In this day of fewer customer purchases, it is more important than ever that all companies profile their most profitable customers and manage that data to help drive performance and future sales. Unfortunately, a new report has found that 30 percent of UK organizations do not profile their contact data to understand which customers are the most profitable.

“Contact Data Management: The Wise Investor” is a free report that evaluates the attitude that organizations have toward their quality data. It also provides strategic advice on how to prioritize contact data management projects and how to track the return on investment.  

Stuart Johnston, UK Managing Director of Experian QAS, commented in a company statement: “The bedrock for any customer management strategy is having high quality data insight.  Despite the 80/20 rule, nearly a third of UK organizations admit that they do not even know if they have the right name and address details for their most valuable client contacts. 

"Our new report provides the latest thinking on why contact data management is even more important in today’s climate and addresses the issues facing organizations right now, but also those they are likely to encounter in the future,” Johnston added.

According to this report, which drew data from a survey of more than 600 professionals responsible for data management in the UK, less than half of respondents analyze their most profitable customers to help influence marketing strategy and drive new business revenues. In failing to do so, these companies are missing significant opportunities for up- and cross-selling within their contact centers.

Stuart Johnston added: “Despite these stark findings, the good news is that the majority of organizations we interviewed said they plan to invest heavily in data quality over the next six months to improve their contact data management strategies. As our report outlines, investment should be governed by a clear strategy to ensure that it is concentrated in the right areas and will have a quick impact on business performance.”

This report shows that too many UK organizations are failing to realize the opportunity they have in their contact centers. The center serves as the perfect portal for data collection and if the organization or the contact center fails to manage it properly, they are squandering one of their most valuable resources.

There are a number of data management tools available to help the contact center to properly store and manage customer data. Considering the revenue these companies could gain from selling to current customers, the investment would be worth the time and money.