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The Difference

February 26, 2009

How happy are your customers with your service? How profitable is your business? How many new customers did your latest promotion attract? What is most important to the 20% of your customers that drive 80% of your revenue? What if you could know all this and more right now, in real time?

Information such as this might likely drive decisions as to how you would manage the future of your business. Information such as this would help you identify the most important problems facing your business, and then to solve them accordingly.

The source of  information like this probably exists within your company right now, most like in the raw state known as data. Like to a vein of gold lurking underneath the grassy surface of the earth, you could be siting on top of a mountain of wealth and not even know it. That wealth is not always readily apparent, and often, like ore, requires some refinement before value can be realized.  Sometimes it must be cleansed.  Sometimes external elements must be added.  At the end of the process, you have something whose value to the world is obvious.

Why doesn’t everyone have great information?  First you just need to know what to look for. Next you need to know where to look for it. Finally you need to know what to do once you find it. Once all of this is accomplished you can ply this asset for tremendous and previously unrealized value.

Data can live in file folders, spread sheets, data bases, email messages, web sites, etc… It surrounds us. This abundant natural resource, if mined properly, refined thoughtfully, and shaped intentionally can yield information and knowledge whose value is literally as good as gold.

This information could be the difference from having an effective service recovery problem that addresses customer concerns in real time or having countless unhappy customers telling 3,000 of their closest friends on the web how you failed to deliver.  Information and action could make the difference.

This information could be the difference between pulling the plug on that seemingly unpopular product line, or realizing that the unprofitable product actually helps to sell the profitable one because it is bought in tandem.  Information and action could make the difference.

This information could be the difference between guessing as to the financial health of your business or knowing with certainty if some cancer exists within your business – if not caught early will result in the death of your firm.  Information and action could make the difference.

Good information, and what you choose to do with it, can make all the difference in the world.

Written by davidebowman · Filed Under Business & Leadership 

Comments

One Response to “The Difference”

  1. Nick Wright on February 26th, 2009 10:14 pm

    David,

    “First you just need to know what to look for.”… couldn’t agree with you more.

    Nick

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