Business intelligence – or tracking your own internal big data – is something that most organizations would probably find incredibly useful. However, most aren’t actually using it or using it effectively. If you collect huge amounts of information about your business, what are you doing with it? Who do you share the information with? How often and how is it being put into practical use in your company?
Collecting the data is the easy part, most Middle Market firms are already doing it to some extent. Figuring out who to share information with, exactly what they’ll benefit from seeing and knowing when and how to share it are where it becomes a bit more interesting.
Stop The Overwhelm In Your Middle Market Reporting
If you collect information on all aspects of your business – sales, advertising, marketing, production, social media, customer service, training, support, shipping, and on and on – who do you share what with? Does your sales team really have a use for information about your customer service times and satisfaction ratings? Will your shipping team be able to benefit from knowing sales trends? Possibly, but not likely.
If you share everything with everyone, it is pretty likely that no one is really looking at the data. You might be killing them with information overload.
When And How Do You Share Information With Your Middle Market Teams?
Collecting, sorting and sharing your business intelligence is fantastic, but it does need to be timely, user-friendly and front and center if you want it to be put to use. The best responses will come if the data can be used real-time, not at the end of a quarter or year. Some companies have created electronic dashboards or online reporting systems. Others may use alerts that flag when critical situations have occurred. Whatever you decide, realize if you want your teams to use your data to be proactive and not reactive they need access to it more in present time and easily accessible.
How Do You Talk About Your Data With Your Middle Market Employees?
Do you off-handedly mention some numbers at your weekly staff meetings? Or, hand out a thick stack of reports once a month without covering anything? Do you only hit the highlights of what areas are “up” or when something negative has happened? Most employees likely have no idea why they should be concerned about the numbers or what they even really mean, for that matter. Take time to explain what data you collect, what the information means and why it is important. Then, talk about what the changes reflect and how that impacts them directly. When sales are up a certain percentage, put it terms they all can understand. How does that affect their bonuses or profit sharing, etc? If you can’t make it relatable, they likely won’t be paying a lot of attention.
If your Middle Market firm is collecting Business Intelligence, you should be certain you are sharing it with the right people, in ways and at times that it can be most beneficial. Doing so ensures your Middle Market company can get the most from tracking and sharing data internally.
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