It is essential for companies to have a simplified database, both for confirming effective contact with their clients and preserving agreement standards. Data cleansing is the method of correcting inaccurate data within the database.
It refers to recognizing the inaccurate data and then modifying it properly. With reference to client database, data cleansing is the process of keeping reliable and precise database through removal of inaccurate data.
Importance Of Data Cleansing
The decisive goal of data cleansing and maintaining a clean database is to duplicating multiple records and creating one with all relevant data. This process of data cleansing and maintaining clean client database offers various benefits to business, including:
- A clean database can provide more precise prospect information which helps to better sales targeting and management.
- Data cleansing helps to remove invalid emails and can save on mailing costs.
- Easily group and filter data for segmenting your database.
- Improve the efficiency of customer acquisition.
- Enhance the email deliverability rate
Though, sustaining a clean client database is a difficult task. Further, many companies, based on different criteria (email-list, prospect list, purchase history) have various databases. A few steps that can help in combining the client data maintain clean database are as below:
Procedure To Cleanse Data:
1. Data Audit:
- The principal step to data cleansing, is the thorough auditing of all customer databases. The reviewing should be done using statistical and database methods to detect inconsistencies and inaccuracies. The information should be used to infer characteristics and location of inconsistencies, which can lead to root cause of the problem.
2. Merge Data:
- The process of cleansing the database should not be restricted to just the recognizing and removal of inaccurate data from client database. It should be used as a prospect to combine customer data and other information like email ids, phone numbers or additional contacts should be combined whenever possible.
3. Feedback:
- The business should launch a control mechanism where any erroneous data gets reported and gets updated into database. For instance, there should be a control and feedback mechanism for emails and any email which is undelivered owing to an incorrect address, should be reported and the invalid email address cleansed from the customer data.
4. Use Various Methods:
- The process of auditing of a database should not be restricted to analysis through statistical or database methods and further steps like buying external data and comparing it against internal data can be used. Moreover, if a business has restraints of time and employees, it can use the services of external company. However, in this approach, the business needs to be careful with respect to their brand image and the way of working of external company.
Data cleansing is a difficult yet critical process and needs devotion of dedicated time and resources. The processes stated above would certainly help in the making of a clean database which deals several benefits across functions and serves as a critical factor in the growth of business. Hence, businesses should make investment in data cleansing and data management a top priority.
Looking for an outsourcing partner to avoid data cleansing errors?
