Business data(B2B data) is essential to perform various business activities. And this is the reason; companies call it an asset. Companies use multiple sources to collect business data that is later fed into their B2B database. This data helps to create the right strategies for targeting prospective businesses. However, only accurate data can help a business grow.
Any error during data entry can result in an inaccurate database. These inaccuracies can bring down multiple downstream challenges. Performing data validation and verifications over time eliminates decaying data. It is an essential practice for businesses to keep their databases up-to-date. An updated database allows companies to contact the right prospect.
This blog discusses data validation and data verification in detail. Why should you consider data validation and verification? How outsourcing data validation and verification can help your businesses?
How Does Data Validation Differ From Data Verification?
Data validation and data verification – these terms are often used interchanged. It happens because both processes are related to updating the database. However, both are two distinct elements of data cleansing processes.
Data validation is applicable while creating a new database or updating it. It ensures that the entered data is acceptable according to the allowed guidelines. However, data verification helps you eliminate inaccurate data at any time. It comes into the frame when data is migrated or merged from any outside source.
What Does Data Validation Mean to Your B2B Database?
It is the process of checking the integrity and structure of collected data before being used for any business decisions. The collected data is evaluated on a few parameters to check if the input data falls within the acceptable range of values. Data validation is necessary to enhance the B2B database accuracy to assure smooth data workflow.
It’s important to mention that data validation doesn’t guarantee accurate data since it checks for acceptable values only. Even inaccurate data are accepted if they fall under valid parameters. For example, if you enter a phone number for a company, the system can accept any phone number if it is in a valid format. However, checking if that particular phone number belongs to that company will come under the verification process.
Why Is Data Verification Important To You?
It involves examining various data and ensuring they are accurate and consistent throughout the database. The verification process holds importance while transferring data from the database warehouse to the data processing system. It helps to ascertain if the information was accurately transferred into the new system avoiding any discrepancy.
Data verification is essential because it provides the correct business information. It prevents you from targeting obsolete email addresses and saves time dialing irrelevant numbers. It ultimately increases marketing and sales efficiency.
Why Should You Consider Data Validation & Verification?
Inaccuracies in databases can hamper your company’s overall performance. A strategy based on incorrect information can be a disaster. Bad decisions, and wasting team resources can result in lost credibility, missed opportunities, and lost revenue. Here are a few reasons that you should consider data validation and verification for your database.
Prevents Data Decay
The quality of the collected B2B database gradually deteriorates with time– also known as data decay. Mergers, acquisitions, technological advancements, human errors, and changing C-suite executives– are some primary reasons for decay. These decays are inevitable and hence need to be updated from time to time. Data validation & verification helps you to eliminate these issues.
Prevent You From Making Incorrect Decisions
Once the data is fed into the system without validation, cleaning it at later stages costs more effort and time. It also disrupts the regular workflow resulting in lost earnings. Therefore, validation and verification are cost-effective when used at early and appropriate data collection stages.
Provides You With Organized Data
Correct and organized database is necessary to make the right decisions. Any minute error in the database can turn out as a disaster. For example, a row shifted to the upside or downside in a spreadsheet can change the entire targeting sequence. These processes allow you to get organized data for a better workflow.
Provides You With Clean Data
Performing data validation provides accuracy, cleanliness, and structure to the collected data. Eliminating errors through verification helps you get clean data to target the businesses you want. This lets you get updated information about your potential buyers.
Performs Data Deduping
Since business data is collected from various sources, there is always a chance of multiple entries of the same data. Data verification identifies if there are multiple entries of the same data. Eliminating multiple entries is necessary for proper business functioning.
Why Should You Consider Outsourcing B2B Data Validation and Data Verification Services?
Maintaining an accurate, structured, and correct database is essential to keep your B2B sales data useful over time. Data validation helps you to keep your data structured within the time being while data verification helps you to keep your database accurate with the latest business information.
Despite being essential, it is a time-intensive process. To ensure your workforce is engaged in the revenue-generation process, you should consider outsourcing them. Here are the reasons you should outsource data validation, and verification.
- Optimized Utilization of Human Resources
Outsourcing data verification and validation facilitates companies to utilize their human resources in an effective manner. It helps organizations to get an advantage of the specialized data professionals of the outsourced company. This way you get your work done by one of the best professionals, that too without hiring them.
- Save Cost On Hiring & Training Employees
Hiring specific employees for data validation and verification can cost you more than what it would cost for outsourcing the same task. When you outsource them, you skip the hassles of hiring and training new employees. Relying upon outsourced company professionals, you save a significant sum of money that can be invested in core functions.
- Offers Scalability To Your Business
Outsourcing allows easy scalability and flexibility for your business. It is essential to keep pace with seasonal fluctuations and market dynamics. The talented pool of multi-skilled human resources can increase or reduce the capacity as per the business needs.
- More Accurate Results with Automation
Outsourcing companies deal with many clients at the same time. They invest significant money in technologies to automate the process and provide accurate results. To ensure an accurate database and timed delivery, it makes sense for you to outsource data verification services instead of spending money on resources.
- Benefits of Faster Turnarounds
For any company, its sales team is the driving force for revenue generation. Having accurate B2B information on time becomes the ultimate necessity to target them. Outsourcing B2B data validation & verification helps your company to share accurate and workable data on time for the in-house sales team.
Conclusion
To get error-free workable B2B data, you should consider performing both—data validation and data verification. While the validation process checks if the input data is valid for the desired parameter and formats, data verification looks for the accuracy of data. However, performing data validation doesn’t guarantee workable results as it may contain errors despite being valid. To get usable business data, you have to go through the verification process. Despite being time & resource-consuming, these processes are essential for running a business effectively.
There are a few different approaches to data cleansing. You can either do it yourself or outsource it to a company. Outsourcing data verification and validation services will help you get a quality database without breaking the bank.
About the Guest Author:
Gracie Ben is a data analyst currently working at DataEntryIndia.in, a leading company providing data entry & mining services & other data-related solutions. For more than ten years, she has actively contributed to the growth of many enterprises & businesses (startups, SMEs, and big companies) by guiding them to utilize their data assets.
Having a keen interest in data science, Gracie keeps herself up-to-date on all the latest data trends and technologies shaping the industry and transforming businesses. She has written over 1600 articles and informative blogs so far covering various topics, including data entry, data management, data mining, web research, and more.
