The term data silo refers to a repository of data that is controlled by a single department or business unit but is disconnected from the rest of an organization.
However, if teams are not connected – customers might receive mixed messages. If your company works in silos with customer data, it will affect overall performance and experience.
Breaking free of the data silos and creating a unified customer success strategy is important. But first, what are customer data silos?
What are Customer Data Silos?
Customer data silos are when data is isolated and not interconnected. Usually, data is a collaborative concept that can improve overall outcomes. Customer data silos mean keeping data in sections and compartments which cannot be cross-used or repurposed. If data is stored in separate areas, it means the data is in silos.
Silos are especially super bad for your customers. Here is why-
When data is in silos, it is not connected with another event. For example. The renewal team reaches out for renewal when there is an escalation that needs to be attended to. This creates double duty and leads to poor outcomes. When data is in silos, you will not reach the right customers. Customers end up feeling that their queries are not answered or addressed.
This leads to piling up of tasks and lack of communication which wastes resources in the long run. This also impacts how decisions are made. Since data is the basis for any decisions, these decisions are wrongly made. There is a lack of timely decision-making, which is requisite for success.
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How SmartKarrot can help overcome Customer Data Silos
SmartKarrot’s customer success platform acts as a single panel of glass and integrates data from different sources. SmartKarrot’s customer success software allows users to break free from the compound of data silos. If data is siloed, every department faces multiple problems. These siloed teams alter customer experience heavily. You can ensure a smooth customer journey by reducing silos. Here is how SmartKarrot can supercharge your customer experience and reduce silos.
Personalize Customer Onboarding
SmartKarrot allows you to dismantle data silos by personalizing customer experience as much as possible. In SmartKarrot, a customer success manager can assign customized onboarding playbooks to new customers. It is possible to customize and improve the onboarding process. If your company has specific aspects they want to consider – they can add a specific note about it. This will personalize customer onboarding. You can kick off the process with personalized emails based on customer types and profiles.
Customer success dashboard to Stay aware
SmartKarrot has SK BI (Business Intelligence) reports that allow stakeholders to meet various requirements in the organization. This means CSMs and customer success teams can track aspects important to customer success. SmartKarrot allows CSMs and CS teams to utilize data to move forward in the journey with driven business intelligence.
Involve Metrics and responsibilities
Customer churn is the responsibility of the customer success team – this was the norm for most companies. This changed significantly with all departments becoming responsible for customer success. With SmartKarrot, you get access to reports and metrics of customer behavior. You understand where the lag is and can improve it. All teams can just download the report and improve retention. The SmartKarrot churn dashboard also gives you an idea of which customers could churn and why. The reporting feature improves data-centricity and makes managing customers better in the long run. You can use the augmented intelligence feature to make better data-oriented decisions and encourage smart success.
Drive product adoption
For CSMs, a big part of their KPIs is product adoption. You can drive product adoption by understanding customers better. Also, CSMs can see the product usage heat map across the platform. This will allow CSMs to check out areas where the product can be improved for users. CSMs can email customers about new product features to increase their usage. This way, teams can know of improvements in the product and be aware of how customers will adapt to these features.
Alerts and Touchpoints to Stay Updates
For customer success teams, it is important to capture all data shifts. You can track all customer accounts and ensure no information is lost through the cracks. CSMs can also ensure that all teams know of customer behavior proactively. They can generate simple reports by emailing the document to other team members. You can notice how data moves and identify any red flags. This insight will help you know where customers face problems with the product.
SmartKarrot’s customer success software helps identify processes that can improve data management. Evaluate how data entry is with respect to collection and reporting. Use this to improve solutions and make the process seamless.
Benefits of using SmartKarrot to Spruce up your CS operations
Data silos are a factor of CS operations. You need to break silos to ensure service efficiency, better resource sharing, and boost employee morale. Once you reduce silos, you can use the data to extract helpful information that will bring out patterns in customer growth, customer personas, and more.
- Improves organizational success
- Reduced back and forth
- Enhanced decision making
- Encourages communication
Bottom Line
Level up your data-driven success strategy with a smart tool like SmartKarrot. Start small and keep data unified to understand customers better. You can enhance customer experience and improve loyalty and ROI with SmartKarrot.
Stanley Deepak is an accomplished sales and marketing professional with 15+ years of experience. He loves tech products and book reading. He writes on philosophy and culture on LinkedIn.
Published July 21, 2022, Updated May 16, 2024