spring cleaning: easy ways to tidy your customer data
DESCRIPTION
October Ivins (speaker), Christine Orr (speaker)TRANSCRIPT
Transforming Messy Data into a Valuable Management Tool: aka Authority
Control for Publishers
October Ivins, [email protected]
Charleston Conference
November 8, 2013
Introduction - Christine Why is Data Important? - October The Causes of Bad Data – October Getting Ready to Clean - Christine How to Clean - Christine
◦ Easy tips◦ More long term solutions
Questions and Discussion - You
Outline for the Session
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Just because it’s a cliché doesn’t mean it isn’t true… Garbage in, garbage out. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.o How can you tell whether a change made a
difference, either positive or negative?o Are you collecting all of the revenue you are
owed?o You can’t support good customer service,
marketing or sales with bad data.o Messy data wastes time.
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Why is Data Important?
Multiple names for the same institution: o CSU Sacramento vs. Cal State Sacramentoo UMass vs. Univ. of Mass Amherst vs. Univo Berkeley vs. UC Berkeley vs. Univ of CA BerkeleySame institution, different locationsQueens College (New York USA, Newfoundland, Canada; Cambridge and Oxford, UK; Melbourne, Australia and more) Punctuation matters in alphabetical sorts Transposed letters
Even harder- STM, research institutes at campus, departments
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Messy Data Examples
State, Country confusion o Ala, (AL Alabama, AK Alaska) o Canadian addresses with no country
enteredo Countries change namesPartial names- “Trinity” College, University,
Community College, etc.? Phone numbers with no area codeInappropriate use of notes field
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More Messy Data
Surrounded by Bad Data…
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An association moved to package pricing for all of its titles….
Contracted for a project for subcontractors to call and offer trial subscriptions….
De-duping institutional and individual…. Domestic decline masked by international
increase…. Determine Carnegie Classifications for
market analysis or tiered pricing…http://classifications.carnegiefoundation.org/
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Stories from Customers
Offer from a consortium. Which members are already customers and how much are they paying?
Setting prices for the next year. How many cancellations were there after the last one? Any evidence they were related to the increase?
Your press has an opportunity to acquire a journal. How do you assess your ability to increase subscriptions? What should you offer?
A librarian insists electronic access has been canceled in error. Can you tell from your data or do you just take his word for it and reinstate?
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Examples of Data Needs
Incomplete◦ May lack key fields, too few for addresses◦ No unique customer number
Inaccurate◦ Free text without review◦ Drop down menus better◦ Standard source for institutional names?
Multiple Entry Points/No Style sheet◦ Many departments/offices/staff enter without coordination◦ Poor data integration from multiple vendors
◦ Poor Documentation/Training◦ Style sheet?◦ Instructions that limit creating new customer records?◦ Checklist, review of new employees’ work?
How to Create Messy/Bad Data
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So How Do We Clean It Up?
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