Matching, de-duplicating, disparate storage locations… Is this your database? Or your socks?
An important Christmas message from BlueVenn to help maintain a healthy Single ‘Sock’ View in the holiday season.
Just as the Holiday Season provides retailers with a flood of new customer data, so too does Christmas Day mean a massive influx of new socks for all of us.
They're traditionally some of the most gifted presents at Christmas, which means that it will soon be time to brace yourself for the dreaded reorganization of your jumbled sock drawer, for fear of never accurately finding a matching pair.
It also got us thinking. An unkempt sock drawer isn't too dissimilar to a messy customer database...
Duplicates, mis-matches, holes and a general decay that happens every year and if you don’t keep up with regular maintenance then it just becomes a jumbled mess! And how many of us, just like our database, put off the dreaded task of cleaning and re-organizing our sock drawer?!
Database Sock Silos
In fact, many of us retain so many pairs of socks that we invariably start to enter them into multiple drawers – 'sock silos', if you will. Much like data, this is perhaps the most dangerous hazard when trying to maintain order and cleanliness.
So, if you want any hope of pulling out a matched and clean pair of socks in the morning, then it's time to knuckle down for the mammoth undertaking!
After extracting all the socks from their many silos, you'll have a go searching for rogues hidden around the house, then pair them up. But not before you've removed the old socks that don’t fit any more, included your new festive pairs and thrown out the holey ones, too.
BUT, without setting yourself a series of rules going forward, you're just going to end up in the same place again next Christmas.
So, what are the rules we need to follow to maintain an optimally functional sock drawer?
- Ensure you match socks correctly before entry into the drawer. Remember, it can often be difficult when matching socks from a set without detailed matching rules.
- Merge the matching socks using a joining rule that ensures they stay joined. There are several ways to merge the socks (as shown below) but ultimately all achieve the same result.
- Cleanse by removing un-needed and decayed socks. It's essential that you make a decision on how long to retain the socks. When did you last wear them? Is there a matching pair? How big is the hole?
By following this simple sock schema you will ensure you remove the potential for multiple sock silos and your sock drawer will be organized and cleansed. Not only that, you will benefit from a new found trust that your socks will match, and that you will no longer need to spend an inordinate amount of time in the future sorting out the mess.
False Positives
Like socks, customer data can be matched incorrectly, where 'False Positives' and duplicates can be created. Plus, at certain times - namely Christmas - we can have a high volume and velocity of socks from many new sources, and we need to know how to get them into our overcrowded sock drawer. Otherwise, you could end up suffering from additional sock silos that never really get used, containing solitary socks that are not matched to their partner.
Ideally, you'll want one drawer - the 'single source of sock truth' (SSOST), where you know they have been matched, merged and free of poor quality socks.
Sound like hard work? Then perhaps you need to bring in a specialist to get your drawers in order; to ensure you only have to manage the Single Sock View and that every pair inside is well kept, wearable and accurately paired. Someone to build the rules and schema to ensure long-term sock maintenance.
At BlueVenn, we may not be masters of the Single Sock View but when it comes to data, we're experts. BlueVenn build Single CUSTOMER Views to ensure your CRM is cleansed, matched, de-duplicated and without any holes, not just for Christmas, but 365 days a year.
Silos are all connected into one operational database and then we apply analytics and customer journey tools to allow you to deliver the right message, to the right person at the right time! If anything, that is even more likely to give marketers happy feet than tidy laundry!
Want to learn more? Read The Ultimate Guide to Single Customer View
Whether you are a marketer getting to grips with the concept of an SCV, need to know what your organization needs to consider before building one, or want to better understand the ROI, Blue Venn's The Ultimate Guide to Single Customer View has the answer.
