Why a Customer Data Platform Is the Foundation of Modern Revenue Operations

 The web-centric marketplace of the present offers organizations many avenues to record customer data through websites, CRMs, automation tools, sales apparatuses, customer support frameworks, and third-party apps. However, customer data that is recorded through these disparate channels is often of little use due to a lack of holistic infrastructure. Fragmented customer data results in stagnated business.

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) address the problem of fragmented data by providing a single, comprehensive solution for customer data. A well-implemented CDP functions beyond a typical marketing CDP by enabling businesses to make informed, timely decisions, optimize internal structures, and enhance customer experience. Revenue Operations activities of a business rely on the CDP backbone the most.

This article examines the challenges of fragmented customer data, the imperative investment of CDPs, and the opportunity for enterprises to align CDPs with targeted operating models, data governance policies, and enterprise architecture.

The Challenge of Disconnected Customer Data

Customer interaction channels for most modern enterprises include:

  • Websites
  • Email
  • CRMs
  • Customer Support
  • Social Media
  • Paid Ads
  • E-Commerce
  • Apps

Data collected in these channels is often isolated in data silos leading to inconsistent and incomplete data which in turn hampers effective business decisions, data governance policies, and ultimately, enterprise revenue.

One customer may be viewed several different ways by sales and marketing teams while the customer success and support teams may have vastly different insights. A lack of data silos affects not only customer engagement and retention but also forecasting and enterprise revenue.

Without centralized customer intelligence, organizations waste a lot of time on the maintenance of customer data, rather than the productivity of customer data.

What is a Customer Data Platform?

Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) are software that collect customer data from many sources, combine that data to construct unified customer profiles, and distribute that data to all functional business units.

CDPs, unlike traditional databases, are constructed to continuously update customer profiles by adding behavioral, transactional, and demographic data.

Modern CDPs help an organization to:

  • Centralize customer data
  • Clean up the customer database
  • Capture all customer interactions across all customer service channels
  • Refine customer segmentation
  • Facilitate targeted marketing
  • Enhance analytics and reporting
  • Establish a seamless customer journey

All business units can now work from the same, consolidated, and trusted customer data.

Why Customer Data is Important to Revenue Operations

Almost all Revenue Operations require the integration of marketing, sales, and customer success personnel. Customer data silos fracture interdepartmental collaboration.

In contrast, a CDP enables Revenue Operations by delivering the same customer data for the length of the revenue cycle.

For example:

  • Marketing can better identify prospective customers.
  • Sales can be more informed prior to customer outreach.
  • Customer success personnel can know prior customer interaction.
  • Management can more effectively forecast and plan.

All Revenue Operations personnel can now utilize customer data that enables collaboration. Improved collaboration means a better customer journey.

Technology can address some issues a business faces, but gaps in processes and responsibilities will still remain. A well-designed, effective governance system will address this.

 

Target Operating Models are especially valuable here.

A Target Operating Model determines how people, technology, workflows, and governance can best be integrated in support of an organization’s goals and objectives.

With a Customer Data Platform, organizations should have a clear picture of:

  • Who ‘owns’ what data and where
  • How and when data are to be collected
  • How data will be integrated
  • Who creates what reports and when
  • How customers are grouped and targeted
  • How the various customer segments are evaluated

Without a well-designed operating model, even the best technology can fail to deliver measurable business value.

Aligning a CDP with a Target Operating Model produces faster and better results.

Genuine customer data is desirable and useful, but only when it is complete, correct, secure, and lawful. For this reason, Enterprise Data Governance is critical for every Customer Data Platform solution.

Enterprise Data Governance

Enterprise Data Governance encompasses the policies, standards, and controls that ensure data quality across the control lifecycle.

Typical governance activities include:

  • Data ‘ownership’
  • Standards for consistent naming
  • Data quality
  • Duplicates Removal
  • Customer Consent
  • Sensitive Information
  • Compliance

Good governance improves the validity of reports and decreases the risk associated with customer data being incomplete, incorrect, or out of date. As a company grows, the need for governance increases and becomes essential to ensure the output and procedures of every department are aligned and integrated.

Future-Proof Scalability Through Enterprise Architecture

Complexity can rapidly increase when businesses simply add more platforms. For most businesses, dozens of business applications already exist.

Enterprise Architecture is an important tool to combat this.

Enterprise Architecture provides a framework to understand how technology systems interact with all areas of your business.

Before implementing a Customer Data Platform, it is important to consider the:

  • CRM systems
  • Marketing Automation tools
  • ERPs
  • Data repositories
  • Business Analytics tools
  • API connections
  • Security needs
  • Cloud solutions

Enterprise Architecture considers all of the technology systems in your business and their ability to integrate. Ideally, a Customer Data Platform complements the existing technology and integrates optimally.

Unified Customer Data Platform Advantages

There are many advantages to the successful implementation of a Customer Data Platform within an organization.

Customer Experience

With a Single Customer View or unified profile, Customer Data Platforms allow communication to be based on customer preference and customer interaction history.

This allows for relevant communication and not disconnected or redundant messaging.

Decision-Making

CDPs provide a unified and integrated data reporting framework. Departments can align their goals with actionable data and executives can view the same accurate reporting to make informed business decisions.

Marketing

Customer Data Platforms enhance the ability to create customer segments and thus allow a more targeted campaign.

This results in less ad spend, higher engagement, and greater conversion.

Sales

Customer Data Platforms bring a unified customer history to every salesperson.

This makes conversations more pertinent and increases productivity in sales.

Improved Operational Efficiency

With automation, numerous, previously manual data management tasks become obsolete, resulting in less admin-work, and higher efficiency across the business.

CDP Implementation Best Practices

Organizations must consider the realignment of business processes and not simply the execution of the software as the primary focus when implementing a Customer Data Platform.

Typically, successful implementations include:

  • Clear business goals are articulated
  • Customer data sources are identified
  • Integration strategies are designed with scalability in mind
  • Enterprise Data Governance is developed
  • The organization's Target Operating Model is considered
  • Fits within the Enterprise Architecture of the organization
  • There are clearly defined KPIs to measure success
  • Data quality is improved on an ongoing basis

Implementation requires members from marketing, sales, IT, and operations, as well as executive sponsors.

Conclusion

Unmanaged customer information means lost business opportunities and deteriorating customer satisfaction.

Customer Data Platforms are the first step in organizing customer data.

When Customer Data Platforms are integrated with Revenue Operations, the organization is able to create Governance Models for enterprise data that are integrated with Enterprise Architecture that are scalable. CDP offers the ability to create a connected data ecosystem that supports growth.

During this phase of digital transformation, Customer Data Continues to be an essential differentiator in marketing performance that offers the ability to transform the business into a data-driven enterprise that is ready to act on new business opportunities.

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