I love using analogies and metaphors… I used to talk a lot about C level’s perception of data management…and equating it to a duck paddling across a pond… what C level doesn’t see is the duck’s legs paddling furiously to get from one side to another… C level doesn’t see the immense and often chaotic manual processes and time spent on getting fact sheets, client reports and sales decks out to market.
Everyone is talking about data … and everyone has a different perspective. Who really cares about data? Well, today it is a hot topic in the front-office, specifically with the distribution team.
It’s really important for the sales and distribution teams to have timely, accurate, consistent data appearing in fact sheets, RFPs, presentations, client reports, sales decks and on their websites.
Ultimately, data is the oil in the sales and distribution engine … good data helps them to sell their products… and enables the process of communication with clients and prospective investors to run smoothly.
Good data will help them deliver excellent client service, retain their customers and gain new clients… and of course, good data will ensure that the company reputation is upheld.
Even more important is ‘agile data’ -> the pipeline feeding distribution with product data and market intelligence has to be adaptable and scalable and capable of reacting to new product launches, changes in distribution channels and market regulations. The demand for more strategies is leading to more products being added to the arsenal, and the demand for greater transparency in reporting is leading to more data points per product -> this 2 dimensional demand on breadth and depth of information means the data quality management processes, compliance and governance functions all have to be agile enough to meet the demands of distribution.
But, on the other hand, bad data will muddy the waters… pour dirty data into your sales engine will over time lead to it seizing up completely! The consequences of getting it wrong are that you’ll have inaccurate, inconsistent data in the public domain … you’ll be at risk of getting in trouble with the regulator, potentially being exposed to fines and worse still, bad press – your reputation will suffer and you’ll likely lose business as a result. That really doesn’t help the sales engine run smoothly at all … outflows, loss of business, poor client service…. that could all make the sales engine seize up.
Posted by Ronan Brennan 
