This Is How You Break Up Your Data Silos

During the course of a business relationship, you capture vast amounts of data about your customers, partners and suppliers. Each area in your company, such as sales, marketing, purchasing or accounting, collects and uses this data in different ways to fulfill its specific tasks and meet the demands placed on it.

However, you quickly encounter a problem here. If each department only thinks about their own tasks and challenges and does not share information with the other areas within your company, data silos can form. In order to be successful and remain so in the long term, it is important that all colleagues have access to all the data you collect about your contacts. This combined knowledge can flow into your customer experience and your customer centricity - and it can give you an edge over your competitors.

In this article, you'll find out what data silos are, how to break them down, and how a Customer Data Platform can revolutionize your customer experience.

What are data silos?

The term data silo is used when data and information are stored in different places that are not easily accessible for all colleagues. Most silos arise over time automatically, as it is often not communicated that other areas accumulate similar data and use it in their daily work. The separation accumulation is further reinforced by individual order structures and programs that are used, for example, in the marketing or sales areas, which means that you cannot fully exploit the potential of your data. Added to this is that data stored multiple times increase your administrative effort and bind resources in your data storage. Furthermore, separated data and information lead to incorrect evaluations or assessments, as your knowledge about your customers, their needs and the success of your products can be distorted. It can also happen that you make offers to your customers or provide information that your colleagues have already shared in advance. This is not only unpleasant, but also inefficient.

If you store the data in one central location, any person who interacts with your customers or business partners can significantly improve the communication and customer experience. You should be able to understand, for example, what their purchasing behavior is, how they return their products and what their financial profitability is. By breaking up your data silos, you increase your view of your customers from 180 to 360 degrees. This added value for the customer experience is a crucial factor for your sales growth and a clear differentiator against your competition.

How to successfully break down your data silos.

You may think that your customer experiences are already very good. Approximately 80 percent of companies say this about their customer relationships - however, only 8 percent of customers agree. This can result in potentially large revenue losses. For this reason, it is especially important that you identify and break down your data silos. Proceed as follows:

1. Identify your data silos:You can already identify the presence of information silos if your colleagues need a lot of time to collate all the data from different systems to get a complete picture of your contacts. If the information from the different storage locations then differs from each other, this also speaks for the strong manifestation of a data silo. The incompleteness of analysis and evaluations can be another indicator of this.
2. Formulate a goal for the restructuring: Think about what business goal you want to pursue and what you expect from this transformation process. Involve all relevant departments in your company in order to capture as many perspectives as possible and gain a comprehensive understanding.
3. Develop a strategy for centralizing your data: Before implementation, there is the strategic orientation of your data centralization. Determine whether you want to collate all data or whether the centralization should only concern the raw data. Beforehand, get an overview of where data is collected in your company and how it is stored. You should also prioritize the information according to its sensitivity and quality.
4. Get your colleagues on board early:A crucial factor in the success of implementing a new initiative and changing work processes are your colleagues. They have to work with the new system and therefore accept it. Get them on board early, take plenty of time for training and answer their questions. This way, you ensure a cross-departmental data mentality and maintain a consistent quality for your customer experience.
5. Get started with data integration:Now it's time for the grunt work. That is, collecting all the information from the existing systems and cleaning it up. Make sure that access to the data is easy and uncomplicated. In a central database, you always have an overview and can best use the data available to you.

These software can help you break down your data silos

In order to be able to use all the information available in your company in a targeted manner after breaking down your data silos, you need suitable software. A Customer Data Platform, also abbreviated to CDP, is ideal for the efficient processing and use of your customer data, as it centralizes, harmonizes, evaluates and interprets it. At the same time, the CDP software enriches your customer data into a complex customer profile, which you can use to improve your customer experience - both online and offline.

By using such a platform, your colleagues' trust in the accuracy and credibility of the data increases. Through intelligent branching, the Customer Data Platform forwards all relevant information to other systems you use, which enables you to carry out personalized and therefore promising advertising.

This way, you generate a consistent customer experience across all channels that delights your customers. Your data is linked in real time with the respective customer profile and can be used directly. This supports you in making important decisions promptly. By expanding your customer profiles into a comprehensive 360-degree view and understanding their needs, you transform your leads into real conversions that are convinced of you and your company. This becomes a real sales magnet, underpinning a consistent, value-adding communication.

On the software market, there are many Customer Data Platforms that you can use to break down your data silos and improve your customer experiences. On OMR Reviews, you can find reviews and reports from users about many different tools that can support you in your work. These include, among others:

SAP Customer Data Platform

BSI Customer Suite

Bloomreach

Tealium

Segment

CrossEngage

Piwik PRO Analytics Suite

Totango

We want to show you the possibilities that arise through the use of a CDP for your company using the use case of the SAP Customer Data Platform.

With the SAP Customer Data Platform you get a 360-degree view of your customers, which enables you to create customer experiences. The comprehensive information allows your customer service, your marketing or even your sales to build a trusting relationship with your customers. At the same time, the SAP Customer Data Platform connects online data with offline data. At the same time, compliance with GDPR is a central component of the platform solution. The acquired and collected data are used exclusively for their intended purpose, for example for customer analyses. The system processes your customer data in real time and presents this intuitively and clearly.

This is what your customer profiles in the SAP Customer Data Platform can look like and be enriched step by step.

On your dashboard, you can create daily, weekly and monthly reports at the turn of a hand, which support you in your decision making. As part of the overall SAP portfolio, the software offers various functions for machine learning, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT). By connecting to your ERP, the tool helps optimize your supply chains and create product innovations. The price for the SAP Customer Data Platform is available on request via the company website.

Highest data quality for your revenue maximization

Nothing is more annoying than having to painstakingly collect all the information for each campaign, offer or phone call. Because not only does it cost you time, it also costs hard cash. By using a Customer Data Platform, you ensure high data quality and the best possible customer experience. This will have a positive impact on the loyalty of your customers, the engagement of your colleagues and the success of your company. So, get down to your data!