DQ-BE: Dear Valued Customer
/Data Quality By Example (DQ-BE) is an OCDQ regular segment that provides examples of data quality key concepts.
The term “valued customer” is bandied about quite frequently and is often at the heart of enterprise data management initiatives such as Customer Data Integration (CDI), 360° Customer View, and Customer Master Data Management (MDM).
The role of data quality in these initiatives is an important, but sometimes mistakenly overlooked, consideration.
For example, the Service Contract Renewal Notice (shown above) I recently received exemplifies the impact of poor data quality on Customer Relationship Management (CRM) since one of my service providers wants me—as a valued customer—to purchase a new service contract for one of my laptop computers.
Let’s give them props for generating a 100% accurate residential postal address, since how could I even consider renewing my service contract if I don’t receive the renewal notice in the mail? Let’s also acknowledge my Customer ID is also 100% accurate, since that is the “unique identifier” under which I have purchased all of my products and services from this company.
However, the biggest data quality mistake is that the name of their “Valued Customer” is not INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT. (And they get bonus negative points for writing it in ALL CAPS).
The moral of the story is that if you truly value your customers, then you should truly value your customer data quality.
At the very least—get your customer’s name right.
Related Posts
Identifying Duplicate Customers
Adventures in Data Profiling (Part 7) – Customer Name
The Quest for the Golden Copy (Part 3) – Defining “Customer”
‘Tis the Season for Data Quality
DQ-IRL (Data Quality in Real Life)
