In a previous article, we talked about the privacy shield and the impact this could have on your company, particularly on GDPR compliance. Today, discover in this article how to ensure the security of the data in your sales strategy.
Your customer data is valuable, and you probably store it in CRM or ERP software. But before using your software, it is important to carry out a complete check-up of your data. And to do that, we offer you three key steps to guarantee the security of your data.
Take stock of your data
If you work in sales, you have the contact details of your prospects in CRM software and sometimes even confidential information about their company. It is crucial to sort through everything you know about your prospects and to have files that are organized and classified according to a precise nomenclature that you have defined beforehand. For example:
- Date the prospect entered the file
- Possible exit date
- LAST NAME, First name, Email, No.
- Company
- Information about their company
- Previous exchanges between them and us (sorted by date)
- Activity tracking
- Possible incidents
- Next contacts
- Comments and remarks about this prospect
It is essential that your nomenclature (which must correspond to your needs) applies to ALL your contacts outside the company. It is also necessary to obtain consent for their data through the acceptance of your cookies on your website
Where is your data located?
First of all, you must know exactly where all of your data is located. All of your prospects’ data must be stored in the same place, in a folder or software that is easy to access on your computer, and then possibly duplicated on a hard drive in case of an incident.
The main purpose of securing your data is precisely to avoid a data leak! That is why you should make sure you have a foolproof and protected storage system, difficult for anyone in the company to access and absolutely impossible for anyone outside the company to access. For this, a reliable and efficient CRM software is a perfect solution.
Who has access to your data?
Your data, especially your customer files, are your company’s most valuable asset and the lifeblood of your sales strategy. A handful of employees should have access to it. They must be trained, made aware, and accustomed in order to guarantee data security. If you are the business owner, you can delegate this responsibility to a trusted employee, but above all you should have solid documentation where everything is explained in the event of a staffing change.
You cannot ignore this essential part of your business: it is your customer pool. They trust you when they give you their personal information; a failure or a leak could seriously harm your business. So know who has access to this pool before putting a solid security system in place.
How can you protect your data?
By following the CNIL’s recommendations regarding the GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, which governs data protection in France and the European Union.
Some French CRM software solutions offer the possibility of setting up a two-factor authentication system in order to guarantee the security of your company’s data.
By choosing a French software publisher rather than an American one, you can be sure that regulations are respected and updated in real time.
Create a data monitoring unit
To go further, and if your company requires it, it is essential to create a real data monitoring unit, a department dedicated to monitoring your company’s IT data and the data of your prospects that has been collected by salespeople.
The mission of the data monitoring unit
The data monitoring unit is managed by the DPO. The CNIL explains on its website:
“The data protection officer (DPO) is responsible for implementing compliance with the European data protection regulation within the organization that appointed them with regard to all processing carried out by that organization.”
What does the law say?
“The data controller is required to take all useful precautions, in view of the nature of the data and the risks presented by the processing, to preserve data security and, in particular, prevent it from being distorted, damaged, or accessed by unauthorized third parties.”
Anyone can become a DPO through the CNIL website.
Actions to implement to protect data
The data monitoring unit is responsible for this mission. Four actions must be implemented to protect your data:
- Assess potential risks
- Identify the elements to protect
- Know the measures to adopt in the event of a data leak
- Report everything and correct it to strengthen data protection.
Your DPO (Data Protection Officer) must know the documentation made available by the CNIL and is responsible for ensuring that these actions are applied.
Raise awareness among other departments of the importance of data protection
It is also necessary to keep all employees informed of the importance of data protection and management. Even if only one department is dedicated to it, many employees, especially your salespeople, are required to handle data, and they must be aware of the latest CNIL recommendations and how they impact the company or their daily work. Why not set up an internal newsletter to inform them?
Oversee data security
Managing the maintenance and destruction of data
Once you know where your data is located and who manages it, you can confidently identify its path inside and outside your company, as long as your tools -and the team that designed your tool- are reliable and accessible.
The salespeople in your company must be able at any time to manage the maintenance and destruction of prospect data stored in their CRM.
Track security incidents
If security incidents are identified despite all the tracking tools you have put in place, do not forget to log them, so that you can refer back to them if they occur again, but above all correct them!
If you notice flaws in your software or a new GDPR law, do not hesitate to refer to the CNIL website or contact your tool’s after-sales team. Most software solutions offer support that can help you solve problems.
Each employee must also inform their company’s data monitoring unit if they notice an anomaly that could represent a security risk
Secure exchanges with other organizations
Data security is particularly important during your exchanges with other companies or organizations, especially by email. Gmail has also put notifications in place to indicate when you send an attachment from your company to a contact outside your company. Vigilance is always required, and it is wise to refer regularly to the CNIL website and to your technical and sales teams.
Sales strategy and CRM are inseparable elements. Properly configured, your CRM can be an inexhaustible source of data, essential to the proper functioning of a sales strategy. Therefore, make sure that the software used is reliable and practical for your strategy and that your data is well secured, GDPR-compliant, and that your team is well trained on this subject! Now get to work
