Getting buy-in from senior leadership for a technology solution like a customer data platform (CDP) can be the difference between success and failure. Sure, you may get approval purchase the system, but getting business value across the entire organization and maximizing return on investment is going to be dependent on business leaders’ support across the enterprise.
Following a well-thought out and collaborative plan, explained to leaders in terms and language they understand, will make all the difference. Deployed and supported properly, a CDP can help organizations save money, optimize their operations, and improve the customer experience.
So, let’s find out how to make a business case for a CDP.
Educate Leaders on CDP Value
Corporate leaders need to understand the value a CDP can provide to their area of the business – without the techno babble.
Identify key CDP use cases that will demonstrate both short-term and long-term value, and explain them to leadership in language that relates to their goals and objectives. Your messaging should ensure all relevant, senior-level stakeholders are represented in the education phase. Being specific in how a CDP can help with specific challenges is key.
Read More: Best Practices For Evaluating MarTech Vendors
Show How a CDP Will Help Drive ROI Across the Business
One of the benefits of the CDP is that it can be used across an enterprise to drive value, so that multiple departments can get tangible benefits from the effort. Establishing core metrics and benchmarks for success will go a long way to getting executive buy in.
CMOs, CIOs, and CDOs all have a unique voice when it comes to setting expectations around CDP initiatives. When building your business case, make sure to showcase how different teams can drive value from a connected customer data foundation. Here are some examples of ROI benefits a CDP can bring across teams:
- Marketing teams are one of the most obvious benefactors, with the ability to automate the customer journey and do advanced predictive segmentation for more personalized campaigns. Learn more about ROI for Marketers here.
- Sales teams will get just as much, with deeper customer insights, unified customer profiles, and more optimized advertising spend.
- Data teams can be more productive, with more efficient data management operations. Learn more about ROI for Data teams here.
- Customer support, customer experience, and product development teams get better data on their user behavior, so they can develop more user-friendly products, and improve communications and support.
- Leadership overall will benefit from increased productivity, speed to business insights, and the ability to quickly adapt to changes in customer behavior and trends. Learn more about leadership ROI here.
Making the Business Case for a CDP
When making a business case for a CDP, it’s important to talk to leadership in their terms to get their buy-in and support. Talking to them about technical features and advanced MarTech is only one part of it. Make sure you demonstrate value in terms of revenue and profit – and, in challenging economic times – in terms of cost savings and operational optimization.
CDPs can provide a myriad of benefits to companies, from eliminating data sprawl, to saving money on data center costs, to democratizing data across the enterprise. Deployed and supported properly with the right executive buy-in, a CDP can help organizations become more modern and data driven, and improve customer retention and loyalty.
Want to learn more about how to engage stakeholders in the CDP process? Our comprehensive CDP RFP guide explores the key steps needed to select the right CDP – from the capabilities to consider, to the questions you should ask prospective vendors to make sure you’re making the right decision. Get your copy of our guide here.
