Lessons learned: The Fleetmatics data quality journey
On October 8th, 2015, Data.com Preferred Partner Valgen hosted its first Salesforce Lead Generation Breakfast in New York City. We were there to show the critical need for data quality in driving superior lead generation results.
Spearheading the event, Angie Henkel, Sales and Marketing Database Manager at Fleetmatics (now Verizon Connect after acquisition), brought the room to rapt attention as she shared her four-year journey to:
- Rid outdated and irrelevant practices
- Transform the sales culture to value and contribute to data quality
- Consistently improve all aspects of data to sustain high lead generation growth rates.
This message rang true with the audience – with many commenting, “I could have been that presenter,” “How did you overcome that resistance?” and “That’s a lot like us in those early stages.”
In fact, the universal bond and a sense of relief everyone felt was, “We are not alone in the quest for data quality.”
Can you imagine having over 66% of your leads closed due to poor quality – incomplete, inaccurate or invalid details?
Henkel didn’t have to imagine it. To her it was a reality.
“At the beginning, Fleetmatics’ database looked more like the Wild West rather than a complete and usable piece of marketing and sales strategy,” Henkel explained. Her database was replete with all shades of duplicates, missing fields and little standardization.
This caused a slew of problems, from losing the trust of sales representatives to tedious reporting. Something had to be done, but what?
With the realization that the fix was not going to happen overnight, Fleetmatics recognized the need for a customized solution and partnered with Valgen. Together they took stock of what needed to be done and implemented solutions.
Valgen quickly implemented an advanced cleansing strategy consisting of four key phases: cleanse, match, survive and reconcile. This was followed by maintenance. Since Fleetmatics’ needs went beyond their current systems and tools, new tools were added to support Fleetmatics in mid-market and enterprise sales.
“Finally that it was not just about the data anymore, we could trust our database and focus on the benefits,” added Henkel. Fleetmatics was now able to better train their sales representatives on best practices, communicate that they were all in this together, and develop a holistic view of data quality throughout the entire organization.
With the continued use of the Salesforce stack and Valgen tools, Fleetmatics acquired millions of relevant contacts in four years due to better data purchasing decisions. Results included year over year gains of 11%, over five years, thus 55% total of getting data specific to their industry, which accelerated proactive data quality measures.
Moving forward Fleetmatics is looking to evaluate Salesforce products, integrate with Valgen cfMAPP* already used by their sales reps, and exploring marketing automation tools, such as Pardot. The Fleetmatics data journey will never end, but by recognizing that there is no easy fix, engaging stakeholders in IT, Sales, executives and marketing, will soon be on their way to a valuable database that helps sustain their lead generation successes.
Interested to learn about how Valgen can generate more value from your data? Contact us at sales@valgen.com and we will be in touch with you.
*cfMAPP is now called ProsperVue | ProsperVue web site | Prospervue on the AppExchange
The data cleansing and data quality process used by Fleetmatics is available with Valgen’s ProsperServe managed data services.
Digital Marketing Manager at Valgen
Blair is a digital marketing enthusiast with a marketing degree from Suffolk University in Boston, MA.
