What’s the worst that can happen if your B2B data list isn’t totally, spotlessly clean? A bounced email, or ending up in the spam folder? Actually, it can be a whole lot worse than that. Each inaccuracy can cost your business money, in some quite significant ways. This is why it’s worth putting the time into data cleansing.
5 ways dirty data is hurting your bottom line
Here are just a handful of the worse-case things that can happen when you neglect to clean up your ‘dirty’ data:
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A potentially lucrative new client finds out about a cheaper deal you’re offering elsewhere
How does this happen? Imagine you’ve spent a lot of time selling a software upgrade to a client, only to send out a blanket campaign to everyone on your list offering the same software but with a massive discount on it. That’s the sale and any future sales from this client gone in an instant, as well as breaking down the trust between your organisation and the client.
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A vital missing link in the sales funnel
So, you’ve spent a good long while funnelling a customer through your sales process and now they are finally ready to buy. But what if they miss the email containing the final details or the contract to sign, or it goes to the wrong person? This can happen if a key contact changes within the customer’s organisation, such as being passed over to the purchasing manager or your main contact leaving the company. Missing out any link in the sales funnel can slow the whole process down or worse, cause the lead to lose interest and go elsewhere.
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Reputational damage
If you’re sending out the same emails to recipients over again, contacting the wrong people or missing key contacts out altogether, it sends a very negative message about your organisations and its professionalism. It also means that you aren’t able to carefully monitor and target your messages if you’re sending them out to a blanket list possibly containing outdated data. It’s not just that one contact who will think poorly of you, but they could end up telling their colleagues and associates – meaning that the reputational damage could soon spread.
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Blacklisting
Most companies are aware that if their email bounce rate is too high, it could result in being blacklisted by mail providers. Despite this, so many neglect to remove outdated contacts from their email data lists. This is a major mistake, as being blacklisted can mean that no one will see your emails – rendering all of your marketing efforts a big waste of time.
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Inability to monitor sales performance
Precise and accurate data allows your sales team to monitor their performance, and to provide a picture of the buyer’s experience throughout the sales cycle. Without this data, you will not be able to do anything to improve efficiency or productivity. Your salespeople will essentially be working in the dark.
