4 Keys To A Data-Driven Business
A data-driven approach to business means using all available information to optimise existing business goals and investigate new possibilities. When a company is ‘data-driven’ they are making strategic decisions based on data analysis and interpretation of that data. Both financial and non-financial data.
It’s all well and good to sit in business meetings throwing ideas and speculation around about what you think might work or what’s perhaps not working, but data has better ideas. Data brings the facts about what is really going on in your business to the table for much clearer more succinct decision making.
“Data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times as likely to retain customers, and 19 times as likely to be profitable as a result.” - McKinsey Global Institute
Here’s four keys to being a data-driven business:
1. Align your data collection with strategic objectives
Collecting a mountain of data for the sake of it serves no purpose. Ensure that you are clear on what information you need to be reviewing on a regular basis to assess the efficiencies and success of your business at any given moment. Setting clear goals for the information you require from your data collection will help your team avoid overload of data (that also ends up in lack of clarity).
2. Utilise technology to integrate platforms for data collection
Data integration is the big new progression many larger companies are making to help them pull information in from multiple sources and have it presented in one dashboard or one set of reports for ease of interpretation. Utilising the many technological tools available, integrating your data will allow analytics tools to produce effective, actionable business intelligence.
3. Make the data available to the right people in the organisation
You may think that the board or directors are the only people who need to be reviewing your data on a monthly basis, but when the whole organisation has access to analytics across all the levels of the company it empowers individuals and departments to make better decisions without having to always rely on information coming from the top. This removes the ‘siloing’ effect that larger companies still struggle with and activates each team within your business.
4. Adjust when necessary
There is some uncertainty that presents when you begin to collect detailed analytics. Speculation ensues, but it is important to continue asking yourself whether the data being presented is servicing your organisation and supporting business decisions, or whether it is just more chatter that has little meaning. Adjusting your data-collection methods, changing your goals for data analysis and continually reviewing ‘black spots’ will mean over time your data will become far more useful than when you first moved towards becoming a data-driven business.
Finally, don’t become a prisoner to what I call the ‘A-Myth’ - I see so many businesses missing out on capturing and taking action from key data points because it can’t be automated. The ‘Automation Myth’ is the belief that everything can be automated and if it can’t be automated, then it’s not important enough to analyse. That is rubbish!
For example, if your CRM contains important information about your sales funnel, but certain fields cannot be auto populated into your reporting platform, then make it someone's job to extract that and report on it.
So often, we see examples of great information being wasted because it is put in the ‘too hard’ basket or the integration that comes out of the box doesn’t pull that data. Don’t stand for it, make it a priority in your business to know what is important, no matter what.
If you want reporting on the metrics that matter to help grow your margins, your sales and your business, talk to our team today about better business reporting.
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