I began this blog series by stating you can try to create a successful company, but it won’t come together unless there is smart data management at the heart. The core of smart data management itself is a Single Customer View (SCV). With a SCV, you can provide users with the information they need, when they need it, without disturbing the day-to-day operation of these systems. As a result replacing one of the underlying systems only gets easier. With a SCV you will have standardized, transformed, cleansed and ready to enrich data all in one central view that you can trust to be accurate.
The high cost of low quality data spreads across multiple systems
There are dozens of small items of information on your customers scattered across multiple systems. These systems may range from cloud-based CRM systems to legacy systems on a mainframe.
A SCV lets you build a Golden Record for each customer that holds a complete and up to date overview of all available data from all your systems on that customer. The SCV also takes care of keeping the data updated in relevant systems whenever and wherever a change is made to the data.
When dealing with privacy issues, the Golden Record is the place to find everything you need, and for Customer Due Diligence a Single Customer View prevents duplicate checks, reduces false positives and brings false negatives back to a minimum.
Now let’s look at the SCV from a holistic point of view. Or in other words: What does a SCV bring the organization as a whole? To answer this question, let’s have a look at the following stakeholders or departments:
Sales: effectiveness
Sales success is often limited by a lack of a consolidated view of customer data across all channels. Customer transactions are limited due to a narrowed view of the facts. A SCV would improve sales effectiveness by providing a complete and accurate view of the customer, giving insight in cross- and upsell-opportunities.
Marketing: efficiency
Marketing is always looking for a high ROI on campaigns, which is hard to attain when working with inaccurate or duplicate customer data. A SCV would mean better targeting, higher conversion, improved predictability, lower campaign costs and increased effectiveness.
Customer Service: keeping the customer
Customer Service plays a key role in customer satisfaction and customer retention. A lack of a complete and accurate view of the customer profile limits Customer Service in their ability to keep customers and to practice their upsell potential. A SCV would provide strategic insights leading to faster and more personalized service and improved upsell rates.
IT and Data Management: reliable analysis
IT and Data Management have to deal with the lack of consistency in customer data as a supplier for other departments like Sales, Marketing or Customer Service. The poor quality of their reports, list and analyses based on inaccurate data, may also hinder decision making, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. A SCV would mean reliable data at the basis of successful actions and decisions, ultimately leading to a customer centric organization and improved Customer Experience.
Conclusion
At Quadient we approach digital transformation from a holistic point of view. We believe organizations will never truly be successful unless there is smart data management at the heart of the organization. There are plenty of opportunities to make it happen, such as privacy compliance, enrichment, or Customer Due Diligence. Each of those rely on a Single Customer View, which is the foundation for smart data management.
A Single Customer View is beneficial for the organization as a whole, achieving tangible improvement for a wide range of departments and business goals.