Data Strategy & Your Business
Plugging your data back into the business
We’re living in an age of information, in fact, so much data is acquired that we’re practically drowning in it, and how your business manages its data can have a significant impact. With the overwhelming quantities of data coming in, having a well-structured data strategy is a must for businesses of any size. Without a strong data strategy or no strategy at all, your business is likely missing out on opportunities to improve and grow your business.
Most businesses aspire to become data-driven, but the reality is, that nearly two-thirds of businesses don’t have a data strategy. This means that decisions are often based on intuition or prior experience, instead of on data-driven insights, and as a result sales opportunities, performance, data quality, growth, and more are all subjected to these consequences.
CRMs (Customer Relationship Management) are one of the most valuable business assets you can have and at Smart Systems Technology our expert data Specialists work with businesses across many different industries to unleash the power of their CRM data. Our FREE CRM Data Strategy Scan will show you how a CRM that works for you can open a world of endless opportunities.
Communication breakdowns and the negative impact
Consistent communication between business departments tends to be an ongoing issue that affects the sharing of information. Departments tend to operate independently and don’t always use the same software solutions to manage their workflows. Accounting is using Sage but Sales is working inside Salesforce and the two solutions don’t communicate with one another causing the data in each area to become siloed. When data is not readily available, the impacts are felt company wide.
When businesses are dealing with siloed data, the negative impacts are felt company wide.
- Ineffective marketing efforts & sales opportunities missed – sales and marketing are operating two different databases that don’t communicate, leading to ineffective marketing efforts. The crucial customer information stored in the sales team’s database is critical for the marketing team’s advertising efforts. The marketing team could easily follow the customer’s journey and would be able to identify patterns as well as opportunities for improvement with their advertising efforts.
- Higher cost – departments working in different databases are very likely to duplicate work already completed in another department. Not on are businesses paying their employees to replicate work (unknowingly), the time spent would have been productive elsewhere.
- Low quality data – multiple departments are collecting and maintaining similar data pieces. When stored and maintained separately, data quality is low. Records in different databases show different information, maybe in the CRM system John Doe is listed with full information but has left his job and in the sales department, John Doe is listed as still employed and the sales team is wasting valuable time trying to reach John.
- Trust issues – data that is inconsistent, inaccurate, and unavailable to those who need it will impact decision and business growth. It’s risky to make decisions based on limited reporting.
- Inaccurate reporting – due to limited reporting capabilities analytics and insights are slow. When it’s time to prepare a report, multiple exports from different databases will need to be pulled, analyzed, and reported on, then repeated when the next report is due.
These issues a very real and every business at one time or another has come face-to-face with at least one list item above. The negative impact is felt by every department and addressing the issue quickly is the only way to have a resolution. Our world moves quickly, and changes occur at a moment’s notice, if your business cannot pivot quickly, it can be costly.
Let’s talk about your data
Our data experts have worked with businesses across many different industries to discover the possibilities inside their own systems. By performing a CRM Data Strategy Scan, our experts will analyze a small portion of your data to reveal what’s been hiding in plain sight. We’ve found businesses that, on the surface, are growing and don’t think there’s an issue, but when our experts start to investigate, we’ve found significant revenue being missed. A business can be steadily growing and achieving revenue goals but there is high probability other valuable opportunities are stored within their databases.
And that’s not all, we took our experiences and developed our proprietary Data Architecture & Synchronization capabilities. No matter what software solutions your business is using, we can make them talk and share data. Our solution breaks down the walls between departments and allows visibility and real-time communication, bringing your teams together like never before.
Before we ever lay hands on your data, we will meet briefly to determine if a CRM Data Strategy Scan would be beneficial to your company. Once we mutually agree to move forward, our experts will begin their scan.Once the results are in, we’ll reconnect and share our findings. If we find no areas for improvement, we’ll tell you. If we find areas for improvement, we’ll work up a proposal and discuss the next steps before any money ever changes hands.
If you think you have your data under control, great! – we still want to meet you. If you feel your business isn’t seeing the full value of its data, let’s fix that. Regardless of your situation, Smart Systems Technology is in the business of helping people, and if our expertise and services can better the lives of your business, your team, and your customers, we would love to hear from you.
Smart Systems Technology has the expertise to turn your CRM or other databases into a highly valuable business asset. Reach out today to schedule a FREE Consultation!
