In Data Collection

5 Ways To Improve Consumer Data Quality

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a thousand times—every business, no matter the size or industry, needs quality data.

According to data.com, Poor data quality is a primary reason for 40% of all business initiatives failing to achieve their targeted benefits.

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Quality data is key to understanding who your customers are, achieving success with your various marketing and sales initiatives, and ultimately the growth of your company.

When tracked correctly, data lets you collect valuable information about your customers—information you wouldn’t be able to access otherwise. However, you don’t want to collect just any data. You need to ensure that the quality of your data is excellent, and we want to help you get there.

If your company is struggling with flawed or incomplete data, there are improvements you can make to ensure you’re receiving quality data all the time, every time.

Follow along with us below to learn five ways you can improve consumer data quality for your business.

Why Is Data Quality Important?

When you are collecting data, you need to make sure it is…

  • Complete
  • Consistent
  • Valid
  • Accurate
  • Timely
  • Relevant

If your data does not match these criteria, then you are not collecting quality data. When data is incomplete, you are missing out on opportunities to learn more about your customers. If data is inconsistent, you won’t be able to track trends between data sets.

Data that is inaccurate or invalid harms your company—especially if you are using and learning from flawed data. Lastly, your data needs to be in real-time and relevant. If your company is operating on outdated data, then it’s doubtful your business will see success in terms of data quality.

As we mentioned before—and we cannot stress this enough—quality (complete, consistent, accurate, valid, timely and relevant) data is essential to understanding your customers and therefore growing your business.

So, if your data collection methods need an upgrade, this is the blog for you. Here’s how to ensure data quality in your company:

How You Can Ensure Quality Customer Data

1. Identify What You Need To Measure

When you’re collecting any type of data, you need to first identify what you want to measure. We’re sure you already have some ideas. Revisit these ideas, and see where there is room for growth.

Maybe some of the things you wanted to track in the past are no longer relevant. Re-work, remove and add new questions and parameters as you see fit. Do your best to use these questions to rebuild your current data collection system.

When you take the time to identify key factors you want to measure, collecting quality data becomes much more attainable. We suggest gathering this information from your consumers (at minimum):

  • Personal demographics
  • Purchase information
  • Customer satisfaction scores
  • Product reviews

2. Cleanse Your Data

Data cleansing has many benefits, from improving efficiency and decision making, to increasing your company’s revenue. It will also help you eliminate non-quality data and help you work towards better data that is consistent, complete, accurate, valid, timely and relevant.

When you’re cleansing your data, you want to keep a lookout for duplicates, incompleteness and inaccuracy. You’re also going to need to monitor for invalid data entry in the future, as well as trends in inaccuracy—it may suggest more serious issues.

By cleansing your data, you will not only have more quality data now, but your company will benefit from it in the future as well.

3. Collect Self-Reported Data

If you’ve been keeping up with our recent posts, then you know third-party data is out and self-reported data is in! It’s no secret that every company wants to collect data, however, companies usually don’t take the time to look into where the data is coming from.

While it may make sense to outsource your consumer data to a third-party, third-party vendors may not be returning the most quality data. This is why it’s so important to track your own data!

When you are managing your own company’s data, you are able to have a hand in every part. You can track trends, see where things may be off and continue helping your company flourish. By keeping your data collection in-house, you will have a much stronger chance of cultivating quality data.

Don’t forget about your team, too! Train them so they know what to track, how to track it and how to report on it. You want your teammates to care as much about quality data as you do, so always keep them in the loop.

While the benefits of self-reported data are huge, gathering consumer data isn’t as easy as it sounds. So, you may want to consider offering some incentives in exchange for consumer information. It’s a win for your customer, and a win for your business because you get the quality data you need.

Here are two ways to gather consumer data through incentives and ensure quality data:

4. Implement A Digital Warranty Program

In exchange for consumer information, offer a digital warranty that your customers can activate online. When it comes to collecting consumer data—quality data that is—you aren’t going to want to use outdated mail-in warranty submissions (unless that’s what works best for your customer base!).

Mail-in submissions are not only a burden for you, but also for customers. Customers will be less willing to give their information if they have to write it out and mail it in. Not to mention, your team is the one inputting the data—leaving more room for error.

However, if customers are able to input their information digitally, you can count on collecting more complete, accurate and consistent data.

5. Take Advantage of Rebate Submissions

Lastly, your business needs to be taking advantage of rebate submissions. Many companies operate under the mindset that rebate submissions make their company lose money. So, they make difficult rebate programs that customers won’t want to apply for.

However, you should want consumers to fill out rebate submissions—after all, how else will you collect their data? By offering a rebate submission type that your customers will appreciate (whether it’s mail-in, online or a hybrid of the two), you’re almost guaranteed to receive quality consumer data in return.

You can use this consumer data to narrow down who your customer is, what they like and what they want to see more of in the future. When you take advantage of quality data, you’re able to construct a roadmap for your company’s future. You can plan new product avenues, update marketing campaigns and so much more off of the information gathered from rebate submissions.

So you know you need quality data, and that you should implement incentive programs to collect it… but what now?

When You Need Quality Data, Leave the Incentives to the Experts

Here at Incentive Insights, we specialize in implementing incentive programs that drive quality consumer data. We know the value of quality data, and want to help you collect data that is complete, consistent, accurate, valid, timely and relevant.

Quality data is essential for any company, and incentive programs like digital warranties and rebate submissions help you collect the data you so desperately need.

We’ve seen first-hand the benefits companies can reap from introducing incentive programs to their customers. When it comes to rebates, we truly are the experts. If you’re ready to enroll in an incentive program, we’re ready to help.

Contact us to learn more about how our incentive programs can help your company grow by collecting quality consumer data. Then, download our free guide below, Incentive Insights Guide To A Successful Customer Rebate Program.

Download The Guide

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