Lobbying for your company to invest in contact data quality requires some significant persuasion skills. The task can be doubly hard if most of the leaders in your company don't understand the role that address quality plays not only in direct marketing, but also in sales, customer service, client acquisition and a host of other business tasks.

Writing for Data Quality Pro, Dylan Jones says that when a data quality advocate makes his or her pitch to the business leadership, it can be easy to get too wrapped up in the "big vision," which could generate a negative reaction from those less passionate about the topic.

He advises thinking small, presenting your master plan for the DQ project (which can be overwhelming) in smaller pieces that present less risk to the sponsor. Then you can build up your bank of trust with each minor win or accomplishment.

"You have to take the same approach that startups take," Jones explains, noting that entrepreneurs make the rounds looking for investors and "buy-in," consistently driving home the value of the program or product and establishing trust "until they build up to the big one, perhaps an IPO or final funding round. By creating smaller chunks of buy-in, you’re dramatically reducing the risk to the sponsor."