A surprising number of firms have never considered the need for data cleansing. It is not obvious that, over time, information degrades. To realise that this is the case firms have to actively look at their data, something that the majority of firms simply do not do.
Why Data Cleansing is Necessary
Over time, your databases become cluttered up with defunct information. This is especially the case when it comes to customer information. Many firms are sending out promotional and marketing materials to customers who have moved or to other firms who have gone out of business years ago. This is clearly a waste of time, money and other resources.
In addition, it is not uncommon for duplicate entries to occur over time. For example, if you sell stationery the chances are the majority of your biggest customers will be firms. Over the years, the person responsible for procurement is likely to change at these firms. It is surprisingly easy to end up adding the new person’s name to the customer database as a separate entry. This means that they get a copy of the marketing material, but a second duplicate set can still end up being sent to their predecessor.
Another common problem is incomplete addresses. This can mean marketing material is being sent out, but not actually arriving at its destination.
This kind of thing can happen with all kinds of information. If you are sending, mail to hundreds of customers each year the chances of spotting these problems by chance is virtually nil.
Getting Professional Help with Data Cleansing
However, tidying up your data can be time consuming and a difficult task to get right. Going through each record one at a time and double-checking each entry is not an efficient way to clean up data.
Luckily, it is possible to get help with data cleansing. The best approach is to put this task in the hands of a professional data firm. They have the software, equipment and experience to carry out this task quickly and efficiently. The best firms will do it for far less than it would cost you to do the task yourself.
The Data Octopus offers a fantastic data cleansing service. They have been managing data for over 20 years, so have the experience you need.