Do You Trust Your Data? The 4 Things You Should Know

What are the biggest challenges facing direct marketers? A lack of collaboration between sales and marketing systems, and data-related issues are the top two challenges vexing marketers, states a recent report from Extraprise. Here’s what you need to know to tackle these growing problems head-on.

According to the study by Extraprise – a database marketing firm and CRM systems provider – more than half (54 percent) of B2B companies surveyed indicated that the lack of sales and marketing collaboration is their most important challenge. Only half (52 percent) of companies surveyed claimed to have integration between their sales and marketing systems.

Slightly more than one-third (39 percent of respondents) state that data-related issues are the next challenge facing their marketing efforts, the study notes. As a result, an overwhelming majority of B2B respondents (87 percent) say they have little confident in their customer data.

There is a solution. According to the study, companies looking to gain confidence in their customer data must bridge the gap between the sales and marketing organizations by improving the following:

• Data – The starting point for most improvement projects. If you wish to improve marketing, you can’t achieve anything with inadequate, incomplete or incorrect data.

• Process is not static. The next place to invest is in a continuous process to capture, correct and standardize data. Get the right data to the right people at the right time.

• Systems – Automate as many steps as possible. Focus internal investments on the mission. Outsource the activities.

• People – Focus your brain trust on the highest value insights and automate the key processes. Outsource for expertise and execution.

Find the right solution here.
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