The creation of The Data Business is a prime example of how necessity is the mother of invention. In 2013, publisher and events company owner Chris Hollins was desperately looking for data and, even though he had plenty of suppliers, what he was getting sent to him was sub-par, to put it mildly.
“I was just being fed a load of rubbish,” he recalls. “We worked in hospitality and various other sectors and we sold data to lots of our clients. We probably built the very first pub database in the UK and sold the data to the likes of Hamlet Cigars and Gallagher.
“We were selling data and using it for insights. I had a really good understanding of data so when people were trying to fob me off with poor quality information, I just got to the point where I thought: I reckon I can do this better.”
What was born out of that frustration was The Data Business, a B2B-data services agency that helps companies to build and manage highly effective databases using a team of experts and customised technology.
We caught up with our Co-Founder, Chris Hollins to talk about what makes his company so unique and why having a database you can trust has never been more important.
What sets The Data Business apart from other data services agencies?
“When we compare ourselves to all the competitors that we can see in the marketplace, they tend to offer one type of service. It might be lists that you can purchase, or it might be data cleansing services that are all technology-driven. But we try to offer a complete service of data services from cleaning, enriching, building but also communicating with people so you can reach us. We’re not a technology company per se. If someone calls us or emails us, we will reply to them really quickly. We’re not a faceless technology company, we’re a people-led company, supported by really good innovative technology. We’re all about high-quality good communication.”
What are the most common problems companies experience with their database?
“When you ask a client what the main pain points are that they’re experiencing with their data, they will typically say: ‘Every time we want to use our data, we’re finding we have heavy undeliverability, the data is out of date, we’re not keeping it up to date as we would like. We’re not replenishing it, not replacing it with new contacts. We’ve got lots of duplicates. These are the types of issues that your typical database will have because it’s a very dynamic entity. People move, companies change.”
What is the next step after you have assessed the main issues?
“We would suggest taking the data and giving it a really good run through our validation software. We shake the tree, get all the bad apples out, and see what you’re left with. We then look at what your priorities are – how you want to replenish and rebuild your database. We can replace people who have left, take companies out, and replace companies. A very important question we ask is: Have you identified your universe? Do you know who you’re trying to target? People haven’t perhaps defined the universe that they want to target. So, we can help analyse that and create that universe for you so you can see what percentage of penetration you might have at the moment. If you’re only targeting 20% of the 100% that exist then we can find that other 80% for you. We’ve recently developed some new software that can go and find all those specific organisation types that you have targeted. Once the bad apples have been shaken out it’s then a case of rebuilding or replenishing the organisations and the contacts within your database. A client might decide their target market is the pharmaceutical market and they want to have the most senior marketing person within every single pharmaceutical company within Europe. That’s what we can set about researching, analysing, and building for you.”
What are the dangers of working with data that’s not of the highest quality?
“Well, you think you see something that is right for you – say spending £299 and getting a database of 10,000 marketing people. And then you realise when you e-mail them you perhaps risk getting yourself blacklisted or grey-listed on their e-mail service because the quality is so poor and has not been updated. You know there are gaps, there and loads of organisations in there that aren’t meant to be in there. This happens time and time again. We work very much on tailored, bespoke project briefs. So, if you say to me: I want this type of organisation and this type of job title, that’s what you are going to get.”
In your experience what is the impact that enriching existing databases can have on a business?
“It’s massive. What happens very often if we’re dealing with, for example, an event company is that they may not use that data that much during the year but come three/four months before the event they want to start targeting their prospective visitors again. So, if it’s not clean and up to date, the first thing you do is send an e-mail and you find I’ve got 30% bounces. You’re then going to impact the number of people, the registrations that might come from that data because it’s dynamic. You haven’t got the same level as you had the previous year. But you’re also wasting so much of your marketing people’s time. What we say to people is, look, have a plan of action during the year for trying to keep your data as up-to-date as you can, or at least when you need to start rebuilding it rather than leaving it to the last minute. It’s a huge cost if you just find out that you’re missing 20, 30, and 40% of who you want to target.
To discover How The Data Business works to lay the groundwork of some of the most successful UK an International B2B events, take a look at our solutions.
