How a Single Source of Truth Strategy can Unite Sales and Marketing
A common phrase thrown around a lot lately regarding customer data is "Single Source of Truth. (SSOT)" What does that mean exactly? According to Wikipedia,
“Single source of truth (SSOT) is the practice of structuring information models and associated data such that every data element is mastered (or edited) in only one place. Any possible linkages to this data are by reference only because all other locations of the data refer back to the primary source.”
In more simple terms, a Single Source of Truth (SSOT) refers to one data source that everyone agrees is the accurate and trusted source, ensuring everyone in an organization bases business decisions on the same data.
The ability to consistently communicate with customers, build stronger relationships, and offer new and exciting products largely depends on data. Creating an SSOT strategy for customer data is the first step in good customer data management and making more intelligent business decisions.
Before jumping into the details and benefits an SSOT strategy can provide sales and marketing teams, there are some key points to keep in mind.
In the context of a business, an SSOT means the most accurate data set in its possession. Customer data will never really be the sole source of truth about a person; it is just an interpretation of that person's interactions with a company and the software used.
Be mindful of false indications, such as flaws in data collection, half-baked conclusions about customers, and inconsistent data entry.
It is nearly impossible to guarantee every piece of software a company uses will seamlessly integrate with a CRM. CRMs often have distinct ways to store data that are not always compatible with other systems. It is essential to keep this in mind when deciding which platform is suitable.
Think about all the data the business generates (not just the sources). Identify the data that will most impact business growth and create KPIs from that.
The quality of data is everything. It will not matter how much of an investment is made in technology to pull data together; using incorrect data to determine what is true, the truth's definition will be false.
There are many ways an SSOT strategy will align sales and marketing. These two teams are often working independently, all using various platforms; a single set of consistent data can be incredibly beneficial in multiple ways.
Increased productivity - eliminating the need to toggle between systems, chase down accurate data, or debate its accuracy, both team's productivity will drastically increase.
Reducing the chance of human error - storing data in multiple places with multiple users increases the likelihood of errors.
Aids in better business decisions - higher confidence in data allows for more intelligent and strategic decisions.
A better customer experience - a personalized campaign creates a better customer experience leading to higher conversion rates and open and clicks rates.
It is important to note, marketing automation is not a CRM, and a CRM is not marketing automation. A seamless handoff between these two is vital for a successful campaign (from start to finish). Marketing automation such as Zoho Campaigns gets the leads and customers in the door, and CRM such as Zoho CRM is best used to nurture and manage the relationship as it goes through the various stages of a lead to a customer.
If contacts can update their information through an email campaign, it is essential to update the CRM. If the sales team updates a new point of contact, it must be reflected in marketing automation tools to ensure the correct contact receives future messages.
Records of a single individual or company can exist simultaneously in both systems (they often do), but they ultimately do different things. Scattered data is not helpful, so marketing automation and CRM must integrate tightly; everything standard between the systems – names, email addresses, titles – needs to be synced, with regular data pushes and pulls performed regularly.
Conclusion
Data-driven decision-making is as crucial as ever and has placed never-before-seen levels of importance on collecting and analyzing data. An SSOT strategy will allow both teams to see their performance more clearly and accurately than before allows them to judge each campaign's effectiveness and the follow-up steps that come next. This strategy improves the synchronicity of the two teams, decreasing the amount of back and forth required to answer questions, the risk of locating the same data multiple times, and the chance of not trusting the data in the first place.
If you’re looking for help using a CRM for your sales and marketing strategies, feel free to contact us today with your questions and we would be happy to help.