One of the impacts of the pandemic was that customer experiences and expectations changed – as business and communications moved online more and more, expectations from consumers was for businesses to accelerate their digital initiatives and to transform their products and services into new digital formats. This left businesses across the globe with no choice but to embark on a digital transformation journey with customer data being at the heart of any such transformation.
Customer data refers to any personal, behavioural, psychological or demographic data gathered throughout the customer journey. With each touchpoint, new departments may be involved and this usually means that each is collecting the data, which is relevant to them. Therefore, across the business, problems such as duplicate entries, outdated or incorrect information, or data silos (collections of data, which are isolated to groups of people across the business) become apparent.
Data is one of the most valuable business assets. Therefore, when data is “silo-ed” within a team, it can present a number of negative impacts.
Data silos can result in a lack of transparency, efficiency and trust within the business and across customers.
Breaking down data silos will expose rich information and insights. However, doing this will require businesses to invest heavily in new technologies. Such technologies offer an end-to-end data platform and integration flexibility, which enable businesses to plan and outline their business needs and most importantly, define a data governance policy. Further benefits of making this investment are:
The first step to breaking down departmental silos is to identify where the data currently sits, how it is collected, and how relevant or outdated it is. Once the data has been gathered and audited, ask your teams to identify their day-to-day challenges with their existing data management system(s). The next and most crucial step is to decide which platform you will use as your single-source of truth and which systems will be integrated to it.
The data platform chosen should:
Now that the data has been centralised, the final part to breaking down departmental silos is to encourage teams to collaborate and connect. Leverage the expertise gathered from the business area to drive marketing strategy or product launches.
The breakdown of data silos and use of a centralised data management platform can provide businesses with significant benefits when compared to the traditional methods of storing data.
Most importantly, giving teams an up-to-date, holistic view of the information will ensure an overall improvement to the experience they deliver.
Data is the backbone of any successful organisation. It allows you to understand who your customers are and what they are saying about your brand. Having the right tools to ensure you can utilise and understand your data is an important step in any digital transformation journey.
References: