Customer Data Integration: Reaching a Single Version of the Truth

MANAGER DO’S AND DON’TS

In many ways, CDI is less a new technology and more a new model. It can transform the way your company processes its customer information. As you begin formulating reasons why CDI might be the right answer in your company, expect to shift some paradigms. In doing so, consider the following do’s and don’ts:

• Do take the time to scope out the immediate need for CDI. While an authoritative customer system of record is the desired outcome, where you start is more likely to determine your long-term success. For instance, sales reps for the private banking division of a financial institution didn’t have a holistic understanding of all their customers’ products and tried cross-selling products like mortgage insurance to banking customers who didn’t have home loans. Combining and reconciling products across service and sales channels to a single customer was the on-ramp to a larger, enterprise-wide CDI effort.

• Don’t ignore difficult people or departments when doing your CDI research. The need for an authoritative source of customer data comes from all corners of the company. People or departments that feel slighted might try their own initiative and become the saboteurs.

• Do articulate what you and your company mean by “customer.” Sometimes “customer” is used as a catch-all for a variety of parties that may include partners, suppliers, prospects, employees, taxpayers, resellers, contractors, or anyone your company does business with and needs to track. In ...