Marketers know how important it is to use customer data in order to improve their results and customer satisfaction, the step towards brand advocacy. Research by Experian, shows 72% of respondents (UK) confirm this. As Experian says, ‘companies understand the importance of customer-centricity but fail to come to terms with data explosion’.

However, only 16% of respondents is actually capable of having a real single customer view. The challenge is not only one of culture, systems (marketing automation + CRM for starters) and processes. It is also often one of a lack of customer-centricity (there is a difference between saying you are customer-centric and being it…) and one of data coming from multiple channels. Knowing which data matter, using them in an integrated way and, obviously, acting upon them is not easy. However, businesses don’t have much choice when looking at the channel-agnostic, multi-screen and increasingly complex behaviour of today’s consumer, certainly the connected consumer.

Respondents that aren’t having a single customer view, feel they are missing out on opportunities, according to Experian. 85% of them said the lack of a single customer view led to business problems and 18% believe they are missing important opportunities of cross-selling and up-selling.

The main business driver for implementing a single customer view is the increasing understanding that the customer should be put first. More.