The term, big data, is often referenced in business today.
Companies are mining information about you, your company, your personal life. They’re finding out everything they possibly can about you from as many sources as possible. Then they market directly to you.
For example, you may be on a website browsing for shoes but don’t make a purchase. As you move to other websites and online activities suddenly shoe advertisements start popping up everywhere you go. You may be seeing ads for new cars, insurance or almost anything else based on your browsing habits, data for your perceived age group, likes and dislikes. Marketers are finding out everything they can to get themselves in front of you online so that you will select their goods and services rather than the competition.
In the headlines today is the issue of privacy. It certainly isn’t what it use to be. There was a time when people didn’t talk about, for instance, the price they purchased their house for. Today, all you have to do is go on the internet and anyone can find out how much you paid for the house you live in, then zoom in on a picture of the house and neighborhood and look up what you pay in property taxes.
How does data apply to your business?
Data is important to your business success as a CEO, president or business owner.
You don’t have to be a big, corporate organization for your business to take advantage of the benefits of data.
Ask yourself:
- What do I really know about my business?
- What statistical information do I know about my business?
- Do I know how many prospecting calls it takes to get an appointment?
- Do I know how many appointments it takes to get a sale?
- Do I know how many sales presentations it takes to get a sale or to close a deal?
- Do I know the average selling price of the products my company offers?
- Do I know how to look at the sales data to determine what it will take to potentially increase the sales volume and turn it into a profit?
As a CEO, president or business owner, you need to understand your business from top to bottom. You need to understand your customers. Know what they share in common. Talk with your customers, even interview them, to understand better why they buy from you.
- What key words initiate interest to proceed in the sales process?
- What gets your customers attention?
- What key actions do your customers take which indicate they want to do business with you?
The more you know about…
- Your business
- Your customers
- What it takes to do business
… The MORE successful and profitable you and your company will be.
Technology is amazing today. Wouldn’t you agree?
The technology being developed today would be impossible without the use of data.
Here’s an example: There is a NASA project entitled, New Horizons, which launched a satellite in 2006 to Pluto by way of the planet, Jupiter. In 2015, the satellite finally arrived at Pluto’s orbit and sent back photos to awe humans here on Earth. How did it happen? By using data. The engineers sat down and worked out the extremely intricate data for such an event to happen. They planned the trajectory; how best to aim the satellite into space. They projected what may or may not happen along the way to Pluto; what the satellite, New Horizons, may encounter. The spacecraft is expected to continue its exploration past Pluto barring anything unforeseen. None of this could have happened without the use of data. No wonder in the television series, Star Trek: Next Generation, there is an android character named, Data!
When you start breaking down everything into the simplest possible form. When you understand the data that’s pertinent to your business. Then business success becomes easier. By using appropriate data in a timely manner you are creating an equation for success.
Start studying your business.
As a CEO, president or business owner become a student of your business.
Study:
- What you do
- Why you do it
- What works
- What doesn’t work
It won’t necessarily be easy when you start to study your business and analyze the data you uncover. Remember, it wasn’t an easy task to travel 4.67 billion miles from Earth to Pluto. But it has proven to be possible and quite successful. The same can happen in your business. Just as one day a spacecraft with human passengers will head for Mars in the not too distant future.
Data isn’t just for large companies. Data is for every company on the planet – and in the universe – including yours. In the words of Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise: Make it so!
To your success!
Ready to improve and grow your business? Have business decisions that would benefit from a strategy conversation? Talk with Howard! – 888-738-1855 – Howard Lewinter guides – focuses – advises CEOs, presidents and business owners throughout the United States to MORE success – MORE profit – less stress. Get MORE from your business! Call 888-738-1855 to talk business with Howard.
Published as a guest blog post on the Nimble blog.