Using customer data to make more profits

Running a Business without data or with missing/inaccurate data is like flying blind. In fact, collecting customer data is one of the most important keys for creating effective strategies for growth, development and success.

Many businesses collect a lot of data about their customers still they are clueless about what to do with that data or they end up pulling it from one single source such as Social Media for example. Nevertheless, to have invaluable insights about your customers, you need data from social media plus website usage, email sign ups, purchases and feedback forms as well.

If collecting data THE RIGHT WAY is not yet a priority for your business, it is definitely time to switch gears and make it one!

But how can you make the most out of customer data? And how can you use it to successfully increase profits and grow your business? Read more here to find out.

Getting the most from customer data:

Customers want convenience. They also want their needs met both quickly and easily. As a business, you need to have enough relevant data to match your customer preferences and give them what they want.

Just think of this question: How much more more likely would someone choose your online business over another if it closely matched his/her preferences? What competitive advantage would that give you over your competition?

See Also: How to Build Brand Loyalty in Discount Hungry Customers

Customer behavior history as well as predictive and prescriptive analytics can tremendously increase your business transactions. However, to reach there, you need the right customer data.

Here are three ways to help you deliver business outcomes using customer analytics:

• Identify & prioritize

Big amounts of data can be overwhelming. The best approach you can take is identify your business needs and select a few use cases or scenarios that most closely meet your business objectives.

Your business use cases can include sales optimization, optimizing marketing promotions or improving customer service quality.

For example, if you want to increase your revenue and your business discipline is customer services, you need to select a relevant use case such as ‘reduce customer turnover‘. Now, you need to identify the types of data you need to collect such as customer interaction history. Finally, choose the analytics you want to apply.

• Build a customer profile foundation

As a business, your ultimate goal is to create a 360 degree view that can resolve use cases. To create this view, you need to start small and identify your customers using minimum data elements. Think of transaction data, log data, location data and data collected from social media profiles.

Below is a video that can help you better understand transaction data and its importance in banking.

See Also: Why Customer Experience Matters for Your Business

• Create a data inventory

Do you already have data? Is it enough or do you need more? In order to make the most out of customer data, you need to identify what data you have and what data you need. Then you need to have a plan for collecting any missing data and classify it under internal versus external and necessary versus peripheral.

This ‘data inventory‘ is very important for your business growth and success. Moreover, you will need to visit it regularly to keep your customer information accurate and fresh.

There are many ways to collect additional data you might need. IoT sensors, public data resources and commercial marketplaces are just a few.

Is your business getting the most out of customer data? How do you think you are able to do that? We would love to hear more from you about this interesting subject in the comment section below. 

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