Don’t get left behind

In all sectors, everyone is noticing the change. In the public sector, people expect more transparency, lower costs and significantly faster public services. Commercially – from board members to managers – everyone in a position of authority is increasingly expected to deliver a vision for the future explaining where the organization is heading. It’s no longer enough to point towards innovation – people demand practical projects that are clearly going to make a difference. It’s about finding new ways and methods and simplifying and accelerating decision-making on all levels.
While it all sounds good, this approach entails risk. But doing nothing, waiting or sticking one’s head in the sand and hoping it will all go away is an even greater risk. You can be damn sure a large proportion of your competitors are already capitalising on the opportunities offered by data analytics. The rest are likely considering it. You run the risk of simply being left behind.

Of course, you are not going to do something just because everyone else is. You’re not a lemming after all. But what about data and analytics? They do seem pervasive, and even the most reputable organizations are getting on board. Could this be different? I would like to suggest it is.
Data Analytics can help you to harness your data and use it to identify new opportunities. These include more efficient operations, higher profits and happier customers. These are just some of the areas in which data is being used:

Social listening
who’s saying what about your organisation? Brand sentiment analysis gives far more detailed feedback than polls or surveys.

Comparative analysis
Compare your products, services and overall brand status with your competition. Behavioural metrics deliver real-time customer engagement information.

Marketing analytics
Promote new products, services and other projects to your target audience in a more informed, innovative way.

Targeting
Dig deep into social media and identify the most effective audiences for your campaigns.

Customer satisfaction
Maximise the usability of your website and boost customer engagement. Iron out potential issues before they become an issue.

And much more.

Once you have decided to look at the potential use of analytics within your organization, you may be pleasantly surprised. Experience shows that many staff are more than willing to contribute to renewal once they understand it is necessary. The trick therefore is to translate the underlying stream of support into a strong current. It is our conviction that data has a purifying role here: it helps employees to understand the genuine status and position of the organization. And it can help to show which practical steps need to be taken to head in a new direction.
As soon as employees understand where they are now and where they want to go, it creates an atmosphere in which entrepreneurship and creativity are fed. You can then test on a small scale whether a different, refreshing process that is based more on data will work. And as soon as that is solved, the department of even the organization as a whole can start moving.