By Karo Orovboni
 |
| Karo Orovboni |
There is an increasing need for
businesses to thrive in a highly competitive environment. The ubiquitous
Internet has made competition in the business space more rife, with companies
trying to gain any sort of advantage over the other. Business decision makers
now have to make highly informed, transparent, and accurate decisions about
their organisation. They will need to analyse growth based on Key Performance
Indicators (KPI), compare their organisation against other competitors,
forecast certain metrics, and analyse customer trends in other to remain
relevant in the business space.
Your data (daily collection of
business activities) is what you need in making these effective and
well-informed decisions. If you want growth in your company, it is best to start
looking at ways to make use of data. Your data is your business’ most valuable
asset; effective use of it could determine where your company finds itself on
the success spectrum. As competition continues to stiffen, the establishment
that will succeed in the long term is the one that is able to exploit the power
of data, turning data into meaningful knowledge for the growth of the business.
According to IBM, “90% of the
data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone”! Data is
the big deal; data has become the de facto key business decision-making tool.
Regardless of your business area/industry, your data is highly critical to your
company’s success. The difference between where your business is now and where
you would like it to be may just be in your data. Analysing your business data
will help you know the products that are generating profit and the ones that
are not doing so well. The solution to the stunted business growth you are
looking for out there is within – your data.
A retail company for example,
that specializes in multi-departmental and grocery items, and already exploits
the power of data has put itself in a good stead of succeeding in the long
term. The company will be fortified with accurate and instant information to
efficiently manage its supply chain, sales, improve customer relationship,
effectively manage various store operations and forecast business growth.
The company can use its data to
personalise sale and promotions to customers. Let us take for example a customer
who visits this retail store, unbeknownst to the store, the customer has just had
a baby but as the store now run an effective data management system, and have
just begun a customer retention scheme where they reward loyal customers, they
immediately get the benefit of utilizing their data. The customer buys
lots of baby related items, and scans their customer card at the till. The
customer purchases are worked out and a voucher is provided for the customers’
next visit, with discounts on the product range just purchased. The customer
leaves the store, happy to get discounts on baby items and will be more likely
to return to the store. The company would have retained their customer, and at
the same time driven sales through effective use of data.
The primary aim for most
businesses is to sell as many products as possible, as the more products you
sell, the more profit you make. Harnessing the full potentials of your business
data is key in making this work. The benefit of this would seem like magic, but
it is not, you are just utilizing your business assets.
Excellent customer service and
customer retention policy are important elements required for business growth.
You may want to ask yourself a question, ‘why will customers want to come back
here?’ Your data will help you create that value, retain, and manage your
customers, thereby reducing the rate of customers churning. You need to retain
existing customers, and not just concentrate on advertisements to attract new
customers, whilst neglecting your existing customers. Your business will
possibly come up in your customers’ casual conversations with their friends and
family. What they say about your business depends on how you have treated them.
Be sure to know that you would
have potentially gained yourself tens, hundreds, or even thousands of customers
just by treating your customers right and giving them the utmost customer
satisfaction. People are more willing to give your business a try if they have
received positive feedback from a friend or family. The old age ‘word of mouth’
method still works in today’s business environment. Remember, you do not have
the monopoly of the business area you run, you have competitors, and so your
customers have options.
A majority of business owners or
managers still do not have unequivocal knowledge of how their businesses are
performing. It would not be far fetched that their data has been ignored.
According to a report by McKinsey Global Institute, a retailer making optimal
use of data could increase its operating margin by more than 60 per cent! If
you were to make efficient use of your data, you could drive operational
efficiency and profitability, reducing expenditure and errors. Your data will
give you information about your business, information will garner knowledge,
knowledge will enable you do the right thing and make the correct business
decisions.
Data is not an illusion; it is a
key factor for productivity and profit optimisation, it cannot be neglected.
Whether you run a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) or a multi-national
organisation, your data is the tool that is needed to drive sales and increase
productivity. If for any reason you are yet to start making use of your
business data, there is no better time to start than now.
Karo
is a Business Intelligence/Data Warehouse professional; you can engage him on
twitter @K_Orovboni
0 comments:
Post a Comment