By Fiona Ness on Mon 09 December 2013 in CRM
Over the last couple of years the term ‘Big Data’ has become a hot topic. What isn’t clear is, is this all just hype or are we on the brink of something fantastic? Well if I’m honest I don’t know.
What I do know is that big data isn’t anything fancy, it is just really large amounts of data, and I recently went to a conference that compared Big Data to teenage sex. This made me feel much better about not knowing:
Everyone talks about it, nobody really knows how to do it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they’re doing it.
Whilst you might be dealing with large amounts of data you can rest assure that if you don’t know what you’re doing with it you’re not alone.
So here’s what I’m suggesting… forget big data. Even if you do think it’s relevant no one really knows what they’re doing with it, and unless you’re the WalMarts or Amazons of the world it probably isn’t that relevant. Focus on good data instead.
The more we are told to make experiences personal and targeted the more important quality data becomes. Good data is crucial in the sales and marketing process as a foundation for your customer relationship. Make sure your focus is on something that works. Plus the better your data, the easier it is to meet those customer expectations I mentioned on Friday.
Work on what you’ve already got, make it better, use it more and see it perform. In B2B environments data is thought to degrade at around 6% per month. Instead of worrying about you big your data is, worry about how accurate it is.
Realistically unless the data you have is useful and you know what to do with it there is no point in even entertaining the idea of big data.
Until 5pm on Tuesday 10th December we are offering existing customers a full days CRM training for half the price. Speak to your Account Manager now for more details.