All business and service industries generate data from different sources, and all the data has to come together at one point. Ranging from ‘Excel’ to ‘The Cloud,” data can be stored anywhere and in many forms. Every time you have to clean up your data mess and required to organize the data in one centralized repository to make it convenient to use. 

Data centralization just provides huge benefits, it is also essential for many reasons – 

 Reduction of Bad Data

Companies understand that bad data costs them money. Almost 15% of annual revenue is reported to be wasted due to a poor database. The majority of data inconsistency is caused due to information in parallel car parts database, and transfer of data in various departments. Not deploying a single point of entry and keeping all data into a centralized system is a tough job. So, centralized data management becomes an absolute necessity.

Enables cross-silo tracking

Opportunistic sales that are based on the customer’s needs are possible only if data travels in the right direction, from the point of lead generation. All of the departments like sales, post-sales, customer services must have a single database to easily access the information required. 

B2B contact database providers know how customer services work with sales. For example, if a customer calls the customer service department with some problem, and sales have to call the customer again in the future, then all the details of the interaction should be maintained in the same database, which the salesperson is using. This will help to improve cross-sale offers based on the customer’s experience and will help in maintaining customer satisfaction. 

Removing inactive contacts

Introducing a good CRM system helps in the removal of contacts that have stayed inactive for a long period of time. This is done by querying the database and returning inactive users for a specific period. After locating the nature of the inactivity, the decisions are made of either keeping the contact or dropping them. 

It is recommended here to not follow the leads that are clearly not interested in your services and products, as this may cause severe damage to the company’s reputation.

Setting up alerts

B2B contact database providers help in maintaining a CRM database to set up alerts when certain actions take place. For example, in-place of deleting duplicates automatically, you can set up an alert for your CRM that prompts you when duplicate data is spotted. This process is extremely useful when two leads have the same first and last names but with different email addresses. 

Accurate Insightful Analytics

A business should know that how a lead source has been handled and what nurturing steps have been taken that may impact the post-purchase customer experience. Analytics and reporting are some of the top marketing tools and are always the priority for purchasing marketing technology. All these researches can only be successfully carried out when there is a centralized database system, with a clear approach. 

Monitor email campaign results

It is important to maintain a close watch on the process of emailing and looking out for the bounced emails. Based on the observations, a database should be cleaned up accordingly, to maintain a more robust client base. 

B2B contact database providers provide tangible steps to ensure a secured customer database. Some of the measures taken can be:

  • Deploying a proper CRM
  • Investments in data backup systems
  • Proper customer data training for the employees
  • Providing straightforward survey asking for specific information
  • Prompting customers to opt in to share valuable information
  • Go for a data audit, to know what information do you already have
  • Find the type of backup plan suited for your business
  • Help track customer’s interactions
  • Align all of your data with your overall company goals

Conclusion 

Centralized data management is a procedure to maintain, collect, manage, and store a database of customer information for improving a company’s overall services, and products. Effective data management can help in increased sales with improved customer satisfaction. Strategically managing data will ultimately add a significant value to your customers and ultimately will be beneficial for your company.