Protecting Customer Data: Geetesh Sanodia Highlights the Critical Role of CRM and Cybersecurity in Customer Data Protection in Finance

9 Oct 2019

In a world where everyone and almost everything is online, the question of cybersecurity automatically comes up. One tech expert, Geetesh Sanodia, is investing his time and efforts in customer relationship management (CRM) and data security to make customer data safe. With 10 years of experience under his belt, this Senior Associate of CRM at a leading global financial institution is trying to change the game when it comes to protecting customer information and ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations.

Mr. Sanodia has not only delivered impactful CRM and data security solutions in the financial world, but he has delivered such impacts across diverse sectors such as Banking, Telecommunications, Life sciences and Healthcare,ensuring adherence to industry-specific regulations.

Securing Data and ensuring growth

By streamlining CRM workflows and enhancing the management of customer data, he has identified new opportunities that directly contributed to increased revenue for the organization. He also designed and implemented optimized data governance frameworksand automated several manual data management processes, which led to significant cost savings in data storage and management. Further, by integrating Business Intelligence (BI) and predictive analytics into the CRM system, there was an improvement in decision-making efficiency which allowed leadership to make data-driven choices more quickly and confidently. There was also an increase in operational efficiency when he helped conduct user training and introduced automation tools within the Salesforce CRM ( a cloud-based customer relationship management platform that helps businesses connect with customers). He also helped in migrating data from old legacy systems (old, outdated computer systems or software that are still in use by an organization) to modern Salesforce platforms, consolidating various systems to improve data integration which made the operation processes smoother. These initiations also made the system more safer.

To enhance the security further, he led the design and implementation of a security framework and integratedit withSalesforce Shield Encryption (a feature in Salesforce that helps keep sensitive data safe by turning it into a secret code, making it unreadable to unauthorized people) to protect sensitive customer data. This ensured full compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR (The General Data Protection Regulation, a European Union law that protects the privacy of individuals and their data), which also mitigated risks associated with data breaches. As a result of these initiations, there was an enhancement in customer trust, leading to higher customer retention rates and stronger client relationships.

Data Analytics and the use of Cloud-based systems

He led the migration of the organization’s CRM system to the Salesforce Lightning Cloud platform (a modern framework for building custom apps, enhancing user experience, and automating business processes using reusable components and a drag-and-drop interface). There was also the integration of Salesforce Einstein for predictive and prescriptive analytics, which helped in gaining insights about customers and therefore resulted in making faster decisions.To monitor and track data usage in real-time which ensured that sensitive data was protected throughout its lifecycle there was the implementation of Data Analytics -Driven Data Governance. He led the setup of the nCino cloud banking system (it is a digital tool designed to help financial advisors, bankers, and other financial professionals manage their customer relationships and financial data more effectively), making sure the data was organized efficiently. This project helped the company understand customers better while staying fully compliant with financial rules and data protection laws. He also set up the customer support system using Salesforce Service Cloud to make handling customer issues more efficient.

Were these actions useful? Mr. Sanodia tells us that by optimizing data architecture and integrating Data intelligence-driven analytics with the CRM system, there was a reduction in data retrieval and reporting time.

There were also cost savings through data governance and automation, as there was less time lost in manually filling in data. By integrating data intelligence-drivenpredictive analytics into CRM systems, there was increased revenue through enhanced customer insights which improved decision-making efficiency and there was a reduction in manual data entry errors.

By implementing a data governance system there was also 100% compliance with data protection regulations such as GDPR and CCPA which resulted in shielding the organization from penalties.

Further, migration from legacy systems to cloud-based CRM platforms resulted in significant improvements in data integration and operational efficiency.

Mr. Sanodia faced several challenges while implementing these projects and took careful measures to address them. One significant hurdle was migrating legacy systems to cloud-based CRM without any downtime. Although this initially failed, he overcame the issue by implementing a phased migration approach.

To ensure compliance with constantly evolving data privacy regulations, Mr. Sanodia implemented automated compliance checks and data governance frameworks. These systems monitored data usage and flagged any non-compliant processes, helping the organization stay ahead of regulatory requirements.

In the multi-cloud environment, reducing data breach risk was a top priority. Mr. Sanodia tackled this by implementing a zero-trust security framework, which operates on the principle that no one, whether inside or outside the company’s network, is automatically trusted. He fortified this approach with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and analytics-driven threat detection. Furthermore, he integrated Salesforce Shield Platform Encryption to enhance data protection measures.

Mr. Sanodia recognized the power of automation in addressing several challenges. By automating compliance processes, he not only improved efficiency but also significantly reduced manual data entry errors, thereby enhancing overall data accuracy and reliability.

Lastly, to protect customer data during a major CRM overhaul and strike a balance between personalization and data privacy in CRM operations, Mr. Sanodia leveraged Business Intelligence (BI)-driven predictive analytics and implemented a robust system framework. This approach allowed for sophisticated data handling and analysis while maintaining stringent privacy standards.

Mr Sanodia’s enthusiasm to take on difficult tasks helped him to ensure the data protection of customers despite the challenges.

Looking at the current trend

Mr. Sanodia believes that security is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Companies should leverage things like “Zero Trust” security (where even the good guys must prove they’re good) and use BI and real-time analytics to spot suspicious activity.

He ends by telling us that there is a need to be proactive with security regulation rules and take leverage of online tools and novel technologies of CRM to protect the data of customers.