Article written by Chris Rogers, Account Executive at sales-i.
After reading Randy Bean and Tom Davenport’s article on why Companies are Failing to Become Data-Driven, it was important to highlight how these findings tie into the manufacturing and distribution sectors around the globe.
Becoming ‘data-driven’ is something that every organization considers, because data has proven to be valuable for so many. But saying this, why do so many struggle and how can you overcome this obstacle to prevent it from interfering with potential growth?
Randy and Tom suggest some of the barriers could be “the pursuit of short-term goals pushes longer-term objectives like data-based cultures to the back burner.” Or maybe leadership has been burned in the past, “the failure of some high-profile digital transformations has led company leaders to be wary of transformational initiatives.”
Creating a data strategy is hard. The way to succeed and win is to take it one step at a time.
The nice thing about manufacturing and distribution is your ERP contains all the data you need to take those baby steps in the right direction.
It’s not enough, though, to just have the data. The insights and information that stem from this need to be usable by everyone. Usability is the issue.
Randy and Tom mention, and I wholeheartedly agree, that where most missing is the human side of data.
“Executives who responded to the survey say that the challenges to successful business adoption do not appear to stem from technology obstacles; only 7.5% of these executives cite technology as a challenge. Rather 93% of respondents identify people and process issues as the obstacle…Many companies have invested heavily in technology as a first step toward becoming data-oriented, but this alone clearly isn’t enough. Firms must become much more serious and creative about addressing the human side of data if they truly expect to derive meaningful benefits.”
Simple, easy, and usable. Digestible for everyone.
It’s not enough to just have the data. It’s also not enough to just put it into charts and graphs and dashboards. That’s only taking it part of the way. Many business users aren’t comfortable analyzing raw figures, spreadsheets, or dashboards. It’s a second language. The reality is, for most, English is their first language. So why not have your data transformed into plain-English statements automatically?
That’s exactly how sales-i has solved this challenge for over 1000 companies. We deliver your most important data in the form of plain-English statements. Conversation topics and talking points for your sales reps to use as spark notes about hidden opportunities within their current book of business. We automatically analyze your back office customer, invoice, and product data. From there we alert your team to what’s most important about each of your customers.
Words and sentences. Statements. Accessible on-demand with your phone, tablet, or desktop.
Win the fight against data by making it easy for every human within your organization.
If you have any questions or want to see for yourself what I’m talking about? Let's start the conversation.
