Andrew Abraham shares that the research shows, “The new normal is no longer new. This is a digital-first world and organizations need to lean on high-quality data and insights to proactively respond to both risk and opportunity. Investing in data management is now more important than ever before.”
Three key findings emerged from this year’s research:
Over half of organizations say that the customer experience continues to be their top priority since last year
It’s no surprise that customer experience remains at the top of the priority list. With the digital landscape expanding, we see consumer buying behaviors rapidly changing, forcing organizations to rely even more on the quality of their consumer contact and demographic data. While organizations are managing more data than they ever have before, 68% also say their contact data is decaying faster than ever.
Poor-quality data can have a great impact across an organization. In fact, our research shows that 85% of organizations indicate that poor-quality contact data for customers negatively impacts their operational processes and efficiency and, in turn, hinders their chance to improve the customer experience. This is where data quality management, backed by an agile infrastructure, comes into play.
94% believe having agility in both business and data practices is important in responding to the pandemic
When leaders can act fast, customer data becomes even more valuable. In our study, we defined agility in a data management program as the distance between the data that informs a decision and the decision itself. Nine out of ten respondents believe that agility and flexibility are key parts of being data driven.
Being data driven is no longer a buzzword known only by the IT department, it’s a culture that organizations encompass because they realize the benefits of capturing, managing, and sharing high-quality data across the entire organization from IT to marketing to call centers. Today, we find that organizations are defining what it means to be data driven by four main characteristics:
- Trustworthy data: 91% say that data quality is an essential component of a data-driven culture. Consider the impact on the organization if the information used isn’t correct from the get-go; wrong decisions are made, marketing campaigns are wasted, time and energy are lost.
- Better technology: 81% agree that they automate more of their data management program to free up time to focus on strategic activities. Without technology, there is no way to ensure data accuracy and democratize the data across the organization, creating that data-driven culture.
- Best data practices: It’s one thing to get the data into the hands of business users and data professionals, it’s another thing to establish best practices so users know how to make the data actionable.
- Data masterminds: An organization that is proactive in their data culture has the resources to support growth. We find that 85% of organizations are hiring data roles, which is the same as the year prior.
These four core pillars enable an infrastructure that can be agile and flexible to better respond to the market changes driven by digital acceleration and the pandemic.
88% say that being data driven helps them stay on top of customer needs and market trends
Customer experience is the top priority, which means organizations need to do everything in their power to retain customer loyalty and stay ahead of the competition. When asked how data management could enable customer centricity over the next year, respondents cited greater operational efficiency, better experience for customers offline and online, better management of resources in-line with demand, and improved innovation.
Keeping customers at the heart of a business relies upon collecting and maintaining high-quality data which can be used to develop a complete, trusted, and intelligent view of customers. This brings us to our next point: Quality matters.
Our research shows that 89% say contact data has become more important than ever to reach their customers during the pandemic and now. Additionally, 93% say the quality of contact data has become more important over the last year. The key reasons for this are to:
- Enhance the overall customer experience
- To better enable customer identification and verification
- To meet increasing compliance or governance requirements
Customer contact information only goes so far—leaders need to have confidence that information is validated, so any customer outreach initiatives are effective and efficient. Ultimately, saving time, cost, and resources.
What type of contact data is most important these days?
These days, organizations have several channels through which they can reach out to and stay in touch with their customers—from traditional channels like email and phone to innovative ways like social media. Overall, organizations believe email to be the most powerful communication channel. They are also looking to implement a multi-channel approach by using these lines of communication:
- Email data: 72% say that this is the channel most relied upon to reach and stay in touch with their customers.
- Phone data: Over half of respondents say that they rely on this channel as a way to reach and stay connected with customers, and 42% believe this will continue to be an important channel over the next year.
- Identity data: In this case, we are referring to name and data of birth. Our research shows that about half believe that identity data to be important information in the next year. This helps with personalizing outreach campaigns.
- Location data: Also seen as delivery point data, we find that 42% of organizations believe this to be one of the most important types of contact data going into next year.
- Social media data: Organizations are now also seeing a customer’s social media handle as a valuable piece of contact data. We find that 44% say they currently rely on social media handles and identification to connect with customers, while 41% believe it will remain an important channel through next year.
Today, business leaders realize that to have business agility they need data agility—and high-quality insights must be accessible to take swift action. We are seeing more and more organizations focusing on their data maturity and data management as an important part of business best practices. As organizations invest in the maturity of their data management programs, they seek ways to build a sturdy yet flexible infrastructure through trustworthy data, user-friendly solutions, and data masterminds. In turn, the benefits of agile data practices result in improved customer experience, operational efficiency, and digital transformation. All of which are essential to business growth in today’s competitive realm.
Experian’s latest research unlocks the importance of data agility in a rapidly transforming market. We surveyed over 900 business leaders in three continents on the impact of high-quality data in today’s digital landscape. Download the research to access our insights!