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There are unlimited variations in customer data and this sets the back-drop to the solutions for customer data quality. The first step towards achieving customer data quality is to identify:
- Duplicate/matching records.
- Defective records.
- Incomplete records
Examples of Customer Data Variations
The variations that occur in names and addresses are vast. Reasons for customer data issues and variations are covered in Customer Data Impacts
Customer Name - Chris, Kris, Christie, Krissy, Christy, Christine, Tina
- Franc, Frano, Frank, Francis
- Peter, Pete, Pietro, Piere
- Johnson, Johnsen, Johnsson, Johnston, Johnstone, Jonson
- Smith II, Smith jr, Smith 11, Smithjnr
- De La Grande, Delagrande, D L Grande
- Henry Tun Lye Aun; Mr Aun Tun Lye (Henry)
- Frank Lee Adam; A. Frank Lee; Lee Frank
- Patricia Jane Morris; P J Morriss; S. F. & P.J. Morris
Companies - B. Lamond Inc.; A & B La Monde Co; AB Lamond Incorporated; Lamond Inc.
- International Business Machines; IBM; I.B.M.; Intnl. Bus. Machines.
- Stanley Rutherford & Assocites; Messrs. Rutherford, Stanley and Assoc; Rutherford Assocs.
- Abe Goldberg & Sons; Abe Boldberg and Son; Abe Godberg & sons;
- Aba Din Inc; Mitchell Holdings dba Abadin Inc.
- Abbotts; Abbots Accounting Services; Abott's Accountancy; Abbots Accntncy Advisory Svcs.
- Virginia Trust Company; Trust Company of Virginia
Customer Address - Jackson Rd. East Hartford; 117-2a Jackson Rd East, Hartfrd;
- 2a East Jackson, Hartford; 117a Jackson Rd, E. Hartford
- Ground Floor 192 Aberdeen St South Head; Grd. Fl. 192 Aberdeen St Southhead; 192/1 Aberdeen Sreet Sth. Hd.
- Suite 9A, The Russell Center, Washington Plaza, New Haven; Room 9-A Rusell Bldg, Newhaven
Dates - 12/14/1998; 14/12/98; 14th December 1998; 14th Dec 1998;
- December 14th 98; 1998-14-12; 98/12/14.
- 7/2/1996; 7/2/9600; 7/2/96.
Phone Numbers - 900-869-1481; 90-08-00-86-91-481; 8691481 ext 67;
- (0) 7778691481; (+44)777 8691 1481; 869 1481.
Null Values - Not Known; Unknown; Missing; DOA; John Doe; Baby Doe; Jane Doe; Corpse; XXXXXX
- No Middle Name; No Initial; NMI; NMIK; Nomiddlename, 00-00-00; 99-99-99; - - -;
Character Variations in customer data - Typos: SMITH~SIMTH, JOHNSON~JPHNSON
- Noise:THOMPSON~TH9MP2ON
- Concatenations:ANDREWS~ANDREWSJR
- Truncation/Initials:IVANOV~IVANOVSKY
Cultural Variations in customer data - Titles: Dr., Rev, Haj, Sri., Col.,…
- Suffixes: -aldin, -oglu, -skii/-skaya, …
- Prefixes: Fitz, O', De La, Abdul, …
- Qualifiers: Jr., fils, neto, sobrinho,Ph.D., …
- Infixes:de, vde., …
- Nicknames: Johnny, Betty, Alyosha, Paco, …
- Cultural Variants: Imhemed/Mohamed/Mohd
Phonetic variation in customer data - 'sound alikes':Leighton~Layton
- Cross-transcriptions:Chernobyl~Tschernobil
- Similar-sounding:Phillips~Billups
Customer Data Variations as a global challenge
The above examples are taken from primarily US context. In the era of globalization, the challenge is exponentially increased with Asian & European names, which carry a greater and different kind of complexities.
Before we get onto the next chapter of how to search for the variations, here is a word of caution on relying too much on automated software. One should be using broad and very high level assumptions & heuristics in deploying these tools for searching & cleansing.
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