There are various benefits of using CRM software. It gives more insight and provides more flexibility and agility to business owners than ever. The business owners must read about and understand about this software to gain a proper understanding of the benefits of using them in businesses. The inbuilt analytics and dashboards in CRM software help you centralise your data and get an accurate view of your business. The Microsoft dynamic 365 business central is one example of an integrated enterprise resource planning (EPR) and customer relationship management (CRM) by Microsoft.

CRM software helps you make smart decisions and take actions that drive your business to greater heights by improving your productivity and performance, and also enables you to build a stronger relationship with your customers. There are various benefits of using this application.

Some of the significant benefits of using this software are as follows:

Innovative solutions for the growth of your business

The essential advantage is the AI that analyses your data and gives you custom insight, reducing the need to sift through complex data and extrapolate useful information. The predictive forecasting gives you accurate projections while streamlining the planning. The AI also helps build a stronger relationship using conversation intelligence and identifying customer needs and market trends. The built-in coaching helps you identify risks beforehand, making you more proactive.

Improved systematisation between sales and marketing

The seamless tools in CRM applications help to improve coordination between sales and marketing, also providing you with promising leads. The ability to convert records by scanning business cards reduces manual efforts. Combining automation with technology gives both the users and the customers a pleasant experience. Most of such software integrates seamlessly with tools from Microsoft like Excel and Outlook. Survey insights, combined with your customer data, help you see the customer point of view.

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The digital selling interface

CRM interfaces allow you to focus on being productive using the integrated multichannel tools and by leveraging the AI for emphatic conversations. The interfaces have everything that one needs from a soft phone dialer to email templates. All this translates to less diverted attention and more productive efforts towards business.

Cloud insights

The system analyses the critical performance indicators of your organisation through artificial intelligence and presents this information to you. It helps you avoid shortcomings like inventory shortages for better service to your clients and better business. Essential information like available funding, sales and inventory are always available and up to date. All of this helps to reduce the costs of operation owing to the low maintenance costs of the infrastructure. The development tools help you expand the capabilities of the system quickly.

CRM software can be used on all devices, and it provides you with the same experience, whether on handheld devices or computers. On this interface, you have access to your customer information that helps you create sales and purchase orders. There are different levels of software for different business demand. Some of the best software for every business type are nimble, agile CRM, nutshell, streak, and Bitrix24. They will make your business more effective. Delegation of service tasks to readily available platforms facilitates greater comfort for businesses.

Annie Button offers advice on how smaller companies can remain solvent during a uniquely tough period for business.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a difficult time for businesses of all sizes - but it may well be the case that small companies have suffered the most. Of course, issues such as fewer people spending money and reduced footfall to physical premises have certainly hurt companies, but there are some financial challenges that have held SMEs back unnecessarily. 

However, this doesn’t need to be the case.  Small businesses can do many things to ensure that they are not holding themselves back. Here, we take a look at five financial challenges that have been a problem for SMEs through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

1. Failing to move away from manual accounting

Through COVID-19, the rise in people working from home has been highly noticeable, and it looks like the trend will be here to stay even after the worst of the pandemic is over. But the need for remote working has created some issues for small businesses that were still reliant on manual accounting and physical documents. 

“Business is moving onto the internet and has been doing so since its creation,” says Robin John of Wellden Turbnull. “Traditionally, computer-based accounting was the reserve of big business, and everyone else kept manual records in ledgers, but the advent of new technologies and software-as-a-service accounting platforms has made it possible for businesses of all sizes to operate online.” 

If businesses were unable to work from their office through lockdown, it may have created a backlog in their accounts - many SMEs are still trying to recover from this. So, now really is the time to invest in a move away from manual accounting. 

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2. Lack of cash flow

Certainly one major challenge for businesses over this period has been a lack of cash flow. But many businesses had their revenue dramatically reduced, while still having to pay out for all of their normal expenses. 

The solution that some businesses have taken to stem the issue of lower cash flow has been to make staff redundant or make other cutbacks. But there are other alternatives. The government has made a number of schemes available, and many lenders are offering more flexible lines of credit to allow companies to continue to pay staff and suppliers while waiting for cash flow to return to normal. 

3. Not spending on marketing

Now, it might seem that, given the point above regarding cash flow problems, expensive marketing could be one of the first things to cut. However, this is a mistake. At a time when companies need any business that they can get, this is not the time to be reducing marketing spend.

This is especially true if your competitors are reducing the marketing budgets - this will simply make your brand stand out even more than before. 

4. Not having a solid business plan (or any at all)

Having a robust business plan with a lot of thought put into it has been an absolute essential for small businesses for a number of years. So, you might be surprised to learn that over 1.5 million SMEs across the UK have no business plan at all. This can cause serious problems. 

COVID-19 has certainly caused havoc for companies - but without a business plan to assess and understand what the company needs to do to survive, many SMEs have floundered and struggled. If your small business has no business plan, now really is the time to invest in drawing one up.

Having a robust business plan with a lot of thought put into it has been an absolute essential for small businesses for a number of years.

5. Failing to anticipate expenses

It is important that companies do not live at the edge of their means. In the ideal scenario, your SME should actually keep some money back so that you can deal with those annoying expenses that come up every now and again. If SMEs fail to plan for unexpected expenses they can be left in a very tricky situation. 

Final thoughts

There is no doubt that 2020 has been a tough time for SMEs, especially from a financial perspective. But if you can anticipate some of those challenges that your small company will face, it can give you the opportunity to come up with useful solutions. Ultimately, understanding where these challenges can come from gives you the chance to plan for ways to avoid them. 

By utilising high-quality and targeted data, you can be able to connect with more of the right individuals, getting more leads and reducing costs during the process. On the contrary, utilising the wrong data can result in dire consequences for your entire organisation other than your marketing campaign failing to gain traction.

As such, picking the right B2B data provider is imperative. You need to be sure that the partner you will be working with has the credentials and ability to provide the results you are after. Whether you want phone numbers, postal addresses, email addresses or a combination of all, you will only have peace of mind if you trust that your data provider really cares about your company.

That being said, here are important things to look at when picking a business data provider in the UK.

Verifiable Sources of Data

Can the provider tell you just how they garnered the data that they're selling? Also, have their sources been thoroughly inspected? If the answer is no, that should be a red flag. If you have proof that the business data is from a credible source, you'll want to check how often it's updated. Business data is constantly evolving and decays pretty fast. As such, the data needs to be cleaned and refreshed on a regular basis or you won't get the results you're after.

Proper Accreditations

Your business data provider needs to be registered with the Data Protection Act and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Ideally, it is worth looking for a data provider that's registered with the Direct Marketing Association. This is a network of over 1000 firms that provides the best practice guidelines and legal updates. Each member is expected to collect data in an ethical manner.

While undertaking this process, it is a good idea to review the business data provider's own site in a more general manner. Do they have contact information like postal address and phone number? An unscrupulous provider may hide being their site, selling you data and then going missing thereafter.

Thorough and Targeted Data Records

What you deem as targeted and thorough will certainly depend on your specific needs. Regardless, it's best to have detailed information than the opposite. For instance, are you just given employees names, or are you told more about their roles? Also, can that data be paired up? For example, a postal address linked to an email address?

The best business data providers in UK will work closely with your to source data that best match your marketing and business goals. They will conduct penetration analysis or profiling which involves analysing your clients and looking for what they have in common as well as what drives them. This information is then used to get similar prospects from their database and thus help boost your sales.

Guarantees in Deliverability

It is also important that your business to business data provider can verify that your marketing message will reach the individuals you are targeting most of the time. Of course, a 100% deliverability guarantee is impossible as there are numerous variables that can impact the outcome. However, your business data provider should be able to show that your emails and direct mails will reach the intended prospects and that your phone calls will be answered by the right individuals majority of the time.

Business data is imperative in reaching prospects and boosting sales in this day and age. You want to ensure you are on the right side if you're going to use a business data provider. Use the tips above to ascertain such.

For spontaneous spenders, the word “budgeting” can cause alarm bells, with the thought of having money left over at the end of the month seeming unattainable. People often think budgeting means having to cut back on the things that they enjoy. Being money smart doesn’t have to mean you miss out.

It was recently reported that in their lifetime, a British person will spend on average £144,000 on impulse shopping. This can include anything from the chocolate bar that you grab as you get to the till and other small purchases which soon add up, to regularly splashing out on new clothes.

There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself every once in a while, who doesn’t deserve a little retail therapy. However, if this is happening a little too often and you’re in need of looking after the pounds, there are a number of changes you can make.

The experts at PIWoP, a price drop alert tool, know how important the value is of every pound that you save. They offer five ways that people can create healthier spending habits and become money savvy.

1. Are you more attracted to the sale or the item?
   

   It can be tempting to pick up a product because the discount on it seems too good to miss, sometimes this appeals to consumers even more than the item itself. If this is the case, think about if you really need it, if it’s the money off label that’s caught your attention rather than the actual product, leave it on the shelf and save yourself money. That way, when you see something that you really want, even if it’s at full price, you’re more likely to have the extra money available to buy it.

2. Budget and prioritise
   

   Some expenses come out every month, write down what these are and then work out what you have left over. Then factor in things which are bound to occur, such as meeting friends for dinner or needing new school shoes for the kids. Prioritise these additional outgoings, certain things will need budgeting for, a weekly takeaway pizza is unfortunately not one of them! Cutting out spending that isn’t a priority could leave you with considerably more money at the end of the month.

3. Why are you spending?

   Treating yourself to a new outfit so you feel confident at an upcoming event or rewarding yourself after a lot of hard work is of course okay. However, if this happens on a regular basis and your bank account is suffering for it, it might be time to change your spending habits. Consider why you are spending and how productive it is. For example, if you spend when you are stressed or bored, there are other ways to blow off some steam that are considerably cheaper. Spending is often used as a short-term fix to feeling better, as soon as you remind yourself of this, you’ll be less tempted to overspend.

4. Do you need the item now?
   

   Finding a product that you really like or can imagine yourself needing for your next holiday or when the house is redecorated can make it easy to buy it right away. However, think about if you really need the item right now. If you’re moving house next year, although those lamps or expensive armchair might get you feeling excited, it might be better to wait for any upcoming end of season sales. Technology is helping consumers to do this by taking price comparison services one step further, such as the PIWoP tool. It allows consumers who have the tool installed on their computer, tablet or phone and see an item they like, to use it to enter the price they want to pay for it and the tool then alerts them if that item does go to or more likely below their PIWoP (Price I Want to Pay). Even waiting until the next day can make you realise that you don’t really need it, or that your money could be better spent elsewhere.

5. Set goals
   

   If you’re a real foodie who enjoys going out to eat, creating healthier spending habits doesn’t mean you have to stop doing what you enjoy. Or you might be interested in fashion and are eager to keep up with what’s new this season. Set yourself goals such as only eating at a restaurant one or two times a month (or however much you can afford without overspending) or allow yourself a couple of treats a month when it comes to clothes. Saving money while still allowing yourself a few luxuries will feel much more satisfying than regularly spending and then feeling stressed a few weeks after.

Whenever we think about new technology we certainly are not exactly comfortable with it. We view and look at it with suspicion and believe that status quo is the best. One such technology which is taking the world now by storm is known as artificial intelligence or AI. Hence it would be interesting to know more about it over the next few lines. It is now being selectively used and it will not be long before it is used in other areas. It certainly will make a big difference to any small, medium or big business and help to move it from one level of success to another.

(Source: www.websitesthatsell.com.au)

A series of high-profile collapses and CVAs in recent months are clear signs of the challenging conditions currently facing the UK High Street. While many retailers are facing falling sales and increased overheads, it is the stores that fail to adapt to changing consumer habits, such as Toys R Us, which end up paying the price.

By putting a strong business strategy in place to harness the growth potential of e-commerce channels, retailers can mitigate the risks posed by their rising cost base and stay ahead of competitors in this fast-moving industry.

Increased consumer caution, food price inflation and wage stagnation have all contributed to High Street incomes being squeezed. Factors such as the increased National Living Wage and minimum pension contributions, when combined with the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and higher business and property rates mean that many retailers are facing higher overheads than ever before.

The growth of the ‘bricks-to-clicks’ phenomenon has been accelerated by the rise of the ‘on-demand economy’, with consumers less willing to wait to get their hands on goods and more online retailers offering same-day delivery. Developments in technology have also streamlined the online shopping experience, with processes such as returns now easier than ever before. As a result of these changes, it is no surprise that footfall on the High Street is falling, with many shoppers choosing to avoid the crowds and find products at a competitive price online.

With consumer habits changing rapidly, it is essential that retailers build their business models accordingly. Toys R Us is a prime example of a chain which failed to move with the times. As well as relying on large, highly-stocked warehouses, which proved costly to run, it failed to invest in the development of an effective online sales channel with expedited shipping options. Securing access to customer data, via methods such as targeted marketing, will allow retail businesses to adapt quickly to new trends before they are able to have a negative impact on sales.

A number of retailers, including Mothercare, have recently announced an intention to secure a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which could allow them to restructure their finances and agree voluntary repayment schemes with creditors on a one-to-one basis. Helping the business to continue trading and the existing management team to retain control during negotiations with creditors, this route is often viewed as a more attractive option than pre-pack and other types of administration. However, large numbers of empty stores could have the effect of driving more consumers online, away from the High Street, as well as increasing the likelihood that local councils will try to raise business rates to account for the potential shortfall in payments.

Taking action at an early stage to negotiate shorter leases with landlords could enable retailers to cut costs. Additionally, allowing companies to take advantage of the most profitable times in the retail calendar and hire staff only when needed, pop-up stores could reduce costs and increase flexibility.

Consumers are increasingly treating bricks-and-mortar stores as ‘showrooms’, allowing products to be viewed first-hand before finding them online. With this in mind, retailers should employ a joined-up approach, with on and offline sales channels. If businesses are going to encourage repeat business and meet consumer expectations in the future, simply offering a website is no longer enough. It must complement or even enhance the in-store experience, whilst reflecting the brand identity and being quick and easy to navigate. For example, we may see more customers venturing into stores for product advice, supporting the overall decision-making process, before carrying out their transactions online.

As e-commerce delivery slots become shorter and shorter, it is increasingly important for High Street retailers to have a strong logistics network in place, especially around Christmas and other key times in the retail calendar. Locating reliable local suppliers could also help to ensure supply chain agility, facilitating short lead times whilst allowing stores to vary their purchases depending on what is selling well.

While there is no doubt that these are challenging times for retailers, physical stores will continue to play an important role as part of the consumer buying process. For this reason, the High Street is unlikely to disappear completely. By heeding shifting consumer habits and adapting their business model accordingly, retailers can stay ahead of the curve and secure their position in the High Street for many years to come.

As you likely already know, China’s e-commerce sector is the biggest in the world right now. Below Finance Monthly speaks to Ronnie D’Arienzo, Chief Sales Officer, PPRO Group, who lists some ways we can all learn from China’s excellent performance in this sphere.

A few weeks back China’s 1.3 billion population celebrated Chinese New Year and the start of the Year of the Dog. The celebrations lasted for sixteen days, starting on New Year’s Eve (15th Feb) to the Lantern Festival on March 2nd. Preparation for the New Year celebrations is known as a ‘shopping boom time’. Many transactions will be completed this week in preparation for the two weeks of celebrations. Interestingly, the majority of these transactions will be completed using local payment methods, specifically e-wallets such as WeChat Pay and Alipay.

The Chinese e-commerce market is booming; research from PPRO Group found the market is worth a staggering $865 billion with growth rates higher than - the total UK e-commerce market. So how can UK businesses take advantage from China’s healthy ecommerce market? PPRO Group has pulled together seven considerations for UK retailers, when looking to attract the attention of the Chinese consumer.

1. Each year, Chinese e-commerce grows by more than the total amount of the entire UK e-commerce market

In 2018, Chinese e-commerce will grow by $233.5 billion. That’s $30 billion more than the total value of all goods bought online in the UK.

2. Chinese online shoppers spend $208 billion a year using credit cards which UK retailers don’t accept

96% of Chinese credit cards are issued by local schemes and only 4% of all online transactions in China are made using international credit cards, such as Mastercard and Visa. If retailers don’t support local schemes, they’re cut out of a $200 billion market.

3. Don’t miss out on $650 billion of online spend using alternative payment methods

Every year, Chinese consumers buy $650 billion worth of goods using local bank transfer apps, e-wallets, cash-on-delivery services and other locally preferred payment methods.

4. Every year, Chinese online shoppers spend over $100 billion just on clothes

Fashion is the most popular item for Chinese online shoppers. Each year, Chinese online clothing sales are worth more than the entire UK fashion industry.

5. One Chinese e-wallet has more users than there are people in the EU

The Chinese e-wallet WeChat Pay has 980 million users compared to 500 million people in the whole of the EU. In 2017 alone, WeChat Pay was used by Chinese consumers at an average rate of 1 million transactions per minute.

6. M-commerce in China is worth $173 billion

Every year, the Chinese spend almost $200 billion from their mobile phones. And with China spending $400 billion on 5G, the number of mobile users is set to rocket in the coming years.

7. 40% of all global e-commerce sales are made in China

The Chinese share of all global retail sales is around 30%, but for e-commerce sales, it’s 40%. And that number will grow as more people come online.

Want to sell to the world? Start with China.

December mortgage sales in the UK plummeted by 38% (£5.8 billion) on November, according to Equifax Touchstone analysis of the intermediary marketplace. Year-on-year sales dropped by 12.8% (£.1.4 billion).

Residential figures dropped dramatically by 39.6% (£4.9 billion) on the previous month. Buy-to-let sales also tumbled, falling by 32.1% (£853.7 million) on November.

All regions across the UK suffered from a significant mortgage sales contraction in December. The South Coast witnessed the largest slump of 42.1%, followed by the Midlands (40.6%) and Wales (40.3%). Mortgage sales in the North West fell 34.4%, the smallest drop across all the regions.

John Driscoll, Director at Equifax Touchstone, said: “After three months of consecutive growth, mortgage sales in the UK have decreased sharply across both residential and buy-to-let sectors. Traditionally, December is a slow month for sales due to the festive period and other seasonal effects. However, the level of decrease is somewhat concerning for the industry, especially when considering that mortgage sales are down £1.4 billion year-on-year.

“While we expect to see the usual New Year pick-up in the market following a festive dip, there are a number of factors at play which could alter the direction of mortgage sales in coming months. An uncertain economic and political outlook, the onset of Open Banking and whether this will facilitate faster mortgage applications, the end of the Term Funding Scheme and implications for higher mortgage rates, and the subdued forecast for house prices, to name a few, have set the scene for a volatile and uncertain market in 2018.”

The data from Equifax Touchstone, which covers the majority of the intermediated lending market, shows that the average value of a residential mortgage in December was £191,522 (2016: £196,682) and £150,914 for buy-to-let (2016: £158,967).

(Source: Equifax)

It’s the end of another Black Friday weekend, the annual event that has transformed the retail calendar and kicks off the festive shopping season for eager shoppers the world over. Below Karen Wheeler, Country Manager and Vice-President, Affinion UK, tells Finance Monthly both traditional and challenger banks could be missing an opportunity and should take inspiration from what retailers are doing during Black Friday.

In the UK alone, £1.4bn was spent on online sales in the UK on Black Friday – an increase of 11.7% on last year, according to online retailers trade body IMRG.

Given the amount of hype and expectation, it’s not surprising to see that banks are slowly waking up to how they too can be inspired by the retail world, and capitalise on this golden window of opportunity. Starling Bank, for example, was offering customers the opportunity to earn 10 per cent cashback on their online shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday (up to a total of £25) if they invite one person to join the bank with a referral code.

A missed opportunity

But aside from Starling, there are few examples of other banks experimenting with Black Friday offers, incentives and deals, and I think this is a huge missed opportunity. At a key time for consumers looking for discounts and extra value, could they be doing more to find new ways to make their customers happy, and generate goodwill and loyalty that extends beyond the Christmas period?

Of course, the understandable challenge for banks is that there is less of a natural seasonal spike for them to build momentum towards. Whilst retailers can live or die depending on their performance during the critical Christmas season, banks need to offer a consistent and engaging customer experience all year round. So how can providers give their customers the ‘Black Friday feeling’ every day of the year?

1. Surprise and delight customers – What makes Black Friday a success is the sense of the anticipation and surprise that it brings. Starling’s offer is a good example of capturing the festive zeitgeist, but instead of being a one-off purchase, it’s the start of a relationship with a customer built around meeting an everyday need. For banks, the opportunity is therefore to find moments where they can offer practical, relevant solutions which help customers to manage their lives, delivered in a personalised way which makes them feel special.
2. Personalisation is crucial – With reams of data available, there is no excuse for banks to make generalisations or assumptions about their customers, particularly at a time when life milestones are more fluid than ever. Barclays is doing this right, with its Life Moments proposition that lays out key considerations for events such as going to university, buying a house or having a baby – without any reference to age groups or gender. More channels and touchpoints mean more opportunity to collate data on each customer and build a picture of their lives into a ‘segment of one’, meaning every interaction should be relevant, engaging and valued.
3. Think outside of the box – According to the British Banking Association, there were 19.6 million banking app users across the UK in 2016, with 159 logins occurring every second. This means banks have a huge opportunity to capitalise on this high frequency of interactions and ask themselves: how can we build on this, what more can we offer our customers? We know from our partnerships with some of the UK’s leading banks that in order to build long-term loyalty, it’s essential to provide solutions for other relevant parts of their lives to deepen the engagement.

It will be interesting to see if more banks trial Black Friday offers and promotions in the years to come. However, banks’ relationships with their customers aren’t only important during the last weekend in November.

This is why it’s crucial to find new ways to engage, surprise and delight customers throughout the year; both meeting and predicting their needs and becoming an increasingly important part of their lives to build long-term relationships and encourage loyalty.

Now that CMOs have a seat at the revenue table, there is also pressure to prove ROI. Since the only true measure of ROI is sales, it’s imperative that the marketing and sales leaders are aligned around key objectives and goals to truly prove their contributions to the bottom line. Here Rishi Dave, CMO at Dun & Bradstreet, talks Finance Monthly through the matter.

While sales and marketing teams have made great strides in recent years to better align their outreach to customers, there is still a huge disconnect between the teams and, more importantly, between sales and marketing and the customer. Our recent study showed that, despite increases in new technologies and a proliferation of data and insights, 57% of marketers still find their biggest challenge to be identifying their target customer and the average sales person spends over two hours researching a prospect before making contact. Why are those numbers not improving in lock step with the growth of sales and marketing enablement technologies?

One reason could be the lack of alignment between the sales and marketing departments. And I don’t just mean the age-old disagreement of what’s a good lead and what is considered an opportunity. While those things are important, businesses in this digital world really have to consider aligning around the most foundational element the companies have – and that’s data.

Especially in an environment like Fintech, where we’re dealing with a vast, untapped or underserved community of small businesses, it’s crucial that marketing and sales are aligned on the definition of the B2B prospect – who are our best customers, and where will we find more of them. It’s not just a lead list of businesses and locations: it’s crucial to understand the key factors that will drive a positive sales and marketing engagement, and increase the chance of sales conversion. Factors such as:

• Target profile (age, size, line of business);
• Risk / credit worthiness;
• Changes in behavior (growth, decline, event triggers, etc.);
• Business family relationships.

In the best of circumstances, using analytics, existing customer profiles based on known behaviour, and unknown behaviour from alternative data sources, all brought together to the business entity level, can be used to create advanced marketing models that will target best prospects with precision.

Businesses can also ensure alignment by implementing a master data strategy across the organisation. This may sound daunting, but all it really means is making sure the data you have is structured, cleansed and connected across the company so that insights can be surfaced to the right people at the right time in order to make better business decisions. And, you can start easily by cleaning one app, like CRM, and growing from there.

With a connected view of all customers and prospects, sales and marketing teams are able to make better holistic decisions about each account- decisions which can lead to revenue growth – the ultimate proof of ROI.

Eleesa Dadiani, Founder and Owner of Dadiani Fine Art, recently became the first Fine Art gallery owner in the UK to accept cryptocurrency as payment for works of art, including bitcoin and five others. Here she delves into the prospects of the fine art and other luxury markets investing in the proliferation of cryptofinance.

The luxury market is often seen as stale and self-serving, an opaque world that is difficult to penetrate and resistant to change. I should know – I’ve owned a Mayfair art gallery for three years and I have witnessed it at first hand.

Earlier this year, I decided to introduce something new to the market. My gallery - Dadiani Fine Art - became the first in Britain to accept Bitcoin and all other leading cryptocurrencies. I have since launched Dadiani Syndicate, the UK’s first and only cryptocurrency luxury goods exchange, which will allow luxury assets and commodities such as diamonds, hyper cars and bloodstock to be purchased in digital currency.

This will broaden the market, bringing a new type of buyer to art and luxury. The cryptocurrency market is currently worth over £110b and there are cryptocurrency millionaires who now want to use this wealth to buy assets.

However, this is not an entirely demand-driven move. I am doing it because I am evangelical about cryptocurrencies, the Blockchain technology that underpins them, and the profound impact they will have not only in the art world but in every sphere of business and our everyday lives. This is a revolution that goes far beyond the art and luxury markets.

Examples of work found at Dadiani Fine Art

I realise that there is still a great deal of scepticism about cryptocurrencies and it needs to be confronted head-on. The first objection people always raise is that it provides cover for criminals and encourages criminality, that it’s used on the dark web to buy drugs and the like. There’s no doubt in the very early days of Bitcoin there was a criminal element involved, but the landscape has changed a great deal since then. Furthermore there are plenty of criminals with conventional bank accounts laundering money, so let’s not pretend mainstream banks aren’t affected by the same issues.

The mistake most people make is to think of cryptocurrency as a currency. It’s not – it’s the internet of money. Money is just one of its applications, but it’s not the most important. It’s the technology behind it that is revolutionary and the coins represent the technology; that’s what people are investing in. The technology will allow us to re-claim power, paving the way for de-centralised, peer to peer transactions without the intervention of an intermediary.

People accept structures that make no sense just because they have known nothing else – they pay interest to banks and pay fees for sending money abroad just because that’s always been the way things have been done. A decentralised exchange eradicates that.

In time, cryptocurrencies will change the world of business completely, but I understand there will be resistance just as there is with every innovation. However, when traditional markets – and the art world is one of the most traditional of them all – start to embrace it then we will see real, transformational change.

Are the art and luxury markets crying out for this change? Of course not. These markets will run themselves as they choose. But once you invent the infrastructure you create the demand. Before the car was invented we happily travelled by horse; we didn’t know any better. If you are travelling on a muddy path a horse will serve you well, but on an asphalt road you would choose a car over a horse every time. Once we all used cameras to take pictures, we had no alternative; then the smartphone was invented and it killed Kodak.

For cryptocurrencies to be recognised on a global scale you need to make a start somewhere; if you can start with a market that doesn’t need to adopt them but does it anyway that sends out a powerful message. It’s a bridge to other industries and markets.

This will be a new epoch. It does not mean we are going to change the art and luxury markets out of all recognition – the value of artwork and luxury products has been created over centuries and they will always be exclusive markets – but we are giving more people the chance to buy and to do it in a different way. And when that is done peer to peer, person to person, without the intervention of a centralised authority taking big transaction fees it demonstrates the power of decentralisation. The old world remains but is powered by new world technology.

Blockchain is a smart contract; it does not to have be verified by a central authority. Once we have embraced the concept of a mathematical model that has been designed to run itself we will wake up to its possibilities. Digital ledgers will give us back control; if only we could understand that we are not in control of our money when it’s sitting in a bank.

I understand that the world fears change and there will be plenty of cultural hurdles to overcome, but this is an exciting moment. I want to be in the vanguard of this change and see the art and luxury worlds lead the charge.

Eleesa Dadiani, Founder and Owner of Dadiani Fine Art

You wouldn’t drink milk if it was five days past its sell-by date. You wouldn’t buy a computer in 2017 running Windows 98. Would you use data that you know is bad, incomplete or outdated? Rishi Dave, CMO at Dun & Bradstreet talks to Finance Monthly about the impact of using bad data, and what makes it bad.

Clearly, the answer here is a resounding no. Yet it seems this is common practice for many enterprises; in 2016, poor quality data alone cost the Unites States $3.1 trillion. Most companies know how important data is – managers, financial decision makers, data scientists and so many others use it every day at work. Due to the constraints of time, some employees simply have no choice but to accept the data they’re given and use it for financial contracts, supply chain management or prospecting new customers.

But this is risky business. A company can have all the data in the world at its fingertips, but realistically, how much of that data is accurate? And how is it being processed? Only by having the right tools and analytics can the consequences of bad data be avoided.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Bad data can mean many things; the data itself could be outdated, poorly formatted or inconsistent.

For sales and marketing teams, they rely heavily on the most-up-to-date, real-time data to allow them to effectively do their job properly. It’s no use calling up the MD of a company, only to find out they no longer work there or now have a different title. This can be incredibly timewasting and fundamentally limits a salesperson’s ability to sell; the average sales rep spends 64% of his or her time on non-selling activities. Wasted time leads to wasted revenue, which means bad data is directly impacting the company’s bottom line.

A vital ingredient to growth

Bad data isn’t just a timewaster, but a growth-stopper. For companies to grow, they need the right data for the right business function. Marketers need to ensure their contact database is up to date, or face stultified growth opportunities. Nowadays, businesses are demanding more intelligent, data-driven, real-time insights to realise higher return; 80% of marketers see data quality as critical to sales and marketing teams and more than half are investing to address persistent data challenges.

Incorrect names or job roles, outdated phone numbers and inconsistent & badly recycled data will actively prevent a company from reaching desired prospects. The Databerg report in 2015 found that medium sized companies were spending £435,000 on redundant, obsolete or trivial data. For SMEs, growth via data could certainly be the difference between black and red. And therefore making sure they have the right data is paramount. After all, if you water a plant with seawater, it won’t grow. Feed it with normal water and watch it flourish.

Data is an opportunity

Data has the power to transform businesses – but feed bad data in to a machine (or company), and you’ll only get bad results. From losing customers, a damaged reputation and decreased revenue, everything is at stake. Of course, no company is immune to human error. But what a company can control is its flow of data and how it uses it.

Most businesses know that they have to act to improve the quality of their data. But the way they do this is flawed; most batch cleanse, but they do this once a year at most. In the current age where data flow is constant and new information about customers, partners, suppliers and the economy is available all the time, data insight is only ever as accurate as the data feeding it.

What’s the answer?

What businesses really need to do with their data is to integrate, clean, link, and supplement it so they have an accurate database on which to build their algorithms. This starts with foundational master data.

Master data is the foundational information on customers, vendors and prospects that must be shared across all internal systems, applications, and processes in order for your commercial data, transactional reporting and business activity to be cleaned, linked, optimized and made accurate. It’s essentially the foundation of your enterprise and without it not only does your AI infrastructure breakdown, but so does your business.

Whether it’s a hospital, a financial institution or a marketing agency, ensuring you have the right quality data must be top of every agenda. Data is an opportunity; don’t waste it.