How to build a scalable strategy for data enrichment

Building a scalable strategy for data enrichment should be top of mind for all revenue leaders, but sometimes the numbers show a different story.

According to Modern Sales Pros’ “The State of CRM Data for SaaS Companies” report, nearly 70% of revenue leaders aren’t confident in the accuracy of their CRM data. At the same time, 25% of those same leaders rank data quality as a low priority in their organization, and a full third of those respondents aren’t even enriching their data. So if data quality is a low priority and a good number of revenue leaders don’t enrich their data, is it any surprise that so many leaders don’t trust their data?

All of these factors combine to present serious problems for organizations, making it nearly impossible to identify their ideal customer profile, accurately assess their total accessible market, and find the necessary data to expand internationally.

The good news? You can solve these problems by building a scalable strategy for data enrichment.

Our own head of data, Lem Lloyd, recently sat down to discuss data enrichment with Nicholas Rose, co-founder of Hyperscayle, and Liz Fulham, CEO of TAMI, where they discussed how to build a scalable data driven strategy that addresses these issues. You can listen to the discussion, or if you’re short on time, we pulled out some of the highlights here.

Avoid these mistakes when you build a scalable strategy for data enrichment

What’s one of the biggest mistakes to avoid when getting started with your data enrichment strategy? Going with a single data vendor—especially when your CFO looks at data as a line item in a budget. It may seem faster to sign off on one data vendor, but the reality is that one data vendor is not enough. Multiple data vendors provide the breadth and depth that’s needed to realize the true value of data. If you’re aiming for international expansion, it’s especially true, since different companies can have very different data standards. Spending money on additional vendors will be worth it when that data empowers the organization to grow exponentially.

The other mistake that pops up is that companies don’t always do enough research when looking at data vendors. Organizations spend a lot of time, money, and resources building up the data in their CRM. But as time passes, data can end up in bad shape because of a lack of data quality or because they haven’t kept up with innovation in this fast-moving field. Speaking with a good data partner can shed light on insights that a gold mine of data can reveal using new technologies.

Learn how to navigate the changing landscape of new data providers

As we’ve all seen, there’s been an explosion of new data providers. It’s easier than ever to get some of the data you need, especially specialized data. But it’s also made the process of building a scalable data driven strategy for data enrichment more complex because of all those new choices, which of course slows down the decision-making process.

Part of the reason this new data vendor landscape can be so overwhelming goes back to something we mentioned before–CFOs often see data vendors as a line item, and they want you to pick one. This is a short-sighted way to think about data vendors, however, because you’ll never get all the information you need from a single provider. The fact is that you need multiple vendors to scale up your strategy for data enrichment quickly.

Understand the rules of data compliance and international strategy

Many companies we speak with plan to tackle international expansion in their next growth stage. They often receive enough funding to make that goal a reality but struggle while figuring out all the complexities of the rules and regulations and the options for acquiring data.

The first step in addressing an international strategy for data enrichment is to identify where the market opportunity is since the rules and regulations change dramatically from country to country. For example, take selling versus marketing in Europe. Sales is an easier task, especially if it consists of calling someone and having a conversation; the legislation covering phone calls is not too robust. Marketing is much more complex because of the data privacy and compliance laws in place.

Ready to get more details on building a scalable strategy for data enrichment? Check out this on-demand discussion that dives into the subjects covered here, and start your journey to building your data enrichment strategy.

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