US firms admit losing control of customer data

Organisations around the world admit to losing six per cent of annual revenue owing to poor management of customer data, newly published research has claimed.

According to a survey into global data quality published today by QAS, a division of Experian's Marketing Services business, US companies are among the worst affected by poor data management with losses averaging 7.3 per cent of revenue.

"For the first time we can assign a number to ineffective, siloed data quality initiatives in American corporations," said Mark Parise, president of Experian Marketing Services.

"A 7.3 per cent loss is a figure that forward-thinking business leaders can use to influence their companies to take action to solve this pervasive problem. "

Globally, 75 per cent of commercial businesses believe that they are losing money through missed business opportunities because they are unable quickly and effectively to profile customer and prospect data owing to data quality issues.

The figures are above average in the US, where 77 per cent of companies admit to shortcomings in data quality having detrimental effects on their bottom lines.

In the public sector, 60 per cent of organisations worldwide believe that inaccurate data costs them money in terms of wasted resources and lost productivity.

One in 10 of these organisations believe that more than five per cent of their annual budget is wasted in this way. The main problem stems from duplicated data and incorrectly addressed mail.

"The effect of poorly managed data on global organisations goes beyond the financial repercussions created by missed business opportunities," said Joel Curry, vice president of business development at QAS.

"Poor data quality affects how consumers perceive an organisation's brand, and makes compliance with government regulations more difficult.

"Businesses must nurture a data integrity culture from the ground up so that each individual recognises the value of customer data and the importance of maintaining its integrity."