Benefits of Data Cleaning For Large Businesses

In today’s digital age, businesses must understand their customers inside and out. The data cleansing process is the solution and offers numerous benefits including greater business intelligence, informed decision-making, a better relationship with customers and compliance with data regulations.

Read on to find out why data cleansing and high-quality data is so important for businesses.

Benefits of Clean Data

1. Better decision-making process

One of the biggest benefits of the data cleaning process is that it transforms inadequate data into effective data that can drive any business forward.

By simply eliminating inaccuracies and duplicate data, you’ll have a better understanding of your existing customers. In fact, organisations often discover something new, whether insight into why customers leave or better ways to reach their target demographic.

This better understanding also helps to interpret their preferred methods of contact, placing you in a much better position for creating an effective marketing campaign, that not only targets existing customers but can also expand into customer acquisition in the same demographic.

2. Enhance Customer Relationships

Removing inaccurate and irrelevant data can not just impact your decision-making, but also your relationships with existing customers. By having accurate and up-to-date information, your organisation will have a clear and complete view of your customers, giving you a better understanding of the best ways to support their needs.

It’s a good idea to keep in touch with your clients every six months or so to make sure that you have the most up-to-date information and that there is no missing data. In doing this, customers may also ask for data to be removed.

3. Compliance with GDPR

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is designed to protect individuals’ privacy and covers many types of data including email, phone number & address. It gives the following enforceable rights to individuals:

✓ The right to have their data deleted upon request
✓ The right to see and change their data
✓ The right to be notified if their data has been breached
✓ The right to object to data processing
✓ The right to request data that can be read across machines

Because of this, it’s imperative that your data is as accurate as possible otherwise you run many legal risks. Data cleansing helps you maintain personal data accurately and securely by removing duplicate records, and incorrect data such as typos or misinformation. This will ensure that all of your data is up-to-date and ready upon data request.

Common Problems with Data

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

1. Siloed Data

Whether a customer is discussing plans with an account manager, resolving an IT-related issue with tech support, or following up on an invoice with finance; it is common for them to have more than one point of contact within your organisation. And whilst it may seem obvious to many, it is often an issue organisations avoid tackling; in fact, PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed that 49% of CEOs said their organisation’s data is siloed and that there is a lack of sharing between departments.

Siloed data has a great impact on the data integrity of your business, with duplicated records often leading to confusion about what is the most up-to-date data set. It can also result in poor customer experiences; whether they’re forgotten about or receive information intended for someone completely different.

An easy way to overcome this obstacle is through data cleansing which allows you to sift through and remove any duplicates with ease. This can be done with software that automatically verifies, cleanses and corrects address data, thereby saving time and money on a manual process. Once removed and merged into a centralised system, customer relationship management will benefit greatly; making it easier to access a single reference point for each customer and reducing wasted time in clarifying the correct information.

A single customer data will also enhance efficiency, improve customer satisfaction and protect your brand image.

2. Inaccurate Data

Regularly cleansing your data allows you to highlight any discrepancies and understand your customer better – despite this, 46% of CEOs claim their data is unreliable.

Having unreliable data is a major issue that will affect your business’s ability to make informed decisions. Data discrepancies are common and happen due to many reasons; whether a customer has moved home, recently married or sadly passed away.

By using various suppression files, you can check against multiple data sources and flag any inaccuracies. This will often result in improved customer satisfaction, a stronger brand image, and compliance with GDPR and other data legislation. The benefits of clean and accurate data are endless; you’ll understand your business and customers better, leading to business decisions that will improve processes, reduce costs and drive innovation.

Frank Schuler from BackOffice Associates adds:

“Knowing the underlying data is good quality keeps companies out of court and reduces compliance failures, as well as optimising processes, reducing costs, and driving innovation.”

Data Cleaning Tools

Hopewiser provides several data cleansing solutions to ensure the addresses in your database are of the highest possible accuracy. 

1. Our Bureau service is a bespoke solution to help improve and enhance your data to get maximum ROI on your own database without the expense of new software and staff training. In addition, this service gives access to data consultants and product specialists to assist/run projects and identify data problems.

2. Our installed Atlas software combines Hopewiser’s many years of experience with advanced tools to deliver fast, user-friendly solutions which will help to cleanse your database to achieve maximum ROI. The Atlas data cleansing suite contains several different components, each with unique functionalities that serve as an easily integrated solution alongside your existing applications, or as a stand-alone product.

3. Data Cleansing is also available in the form of a quick and easy online solution, which gives you immediate access to the latest in-built PAF and suppression files. It’s simple to use, meaning you can be up and running within minutes, and it also includes a fast, user-friendly wizard with helpful tips to guide you through the process. A free sample data audit will highlight how many suppressions your records have. Prices then start from as little as £30.