Data cleansing, data cleaning, datawash or data scrubbing is
the process of detecting and correcting (or removing) corrupt or inaccurate
records from a record set, table or database.
Used mainly in databases, the term refers to identifying
incomplete, incorrect, inaccurate, irrelevant, parts of the data and then
replacing, modifying, or deleting this dirty data.”(Wikipedia)
Maintaining excellent quality data is essential to ensure
long-term customers relationships.
Why?
Simple.
We rely on data every day in some shape or form whether it’s
the integrity of your customers addresses and details right down to ensuring
that the invoices you email or post are accurate and sent to the correct
addresses.
Data quality is important if senior management are to take
advantage of their customer data in a meaningful and productive way that gives
intrinsic value to the company overall.
Data quality issues such as:
Accuracy
Integrity
Cleanliness
Correctness
Completeness
Consistency
Are paramount for this purpose.
There is significant business value to be achieved by
managing and ensuring your data is clean but all too often senior management
find it difficult to justify a business case for data cleansing.
Consider the impact of the following to your business:-
the cost to the business of processing errors
manual trouble shooting
incorrect or invalid invoice data
deliveries/shipments to the wrong address or incorrectly
post-coded items
customer or supplier frustration when documents are
incorrect or invalid and therefore cannot be processed in a timely manner.
You can now appreciate the importance of keeping your data
clean and it is an important aspect of any ERP/CRM system as incomplete
transactional data is like putting petrol in a diesel engine; it will grind to
a halt very quickly.
Resulting in exceptions and bad business decisions based on
incomplete or insufficient business data as well as increasing the cost and
service levels associated with your customers and suppliers.
A lack of clear and up to date information has the potential
to jeopardise those customer and supplier relationships you have worked hard to
maintain and keep.
Customer information is forever changing. People leave,
change department or retire.
On-going data cleansing will ensure compliance and
consistency particularly when data from different databases are combined.
Data cleaning ensures that your client information is
updated and verified in turn this means that your team reach the right people
on the right telephone numbers or valid email addresses.
Customer information is forever changing people leave, move
to another part of the company or retire and these changes need to be reflected
in the database.
Identifying duplication and making sure opt-outs are not
contacted are key to good database management.
Just how clean is your data? Identify where your data requires attention, allowing you to choose which areas to improve.
Typically, a good clean database prepared for an emailmarketing campaign will reduce bounce-backs and the updated information then
becomes a key business asset in that the more accurate the data is the more
effective your sales and marketing efforts can be strategically targeted to
your audience.Get Free Email Append Test from AverickMedia
Companies that have multi-branch locations where staff are working
with the same customers makes data cleansing even more intrinsically valuable
for the business as incorrect customer records have the potential to be
damaging for the business.
What are the benefits in outsourcing my data cleansing?
Low cost and low risk way to employ additional resources
without increasing staffing levels
Experiment with new ideas without investment up front
Flexible resources when needed
Companies grow their businesses and more resources are
needed to maintain accurate database(s); data cleansing is a necessary business
function that can be outsourced seamlessly which helps you maintain your
business critical information at a high quality.
Article From: www.digitalprintmanagement.co.uk
Article From: www.digitalprintmanagement.co.uk