Every company owner needs to understand that cleaning, updating and also comprehensive data is essential for every firm to make the proper usage. But, if you are spending huge amount of time just to correct, de-duping, updating, collecting data, then probably it is high time for you to redevise your data strategy.
Having poor details can cause lot of frustration in any CRM tool. It is also one of the major reasons why the implementation fails to attain success. At the end, it also creates trouble for the end users, mainly for those who keep their records updated.
If you’re a CRM service provider and ask your client about the functioning of the tool, then the answers points toward the data quality and it is not a pleasure experience to hear this answer.
One of the major reasons for its failure is the absence of clarity of the person who is feeding the data. On broader terms, data or information can be categorized into two different groups. The first group will comprise of the static/reference details like the company information, ID numbers, name of the product, contact names and numbers. These details are usually known within the firm and can be feed by an administrator or can be loaded from other internal systems as well.
The second group comprises of data nuggets. This is the details which just a few people in an organization know about. It is maintained either in a notepad or excel sheet and this data needs to be feed into the CRM system as well. For instance, the clients’ business aims, the actual name and contact details of the decision makers, updating the opportunity status or recently a client call was made telling about the outcome.
It won’t be incorrect to draw the conclusion at the end that there are plenty of overlaps and what are the different kinds of data, but the point which needs to be noted is that a good CRM tool is the one which has the capability to store all these details. It needs to play the role of one stop shop, which will focus on the important decisions that who is owner of what.
It is important that your data is not making any company’s miserable; in fact it should be able to sort out the problems and make life simpler. Hence, it is essential to place certain rules and norms which will ensure that everyone makes a contribution and at the end, profitable results can be attained.