What Exactly Is Data Verification And Why Is It Important?

The importance of data verification has never been more relevant than in today’s global economic climate. According to a customer acquisition platform, 35% of lead data submitted via forms is defective. That’s why data validation services have become an important tool for every business because it ensures that your team can fully trust that the data they use is always accurate, clean, and useful. 

The real cost of bad data 

Bad data can have a huge impact on an organization, not just in terms of money. A recent survey found that more than a quarter of potential customers were processed as invalid. Among them: 

• 30% are due to incorrect phone numbers, 
• 28% are due to invalid email addresses, and 
• 27% are due to pseudonyms. 

Research by a lead management company, shows that as many as 65% of lead cost-driven marketing activities are also false; further proof that incorrect or invalid data is a big problem in the business world. Essentially, this means that because of this incorrect data, your cost of 50 bucks per potential customer looks more like 65 or 83 bucks. Invalid data wastes business time, resources and money. Quality data is essential for accuracy and reliability.

Why is fact-checking so important to your business? 

Data verification ensures that the information you store in the system is correct. This can benefit your business in many ways, especially in terms of sales. Your sales team relies on reliable data to create and maintain an accurate list of leads and sell to potential customers. If you repeatedly call a disconnected line or send a communication to an invalid email address, then your sales costs cannot be accurate. Every second spent calling invalid numbers and updating files is time available for sales. Bad data wastes your business time and can mean you miss out on many opportunities. 

Business contact information should always go through the data verification stage so that exceptions can be compared to other databases to ensure that the details in the file are correct. Data verification is essential for businesses at any stage, not just when contacting customers. For personal details of existing clients, staff member salary structures, and financial details, it is vital to use reliable and trustworthy data.

General data verification steps 

Step 1: Determine the Data Sample 

If you have a large amount of data, you may want to check a sample of the data rather than the entire data set. You must determine the amount of data to sample and the acceptable error rate to ensure the success of your project. 

Step 2: Verify the database 

Before moving the data, you must ensure that all the necessary data exists in the existing database. Determine the number of records and unique IDs and compare the source and destination data fields. 

Step 3: Verify the data format 

Determine the overall state of the data and what changes need to be made from the source data to match the schema on the target. Then look for inconsistent or incomplete counts, duplicate data, incorrect formats, and empty field values.

Ensuring that the data you use is correct is a proactive way to protect one of your most valuable assets that can generate demand.