect data will impact your customer's experience and will cost you money through time wasted or worse still, loss of a client.

 

Keep your data current, follow company policy on data retention and maintain an accurate record of your clients to maximise your business's potential to thrive.


11 views0 comments

Kommentare


Follow

  • LinkedIn

©2024 by Exacto Data Consulting

bottom of page