Better Business With Big Data

Big DataWith the many improvements in customer data collection, companies of any size can leverage information to improve products and customer experience. However, many smaller organizations have the misconception that this undertaking is so massive that only enterprise level organizations can capitalize on it. In reality, the following three factors can be leveraged by any organization, regardless of size.

Improve the Customer Experience With Actual Experience

So many pieces of equipment today are equipped with the ability to “phone home” and report back to the mother company. This reporting includes system crashes, customer usage, and identifying why problems happen so they can be patched. More products than ever before — including washing machines, cars, and even refrigerators — now connect to the Internet and provide vital information to organizations.

Such sensors are actually not too costly in most cases and can be included easily in a variety of products. Being able to build a better customer experience is vital to staying competitive in the market. A business can accomplish this by finding out when its products develop issues and quickly resolving them — without a single call made to a customer service agent.

Understand the Target Market

Devices can also collect data about the consumers who actually use the product. For example, when users log into Facebook to create accounts for a smart watch, the manufacturer can see live demographic information that can then be directly utilized by advertising and marketing departments to understand what demographics are consuming the product and what audiences are still untapped.

Increasing Efficiency Through Data

Product development and sales aren’t the only places where data can help improve operations. Companies can also use data to improve shipping logistics by getting more accurate reads on the amount of time required to send shipments out, and HR can compile the profile of ideal employees by matching the elements of current employees with prospective job candidates.

Data is typically thought of as something that is primarily used by IT, but nearly every aspect of an organization can capitalize on it to improve decision making. It is important to remember that collecting data is useful for any organization. Small companies of all verticals and industries can utilize data. It’s up to the organization to make the jump.