It’s crucial to focus on relevant customer data

In your feature on data management (MW last week), David Miller hit the nail on the head. Why do so many organisations strive for the utopian “single customer view”, at the sacrifice of generating tangible results along the way?

In your feature on data management (MW last week), David Miller hit the nail on the head. Why do so many organisations strive for the utopian “single customer view”, at the sacrifice of generating tangible results along the way?

There’s something of a fallacy in marketing communications that the more data you have, the better performance you’ll achieve.

But this isn’t the case. Organisations need to focus on elements of customer data that are relevant and can be used to drive marketing activity. Being “data light” and not clogging up systems with masses of irrelevant information allows for a much more responsive and flexible use of data, and is a more manageable achievement for most businesses.

The process of getting the right systems and practices in place needs to be conducted with what you actually need the data for at the front of the mind. This seems to be the legacy of CRM – complex data management tools that try to create a single customer view, but don’t match up with the organisation’s data needs.

We work with clients to help them think about both the long- and short-term objectives, so they can be data light while taking steps towards better customer management and data exploitation, and have an immediate impact on their bottom line.

Remember the old adage – in data terms, less is definitely more.

Martin Boddy

Managing partner

Jaywing Wakefield