Data in Businesses Slide 7

What is Data? If you asked different people this question, you would get multiple answers. A couple typical definitions are as follows: ___________________together for reference or analysis. Things known as facts, making the basis of reasoning, calculation and decision making.

An example of business data: “the number of company products sold in the southeast territory in the previous business quarter.” There is one correct number that _______________and is our “fact” within the definition of data. This fact can be referenced for analysis and can be the basis for making a business decision.

Why Your Company’s Data is Important and Tips to Ensure Its Integrity Who cares if data is incorrect or if the overall quality is poor? Data quality is referred to as “data integrity.” It is maintaining and assuring the accuracy and consistency of data over its entire life-cycle. Data integrity means that the data is accurate and reliable.  At various levels, all company employees make business decisions to assist in their roles and responsibilities which ultimately contribute in the ______________. In most companies, there are areas where important business decisions are routinely made based on data. 

Impacts of Reliable Data in Businesses

Business Performance Measurement. Consistently ________________ against company goals and the competition is imperative for success. Business Example: Based on the company’s data (and sound integrity), we know factually that only 50 products were sold in the southeast territory last quarter and the goal was 75. Also known is that the competition in that territory sold 25 similar products. Based on this data, a decision can be made to potentially increase territory marketing presence, research reasons competitive products were purchased, and re-exam projected sales forecasts.

Resource Utilization and Allocation. Having the correct resources in the correct locations at the correct time working on the correct project is important. The adverse is __________________________an advantage. Business Example: A decision to temporarily reallocate an inside sales representative from assisting in a territory that accomplished its sales goals early in the quarter to the southeast territory could have meant achieving the sales goals and suppressing the competition.

Customer and Partner Satisfaction Management.  Essential to a company’s success is the satisfaction of its customers and partners. Whether it be surveys, on-site visits, etc., data needs to be routinely captured and analysed to ensure customer expectations are being met or exceeded. Potential _______________________in company products and services can be brought to light and resolved before the competition is aware. Business Example: Not collecting satisfaction data on a larger customer in the southeast territory meant not knowing about a small partner issue. This issue caused the customer to not purchase 30 additional products in the previous business quarter. If the correct individuals had known about this issue, a decision to swiftly resolve the partner problem would have led to the additional product purchase thus exceeding company territory sales goals.

Data Integrity As you can see, dynamic real-time data with solid integrity allows company decision makers to have a “pulse” on the company’s __________________and against the competition at any given time. Having accurate and reliable data to analyse into information for making important, quick or long-term, business decisions is a crucial tool.

Tips for Managing Your Company’s Data Integrity Effectively It is one thing to understand what data is and why its integrity is important. It is another thing to ________________and manage it. At a high-level, companies typically collect data through various methods such as the following:

The Company Website.  A common practice is collecting data from a company website through: page visits and mouse clicks, a contact us section, a request for quote (RFQ) section, a blog comments section (_____________________________), a product and services purchase (shopping cart) section, etc.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System. An ERP system is business __________________that integrates several facets of a company including product and project planning, manufacturing processes, material purchasing, inventory control, distribution, accounting, finance, human resources, sales and marketing, etc. Data is collected through manual or automated data entry.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System. A CRM system is business management software that manages interactions and relationships with current customers, prospective customers, partners, etc. It can align sales, marketing, customer service and support. Data is collected through manual or automated data entry. Integration between an ERP and CRM systems is also common and can prevent data silos, ________________________integrity.

Back-end Database. Behind the scenes will normally reside a database. Front-end applications such as websites and ERP/CRM systems are “connected” to databases. Data entered in the front-end applications flow into and is stored in databases on the back-end. It is here where data is extracted and _________________through various means.

Case study Data quality is important for ensuring your data analysis is both accurate and easy. When your marketing team is dealing with low- quality data, data silos, or dirty data, it makes their jobs much harder and also reduces the reliability of data analysis. What tactics can you implement to improve data quality and achieve greater accuracy from analysis?