Businesses worldwide lose an estimated 6% of annual revenue due to poor management of customer data, according to a survey into global data quality by QAS, a division of Experian’s Marketing Services Business. In comparison, businesses in the United States admit to losing 7.3% of revenue.
“The effect poorly managed data has on global organizations goes beyond the financial repercussions created by missing business opportunities,” Joel Curry, vice president of business development for QAS, said in a statement. “Poor data quality affects how consumers perceive an organization’s brand, and makes compliance with government regulations more difficult.”
Curry said that businesses must nurture a data integrity culture from the ground up so that each individual recognizes the value of customer data and the importance in maintaining its integrity.
Globally 75% of commercial businesses believe that they are losing money through missed business opportunities because they are unable to quickly and effectively profile customer and prospect data due to data quality issues. In the U.S., 77% of companies admitting that shortcomings in data quality are hurting business.
The research also shows that, on a global scale, more than 50% of organizations plan to invest in better data management practices in the next 12 months. Three-quarters of the “profitable” companies plan to do so, as do more than a third of those breaking even or taking a loss.
“This shows the firm commitment to improving standards in data integrity across organizations worldwide,” Curry said.
The research was conducted in June 2005 to establish the levels of accurate customer data held within organizations and how important this data is perceived to be. Dynamic Markets was commissioned by QAS to speak to 550 respondents in large public and private organizations in Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. Sectors represented by the sample include banking, insurance, finance, retail, telecoms, utilities, leisure, tourism, travel, and the public sector.