We have switched to working from home, and if we can trust the experts, companies will encourage this more in the future. This uncertain reality, "the new normal" comes with a lot of challenges. So how do you ensure that people can work flawlessly from their home offices, while relying on up-to-date data? We identify the 4 biggest data challenges for your CRM and customer data that are an absolute must to tackle right now.
1. Lack of uniformity
One of the biggest data challenges companies experience is a lack of uniformity in the data they collect. This is because there is often not enough strategic understanding or policy at c-level for master data management. Our advice: start a conversation with multiple stakeholders and your master data manager (if you have one) to determine what data you need and how you can start collecting or optimizing it in the most user-friendly way.
Lots of data doesn't mean you automatically have better insight. If you are dealing with dirty data , it's important to start with a clean slate. With the right tools you can optimize your data management and link it to external business information sources. So that you can really steer based on qualitative data.
2. Messy data entry
Making mistakes is human. But the more time-consuming the steps are to enter data into your CRM, the greater the chance that people will make even more mistakes. If you can't automate or simplify this quickly, then unfortunately the outdating of your data is a fact at a rapid pace. Data management requires a solution that allows you to regulate at the highest level how data is processed, or how duplicates are dealt with.
In our Data Detox paper we explain how to start cleaning up this contaminated and outdated data and how to simplify data entry.
3. Identify risk and fraud
More and more criminals are trying to take advantage of this pandemic. In particular, the number of digital fraud cases has increased. This will be no different for B2B. Fortunately, smart solutions are making it easier and easier to identify which risks are out there.
For example, for financial institutions and banks, it is very important to know who they are doing business with. On average, onboarding a customer in the bad scenario can cost you as much as 16,000 euros, with all the checks and balances involved. Incorrect billing or misjudging risk profiles is the order of the day there.
With Direct+ Data Blocks you can easily link data to your own system, making important business information available in your own CRM and ERP. For example, local and global sales figures and credit risk and compliance data, which allows you to make a much better assessment of who you do and should do business with.
4. Ensuring data quality
Finally, a moment of reflection: who takes care of data in your organization? Do you already have a master data manager, and are all parties on the same page when it comes to your data governance policies? Is there room for improvement? Can you use your data to unlock new opportunities in the future, even if data models change rapidly?
What are your data challenges?
Need help evaluating and tackling your data challenges? Get in touch with our experts.
