The 7 C's of Data Quality

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Data quality is really important. Why? Because it helps you save money while increasing profits because of accurate contact data. It’s important to understand what data quality is and why it is important. To explain data quality well, let’s look at the 7 C’s:

These are the building blocks of data quality and provide you with a quick reference to assess your contact data.

Certified Accuracy

First up is certified accuracy. Did you know that the average U.S. company spends $180,000 a year on mail that never reaches the recipient? Do you know the percentage of your addresses that are deliverable? There is a way for you to know that the addresses in your database are correct. With a CASS Certified solution, you can validate, correct and standardize contact address data.

Confidence

Next up is confidence. We are specifically talking about E-Confidence with this “C.” Identity theft costs an average of $5,000 per incident resulting in nearly 48 billion dollars a year. Are you confident in whom your customer says they are? Avoid fraud by using a point-of-entry data verification solution to know the true identity of your customer.

Cost Savings

Thirdly, we have cost savings. Twenty-five percent of bad data is due to data-entry errors causing U.S. businesses to lose $600 billion a year. Bad data should and can be stopped before it enters your database. Employ a data quality firewall at the point-of-entry to immediately verify the accuracy of information.

Campaign Intelligence

Campaign intelligence is next up in the 7 C’s. With a geocoding solution,you can get a more accurate view of your customers. Geocoding assigns precise latitude and longitude coordinates to the addresses in your database. This allows you to see where your customer lives and works in order to define and analyze the needs of your target population.

Consolidated

The next “C” is consolidated. Did you know that up to 8% to 10% of records in a database are duplicates? Every business should aim to get rid of duplicates and replace them with a golden record. A golden record is the final step in record consolidation. Three common techniques that are used to create a golden record are most recent, most frequent and most complete.

Completed

Next up is completed. Completing the records in your database by appending additional information that is missing can increase your lead generation and revenue potential opportunities. Fill in missing emails, addresses, and more to ensure you obtain a complete record.

Compliant

Lastly we have compliant. Maintaining quality data that complies with internal and external regulations can be tricky, but it is essential. Poor data leads to poor decisions which undermine your customer relationships and credibility.

After reading through the 7 C’s, how would you rate your business? Take the next step and upload your data for a complimentary data quality audit from professionals at Melissa Data. It’s simple and quick. Visit www.melissadata.com/score for your free assessment.

Natalia Crawford is a Copywriter/Content Marketer at Melissa Data where she manages digital marketing.