CRM Data is Incorrect or Out of Date

Frost & Sullivan and IBM write about the problems with CRM data.   The article contains many statistics about the problem and how integrating solutions that making connections between the channels your customers have started to use and your decision making capabilities have become essential.  " ... 23% of an organization’s CRM data is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date... "    This document is about how smarter commerce can help to place that intelligence in place and in context.

Now 12% of the US population refer to social media before making a decision, and the data that comes from social is usually unstructured.    Large enterprises have increasingly looked at this data to leverage what they do.  But now smaller companies can play in the space effectively. .  Because this kind of data tends to be volatile and near real time as well,  its accuracy and timeliness is essential.

In addition, it is more important than ever to make sure that you quickly close the loop with your customer in the same social spaces.  Do your managers and executives know when your customers are making important statements about products and services?

So what is needed?  The ability to integrate solution methods that look for patterns, inform decision makers about changes that occur, and link those patterns to specific processes within a company.  That provides the platform for real time action that allows the midsize company to plan, react and ultimately compete.

Excellent document, well worth reading.

This post was written as part of the IBM for Midsize Business program, which provides midsize businesses with the tools, expertise and solutions they need to become engines  of a smarter planet. More on that here:  http://goo.gl/S6P7m