Data and data hygiene is a core component of business and is an entire industry all by itself. With B2B data decaying at a rate of 40% per year, there is a huge emphasis by businesses to ensure data hygiene is taken very seriously. More than $270 billion a year is spent globally on data and analytics, of which more than $100 billion is spent by North American businesses as they realize the importance of having accurate data to make better business decisions.
Data hygiene refers to the practice of maintaining clean and accurate data within a system or database. Think of it like personal hygiene but for your data: just as brushing your teeth and washing your hands keeps you healthy, regularly cleaning and updating your data keeps your systems running smoothly and efficiently. Good data hygiene involves removing outdated information, correcting errors, and ensuring that all data is consistently formatted. This not only helps businesses make better decisions based on reliable data but also prevents the headaches that come with dealing with inaccuracies. It's a crucial step in managing information in today’s data-driven world, making sure that the data you rely on is always fresh, relevant, and trustworthy.
Data has an impact on all areas of business, whether its a credit controller assessing an application of a new customer through to a sales team prospecting for new business, the data must be accurate.
Inaccurate data in sales can lead to unreliable forecasts and poor personalization in your messaging. If your sales team create multiple entries of an opportunity or the close dates are inaccurate, you could find that cash flow isn’t as free as you thought. Or in another scenario, you may have identified that ABC Inc. is in the manufacturing sector, and you send them a brochure tailored to the industry, but it turns out they are apparel retailers – Now your messaging is less likely to engage them.
Bad data can also lead to time wasted when prospecting for new business. Around 1 in 12 businesses in the US close every year, so where a rep might spend hours contacting 250 prospects in your database, upwards of 20 of these may no longer be in business. This results in wasted hours and demotivation in your sales team.
Something as simple as inaccurate company addresses can lead to significant additional costs. One example is the cost of sending mail to incorrect company addresses and having to correct that, but then there are additional costs that can result. Late invoicing due to not having accurate address details can lead to a higher DSO and additional interest payments on your own outstanding credit obligations.
It is estimated that bad data costs the US economy $3.1 trillion per year, which in large part is due to missed opportunities. Missed opportunities can occur when group structures are inaccurate, and you don’t realize that an existing relationship can be used to sell into an affiliated business. They can occur when your database is missing key prospects due to a lack of market coverage, or it could be because you aren’t able to engage them efficiently as you don’t have an accurate business profile built. There are a whole range of reasons why bad data can cause your business to lose out on revenue opportunities.
This is why it is vital that the data in your CRM system is accurate.
It is important to understand that just as important as technology and data sources are process and leadership. Effective data management requires strong processes to ensure data integrity, accuracy, and relevance. This includes regular data hygiene practices, such as:
Make sure that your team understand the importance of accurate records and proper admin. Make sure that they are talking about it and ensure that your marketing team know if there are deficiencies. Sales & marketing work hand in hand to utilize the data in your CRM and it is a joint responsibility.
Regular audits, deduplication, merging and correction of records will help prevent bad data becoming a major issue in your CRM. Without regular maintenance it can easily get out of hand and become irreparable.
Add incentives or adjust your comp plan to promote data quality. We know that comp plans drive behaviour so adding a quality element to this will help ensure that your sales team are researching prospects, not wasting theirs and others time with bad admin, and ultimately getting the most out of every sale.
Onboarding and ongoing training & professional development is important to keep your sales toolbox full. Typically, this would include regular sales training, mentoring and reviews, but it is also important to include training on how to get the more out of your CRM. If a craftsperson hasn’t been shown how to use their tools properly, can you really expect the best from them?
There are a variety of data technology providers, ranging from deduplication software through to prospecting and lead data. While some of these have pre-built integrations with some of the more popular CRMs, it is also important that you can use them standalone as well. While integrations can make some tasks easier, you might want to run tests or analyze outside of your CRM.
Creditsafe’s latest Data Cleaning tool is a fantastic piece of software which can help with data hygiene. Utilizing our database of over 430 million companies, their officers, group structures and more, you can keep your data accurate using our service. Get to know your customers, suppliers or competitors better with our business credit reports. With direct integrations into Salesforce via our dedicated app, or access through our user-friendly web portal, you can stay in control of your data. You can also use our Prospects tool to identify new opportunities by geography, industry and 20 other parameters.