When did you last cleanse your customer database?

How many times have you received an email that is clearly irrelevant to your business? I have just received a marketing email trying to interest me in temperature screening equipment for my pupils??? This company shall remain nameless but they have not bothered to check if my business is connected in any way with a school. What a waste of their time and effort.

A customer or prospect database should be up to date and targeted at companies that have the possibility of being interested in the product or service you are trying to get onto their radar. Epic fail to the company offering temperature screening equipment to a telemarketing business!

When was the last time you took a good look at your CRM, Excel spreadsheet or whatever it is you hold your customer data on? If it hasn’t been reviewed and cleansed in the last 6 months then it needs to head to the top of your To Do list as a matter of urgency. If you haven’t got the time or inclination to do it yourself then outsource it to experts rather than designating the task to the newest recruit in the business who, in all honesty, doesn’t understand the value to your business of your customer or prospect data.

The common problem areas in most customer databases are:

• Duplicate records – these have to be eradicated so you are not sending information or emails multiple times to the same contact. Duplicate data leads to wasted mailings, risks annoying customers and prospects, and makes the company look less than professional!

• Inaccurate records – when was the last time you checked that the companies in your database are still active? This is going to be so important post-lockdown as there have been, and will be, so many casualties of pandemic.

• Missing information – so often the basics are missing from your dataset. If you have sales staff adding info they will often leave gaps and only fill in the information that is relevant to them. The more information in your CRM or Excel spreadsheet, the better you can target and communicate your marketing message and improves sales.

We are experts at cleaning, de-duplicating and updating data so why not save yourselves time and money in the long run and outsource this vital service to us? Depending on how many rows of data you hold we offer a competitive service with a quick turnaround. Get in touch on info@iq-4business.co.uk for more details.