5 Important Stories Your Data Can Tell You about Your Business
Your data is trying to tell you something about your business. Are you listening?
Implementing a business intelligence solution is the first step towards more nimble, data-driven decision making. But making that investment and setting up your business intelligence is just the beginning.
Once you start amassing large amounts of data, the hard part is figuring out what your data is telling you. Which data should you pay attention to? What is the story your data is telling, and how can you apply it to make better decisions?
Are there other ways to discover these 5 important stories your data can tell you about your business? Sure! But data will help you reach these conclusions faster with more details. And that should help you implement solutions better.
Opportunities to decrease waste
There are always opportunities to reduce waste. Start by looking at areas in the business with the worst numbers or with the biggest potential for improvement. What decisions drive waste in your business? Dive into that data, and you may find the source of wasted efforts or resources.
Are you staffing your help desk based on support ticket volume by day and time? If not, you could be wasting money on unneeded support hours. And on the flipside, not staffing your help desk appropriately during the busy hours could lead to extreme customer dissatisfaction. Is your inventory spoiling because you’re over ordering? Sales, staffing, and your supply chain are great places to start.
Your processes need improvement
How quickly do products move through your supply chain? How long does it take for returns to process or departments to coordinate efforts? One common story your data could be telling you is that your processes need fine tuning. Dive into the data and look at processes from end to end to uncover opportunities for improvement.
Opportunities to automate
Not all decisions have to be made by humans. In some cases, machines can make better decisions based on data and save time and money in the process. Look for simple, repetitive decisions that could be automated to save costs and effort.
How you’re losing conversions
If your sales processes are properly documented, that data could be a wealth of information on where, when, or how you’re losing conversions. Chances are there’s a particular place in the sales process that is failing to convert most leads. Look through your sales data to pinpoint those moments within your sales narrative.
Customer shopping trends
Data can tell us lots of stories about our customers, their purchase behaviors, and their online browsing habits. Your data could be showing you trends that might help increase sales and pinpoint promotional timing. It could even help you create a new product or service that solves a pain point and gives you a leg up on the competition. Is there a lull at the same time every year? Maybe that’s when you should plan your next promotion. Is there a common feature request that could be a game changer? Paying attention to customer data could give you all these answers – even if you didn’t know to look for them in the first place.
ROI happens when you focus less on collecting and analyzing as much data as possible and more on collecting and analyzing the right data. Look for these data stories within your own business intelligence data. You will gain better insights into how your company runs and how it can improve.
In case you couldn’t tell, here at RTS Labs, we’re huge fans of data. Have questions about data at your company or organization? Give us a call to start the conversation. Initial consultations are always free. Bring your questions to us – we’ll help you find answers.
Copyright: Nonwarit Pruetisirirot / 123RF Stock Photo