DATA SOURCES

For systems to work well they require a good clean source of fuel – the fuel, in this case, is your data, if it is not clean then your systems/reports will be defective and unreliable, and the quality of your decisions will be based on the quality of the information you have. This can have devastating effects at every level in your company – it is imperative that everyone in the organisation has access to the same data and trusts it.

​

As you are using the same base data this can be used to feed department's information they require thereby avoiding duplication of work. The data feed will be viewed in a different format, e.g. sales teams want to view the data by customer but marketers may want to view the same information by product, as the data is from the same source – you have data integrity and all trust issues are nullified. Base data can also be manipulated into more complex data by the use of formulae.

​

There are two main types of data we need to consider;

• Masterfile

• Transactional
   

Master file data is relatively static and is the way to keep descriptive data, this will allow you to organize and make sense of your business. Typically Master file information is based around product and customers.

​

Transactional data is dynamic and will contain information about what transactions your company processes. Typically a sales transaction will contain data about what products a customer bought at a particular time.

​

Having both of these types of information well organized and clean is essential to maximizing your team's productivity by making great decisions quickly.

​

Data Segmentation

​

Another advantage of having good clean Master file information is that it allows you to select information and consolidate these into meaningful groups or segments. Having this ability is an extremely powerful tool that can enhance your planning capabilities, create meaningful reporting as well as aiding in the development of new sales and marketing strategies.

 

An example of how this could be put into practice is the segmenting of customers and products. This segmentation will allow you to group certain types of customers e.g. by age-group, budget, the list is endless. This segmentation allows you to create tailored marketing messages for these groups e.g. your younger age-groups might prefer a less formal message.