Customers are the backbone of a business and their data is even more important. Managing customer data is one of the hot topics for many, if not most, companies. According to many researchers and data analysts, customer data is “the oil of the digital era.” That means it is an important and valuable resource that should be handled and sustained very carefully.
Any compromise or any damage to the customer data can change the entire fate of your business. The term is taking hype these days because not all companies can take care of the customer data. No one can forget the data breach experienced by Facebook, Yahoo, Uber. The number is constantly increasing these days. Uber had to pay $148 million to settle it. So, loss of customer data can cost you a fortune. To get it going smoothly, you can develop the best and the most appropriate practices for your customer data management strategy. Here are the tips you can follow-
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See The Set-Up:
The foremost thing in data management is that you need to know the organization’s ownership of your team. You should be clear of the people who would be owning the customer data. Craft a dedicated team whom you can trust with the valuable data; don’t hesitate to appoint some new positions like the lead of customer data management. It would help you shield yourself from the chaos of who should own what data. Your defined internal resources and staffing goals would help you to move in the right direction faster.
Defined Data Types:
Mainly there are types of data; Identity and Attribute Data and Behavioral Data. You should decide the type your team would be collecting. In the former type, the name of the customer, name of the company, job title, phone number, and email addresses of the customers are stored. On the other hand, the latter stores their information about website visits, the number of times they have opened their emails, how do they reply to your emails and other social media interactions. It will make you clear about what data should be collected, and what should be the sources of those data.
Data Storage:
Keep the customer data separate from the other data. No need to hesitate to make some different arrangements for the customer data. There are various tools available that can ease the entire process giving you time to concentrate on different things. For example, Convert QuickBooks Online to desktop, and many more.
Privacy of Data:
A lot of arrangements need to be made to secure and protect your data. In many countries, various agencies and government policies have been introduced to emphasize data protection. They govern how different customer data can be handled in the best way possible. They give the companies control over the ways to do so. Collect some information regarding such regulations and policies and develop a compliance plan more easily. A critical aspect of data protection is email archiving. It ensures a systematic and secure storage of electronic communications, facilitating compliance with regulations. Email archiving not only preserves valuable information but also aids in swift retrieval during audits. It’s an integral part of any comprehensive compliance plan, safeguarding sensitive data and ensuring adherence to stringent regulations governing its handling.
Quality of Data Matters:
Along with getting the important and essential data from customers, it is equally significant to keep it clean. If you want to stand poles apart from your competitors, give your attention to ongoing data quality. If you are walking on this path, then you are giving a sign of long-term success. It includes implementing proper processes, controls in one place. In order to achieve clean data, refresh the data annually or quarterly by executing data enrichment activities. Moreover, validation to aid and other data standardization practices also stand high.
Keep Up With Time:
Change according to time. Now, the various types of tools have eased our lives. Give power to your data by putting it in the hands of trustworthy and reliable tools. You should pick one that contains marketing automation, CRM, can convert QuickBooks Online to desktop easily, sales enablement solutions, and include dashboards for reporting. Your objectives and your goals decide a lot of functionalities of any tool you choose. So, be clear in your mind so that you can hit the bull’s eye in the first go.
Maintaining and storing customer data is one way to build and retain their trust. You can practice these tips to achieve those goals.
