We all know good data is clean data – that goes without saying. And like good health and hygiene, a state of clean data is best when it becomes a habit (don’t worry, this isn’t going to turn into one of those kinds of lectures about making sure you brush and floss twice a day). However, here are a few tips / things to be mindful of to do with maintaining a clean data culture in your organization:
- Start Backwards. Start with what you you are going to use the data for, then work backwards to see where that data will come from. Sources such as forms, CRM’s etc. This is one way to ensure that you are capturing the data you need.
- Keep it Clean. Have a separate field for all your data. If it’s the middle initials, make sure it’s in a separate field. Combining fields just makes it difficult to de-duplicate, search and manage that piece of data.
- ID Your Data. Each record added into your database should have its own ID generated. If the case is – you are integrating to another source for this data like a CRM, then ensure the Member ID is pulled from that CRM. By doing so, you’re ensuring that data is consistent throughout the entire ecosystem of your event business.
- Maintain, Maintain, Maintain. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that having clean data is an all-or-nothing proposition, rather view it as an ongoing process. Clean your most important data first and then work out from there. Typically this will be existing customer data, followed by new leads, etc. This of course will vary depending on your organization.
- Examine Your Business Processes. Look for potential data quality obstacles, such as points where data is entered manually or information going between one application to the next. Implement data entry standards for manually entry and make sure information formatting between one application and another align so that data aberrations don’t occur.
We love talking about data here at Streampoint, so if you’ve got any suggestions or things that you’ve found that have worked for your organization, we’d love to hear them. Drop us a line at info@streampoint.com and let’s keep the data discussion ongoing.
