Customer Data 911

How do you quantify bad data?

I remember an instance some years ago that my Chief Strategy Officer walked into a meeting with a current customer to schmooze them (they had an active deal on the table).  He was briefed by his team using SFDC information on the customer on what products they owned, when their maintenance was to renew, etc.

He walked out, 30 minutes later, with egg on his face.

The data was wrong.  From the "main" CRM system.

Needless to say, after that meeting, he championed a major initiative to correct - and course-correct - the data, how it was captured, who was held accountable, when it was put in the system, and what data was mandated.

The project, which involved upwards of 100 people and at least 10 different groups (Marketing, Sales, Customer Support, IT, Finance), took over a year to officially fix.  It changed behaviors, it changed processes, it changed the company.

How did it change the behaviors? Everyone became responsible for accurate data. If there was an inaccurate forecast or field sales plan, Sales earned the black-eye.  If the data showed an out of date product in its record, Finance was held to the fire (due to their ownership of the pricebook).  If customer issues were not properly catalogued (or dealt with), Customer Support had to answer for it.

Why do I bring up this project?

Data is often treated like a 2nd class citizen in organizations - and the reality is that is can cause a major loss of revenue for a company.  There are numerous research studies that show it costs a company less money to sell to a current customer, to retain a current customer - and that customers provide a huge value in terms of referrals.  To land a net-new customer, it will typically cost 6-10x more than to cross/up sell a current customer.

So in terms of trying to quantify the cost (or value) or accurate customer data, think in terms of revenue.

• How much did it save you to sell back to your current customer? 
• How much did it cost you to lose that customer and then win them back?  

Imagine your C-suite blundering a critical deal meeting - not only think of the current deal on the table - but in the long-term viability of that customer in terms of revenue.

That is not a pretty scenario.......