Our topic for this month’s newsletter and blogs is “Data analysis has become vital for all executives.” Being able to separate the truth from the rumor and speculation currently running rampant is vital for continuing success in business—not to mention continuing success in life.
Both leadership and staff within a company operate with information—about their market, the general business scene, and other vital factors. They need to know that the information they’re relying on is actually true. How can they do that?
Market Data
The most important information for a company selling goods and services is about its own market. That is, knowledge about the people who purchase the company’s products. Why will they buy? What motivates them?
There are market research organizations that collect and publish researched data about companies or individuals that purchase various kinds of products or services. They publish white papers and other types of reports all about these buyers. This source of information is often quite costly.
The problem with such information is that you usually cannot view the raw data. How was it collected? What kinds of questions were asked of potential buyers, and what were their actual answers? All too often, the information is “analyzed” or “interpreted” by “experts” within the market research company. And this information,—analyses and interpretations of the alleged experts—may or may not be accurate. You have no way of knowing if you can’t see the raw information yourself.
The best way for a company to gather information about its potential buyers is to do so themselves. Go straight to those prospects and engage them, talk to them. Find out all about them. Compile and share the data with your staff, especially marketing and sales personnel.
Where third-party reports can come in handy is when it comes to market and business trends. But again, you should verify them—and we’ll go into how below.
Impact of Events
Another type of information utilized by your business, which should be verified and acted upon, is the impact of various events. These events would be changes in the economic climate—inflation, recession, etc.—political events, and conflicts such as the Russo-Ukraine war. How do these events impact the business world, particularly your business landscape?
In the media more than any place else there can be all kinds of interpretations and analyses of these kinds of events, which can be true or false. Various agencies might have an agenda for putting a particular spin or slant on the information.
Just as with business landscape and market data reports, this information needs to be authenticated.
Authenticating Information
One method of verifying information—aside from a hands-on source within your company—is to take a similar approach to today’s computer security: a “two-source” verification.
Today when logging into a computer or secure website, there is often a two-part approach. The first is your password, and then a code is sent to your email or phone, which you must enter.
A two-source information verification works similarly. You find the same information reported from two different sources. You might want to dig deeper and make sure that one source didn’t simply obtain the data from the other source you found—but given that they’re independent sources, it’s one way of verifying the integrity of information.
The real test of any information, no matter the source, is in its application. When you employ it, do you get the result you’re looking for? If the data comes from market research, do you get the response you’re after? If it’s information about the business world, can you actually see its authenticity in action?
Once You’ve Found a Source
Once you have found a reliable source of information, hang onto it! Have your leadership and staff utilize it, for the information you obtain from that source will most likely be reliable.
To learn more, sign up at SELLability.com.
Recent Comments