The customer master contains all the necessary data for maintaining a relationship and understanding of the customer, in many organizations, this is contained within an ERP or CRM system but it could equally be contained in a custom-built database designed specifically for managing customer data.
Data attributes in the customer master range wildly according to the purpose and intent of the business and also the nature of the goods, services, products and relationships.
While the customer master is most commonly used as a reference point for business transactions, it is unusual for the customer master to contain transactional data or transactional data attributes.
The one exception to this is transactional aggregates or markers for the largest, latest and most frequent events, interactions or transactions.
Different systems of record will attempt to minimize dataset traversals and system interactions by providing Key Relationship Indicators (KRI) alongside basic customer data however processes need to be in place either through reporting or transactional processing, to ensure that the KRIs are maintained and current otherwise their value is diminished.
Typical Customer Master Data
| Master Data Attribute | Purpose of this attribute | Characteristics |
| Unique ID | A unique identifier or ID helps facilitate access to customer data and is used as an external key for connecting systems and records. | A single customer record may have many unique identifiers as well as the unique identifier within the system in which it is being observed. The other IDs may be also considered external keys. |
| Forename or First Name | Typically a name-based identifier of the customer that can help in distinguishing family members. A customer could have multiple forenames which might also be referred to as First Name and Middle Name as distinguished from Last Name or Surname. | Typically doesn’t change unless the customer legally changes their name and wishes to change it in the system of record via notification or self-service. |
| Middle Name | A name-based identifier of the customer that can help in distinguishing family members, a customer could have multiple middle names or transpose middle names with the First Name as distinguished from Last Name or Surname. | Typically doesn’t change unless the customer legally changes their name and wishes to change it in the system of record via notification or self-service. |
| Initials | Name-based identifiers typically comprise one or more letters signifying the first letter(s) of one or more forenames. Just as for forenames, initials can serve as identifiers that distinguish household members from one another. | Typically doesn’t change unless the customer legally changes their name and wishes to change it in the system of record via notification or self-service. May be used in place of names which can make uniqueness identification a problem as well as transposition. |
| Surname | A name-based identifier that typically signifies a “family” name like Smith, Devi, Ivanov, Kim, Ali, García or Müller. Often these are historically associated with occupations but in more modern times are simply familial tying identifiers. Sometimes also referred to as “Last Name” | Typically doesn’t change unless the customer legally changes their name through say marriage and wishes to change it in the system of record via notification or self-service. Proof of Name change may be required. Sometimes truncated and sometimes with additional characters like hyphens and sometimes transposed with forenames. |
| Email Address | Also referred to as an e-mail address or electronic mail address, this is an address that identifies an email box to which messages are delivered. The email address format is defined by RFC 5322 and 6854. | May change frequently, and customers may also make use of disposable email addresses which ultimately proves to be problematic in being used as a unique identifier. |
| Phone Number | A sequence of digits assigned to a telephone subscriber station connected or related to a wired or wireless phone circuit or to a telephony device, such as land, radio or mobile phone. | May change frequently, and customers may also make use of multiple phone numbers which ultimately proves to be problematic in being used as a unique identifier. Formats also tend to be varied making data quality and issue |
| Titles and Honorifics | A title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Used to identify the relative social status and can be used as prefixes or suffixes depending on the appropriate occasion and presentation in accordance with style and customs. Mr, Mrs, Ms, and Miss are common as are Dr, Capt, Prof and Sir. | Variations can be found across different geographies and these are tied to language. The title or honorific is often used to connote sex or gender although this is becoming less popular. For personalization, an honorific may prove to be valuable for communication. |
| Address | A collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, using boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or apartment numbers. Some addresses also contain special codes, such as postal or zip code, to make identification easier and aid in the routing of postal mail. | Format variations and missing or superfluous information make addresses a challenging identifier for customer data, customer addresses also change and some customers might make use of multiple addresses for contact. The use of address verification services can help with identifying standardized addresses. Addresses can also span multiple data attributes or be provided as text blocks. |
Other data attributes that can be found in the customer master can be even more uniquely identifiable such as date of birth, gender or sex, age, relationships with other related records, education, income and qualifications as well as preferences in relation to contact ability, privacy and so on.
Within the Pretectum CMDM platform, the Customer Master Data Attributes are defined at the schema level.