Data becomes larger in size, in proportion with the development of new technologies that allow the creation of more comprehensive and insightful databases. But big data also causes headaches to business practitioners for it requires thorough management. Not taking care of your data quality properly renders much of your business effort pointless. There is just no benefit in trying to call inactive numbers or send emails to undeliverable addresses.
There are numerous arguments in support of data cleansing, and we are going to discuss these in further detail below.
Although we are not going to list our reasons in order of importance, we could hardly think of a more significant than this one: it saves you money and time.
Imagine having a database of a kilometric length
A database compiled of thousands of entries. Now consider the fact that 2% of information in a marketing leads database goes stale every month. This amounts to a huge number of misleading entries over the course of a year, or even 6 months. You have probably understood the importance of undergoing regular data cleansing from the figures you just read. The procedure has to be repeated once every 3 or 4 months to ensure that your databases are always in perfect condition.
Regular data cleansing will save you the trouble of contacting people who cannot be reached. Your costs will be optimized, too, when you stop investing in contacting dead phone numbers or inactive email addresses.
And if your business involves making thousands of calls every day week in and week out, you will understand how much time you have previously been wasting on trying to get hold of long invalid numbers.
Saving time and money contributes directly to efficiency improvements
Conversion rates will go higher, and substantial return on investment from your campaigns will look like a highly probable outcome, once you have had your data cleaned.
There is an added value to achieving better campaign results. Your staff will also experience a boost in their confidence. It will get much easier for them to reach their call destination when they no longer have to make calls that are doomed from the offset, simply because the numbers are inactive.
In addition to obtaining better results in your campaigns and making profit, you should not underestimate the potential of data cleansing to bring you better overall insight of your performance. You will get to understand the customers better and have a more realistic picture of your target group painted, free of inaccurate and duplicated entries.
Avoid fines of up to £500,000
Cleaning your data is a must for another big reason. It will keep you compliant with authorities’ standards. For example, fines imposed by ICO for cold calling numbers that have been registered on the TPS, range from £5000 to £500 000. Not less damaging would be the tarnish on your reputation should your company suffers the penalty and this be revealed.
The dire prospect of being fined for something easily avoidable, should trigger you to action. By relying on a professional data cleansing service, you can be certain that your databases will be cleaned of potentially harmful entries.
To sum up, let us raise the main points that advocate using data cleaning services:
- Saves your business time and money
- Improves overall efficiency
- Lifts staff morale
- Provides a clearer insight of your general performance and allows you to understand your customers better
- Helps you avoid legal financial penalties
