Championing compliance gives a competitive edge

By David Garbett, senior BDM at FBSE Finance

With instances of massive data breaches in some of the world’s largest companies making headline news and having just passed the GDPR deadline, compliance and data protection is on the forefront of everyone’s mind. Millions of pounds are being spent to get the right systems in place, but could this process present an opportunity that some of us might not be taking advantage of?

Companies that started their compliance journey early and are willing to look beyond the short-term pain may be able to see that this creates additional benefits in the long term. As everyone must implement these changes, looking at the positives and creating opportunity out of compliance is as simple as making the systems work to your advantage. 

Efficiencies

Not many companies would have had infrastructure that needed no adjustment to accommodate the changes brought about by GDPR, so many people will have had to invest in new tools – such as a new CRM – to cope. This gives companies an opportunity to do the following:

• innovate; create a system designed specifically for the needs of the company, at the same time retiring obsolete ones
• create increased efficiencies in areas such as standardisation across all files, be it naming conventions, classifications or ensuring clarity about what does what
• start off on the right foot by establishing good record-keeping and compliance records management practices
• remove outdated content with a ‘spring clean’ of your database.

Trust and transparency

The large data breaches that have occurred recently have resulted in a loss of confidence in the companies affected. This has had a huge effect not only on their share prices but also the companies’ public profiles. A new approach and a willingness to do the following can support a company’s journey to greater transparency and customer trust:

• clients and customers who know your company to be a champion of compliance will undoubtedly feel that they are dealing with a company that is in control
• transparency will lead to a deeper trust and higher customer engagement
• the new data protection regulations place consumers in the heart of everything. This will lead to the customer feeling empowered and they will recognise you for doing the right thing.

Expenditure

The implementation of GDPR requires companies to get a better handle on their data, which means better quality data in general, resulting in better returns on marketing spend.

Less superfluous data stored means less storage space being taken up on in-house or online servers, which can result in further savings.

Given the fact that these regulations are likely here to stay, embracing and really championing these changes will give you a competitive advantage in efficiencies, consumer trust as well as help with more focused expenditure.