As businesses continue to handle more and more customer data, knowing how to collate, oversee and utilise that data has become more crucial than ever. 

In the past few years, the organisations that succeed, drive new leads, and deliver exceptional service are those that manage and harness their customer data to put insightful strategies in place. One of the best ways to do this is to house your data within one unified, centralised system where users can easily access the data they need, to help them make better business decisions. 

Here are some of the main reasons why you could make your sales operations smarter with centralised data.

What do we mean by centralising your data? 

Centralising your customer data, or sales data, simply means you integrate your key customer information, and update, and maintain that data via one single, central platform. That means, when updates are made, for example, a customer contact address changes, the entire organisation will have visibility of that update. Rather than having different team members or departments using different methods and solutions for managing data, and having to manually synchronise, audit, and oversee different systems a centralised platform will simplify workflows, and make your key data more accessible, and manageable. 

There are several advantages of implementing more centralised customer data processes, usually in the form of a CRM, or customer relationship management platform. Here are some of the key benefits. 

Simplifying your processes 

Many teams or departments will need to have eyes on your key customer data. Hosting your core information within one centralised, cloud-based system means any number of your dispersed team members can access, maintain, and update information from wherever they are, on whatever device they use for work. With one system used by different teams, it’s easier for colleagues to collaborate, stay up to date, and make better-informed decisions, helping you to streamline your processes and make day-to-day tasks more easily. 

Empowering better business decisions 

With cleaner, better-maintained data at your fingertips, you’ll be able to more easily analyse trends, identify patterns, and ultimately gather more powerful insights that could help to inform your strategies and business decisions and ultimately drive your business growth. 

Giving context to customer interactions

Having a better understanding of your customers is key in the era of customer experience. That means having the right information regarding historical interactions, transactions and any feedback from your customers is crucial in every customer conversation. Personalisation is key to delivering an exceptional customer journey, so having the right data, at the right time, and accessible on any device, is important for your sales team, and the wider organisation.  

Investing in better sales analytics, or a centralised CRM can have a huge impact on ROI as data is fast becoming every organisation’s biggest asset in the digital age. 

Tools such as Toucan’s Sales Analytics allow teams to collate their data, presenting valuable customer-centric insights that power smarter business decisions, and optimise cross-selling opportunities. 

For more information on Toucan Sales Analytics, click here to request a demo.