Successful companies recognize when it is time to reassess where to change current practices. Making better business decisions is a team effort, involving management to the newest employee. Here are some suggestions to help your company make decisions that lead to lasting success.
Smart Goal-Setting
In a 1981 article written by George Doran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham, they outlined an acronym for making business goals that has remained valuable in the culture ever since. S.M.A.R.T. stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely. Though these authors predated the Internet, their advice for goal-setting still applies in a world swirling with useful data that can be analyzed to help a business focus on its goals. They emphasize that establishing clear objectives and developing action plans are critical to achieving those goals.
The first two words in the acronym — Specific and Measurable — describe the type of data companies can use best. In a culture where more always seems better, narrowing the data-gathering scope can allow your company to set attainable goals and steps based on what the data analytics reveals.
Using Real Data to Inform Your Business Decisions
Data-Driven Decision Making (DDDM) is another acronym that has real substance behind the letters. This concept, according to Tim Stobierski, means you use “Data to inform your decision-making process and validate a course of action before committing to it.”
Rather than relying on intuition or even past experience, he says, it has never been easier to acquire relevant and useful data to make business decisions. At its core, data gathering looks for patterns and correlations that inform customer decisions. An experienced data analyst can provide clarity with visual representations and give you confidence in future choices.
Focus on What the Customer or Client Needs
Even as more data is swirling around the Internet, customers and clients are becoming more privacy-aware. Using data to make decisions about things like brick-and-mortar business locations, store flow, app user interface, and sales and promotions are all goals to set with the satisfaction of the end-user in mind. One early example comes from Starbucks: In the 1980s, stores kept track of customers’ orders in a filing system. Customers reacted positively to a company knowing their preferences. Now, companies do this electronically by saving favorites in an app or populating a grocery list with frequently bought items.
It is also important to responsibly collect, analyze, and store customer information in a way that maintains trust and loyalty. Decisions that prioritize safeguarding and ethically using customer data can benefit both sides in the long run.
Learning From Mistakes
Better business decisions may require an occasional dose of humility. Acknowledging past mistakes — especially those that have harmed customer or client relationships — is vital to moving forward. The world of data gathering moves fast, with options for new tools and applications. Sometimes, trying to keep up leads to errors. Thoughtful reflection on lessons learned can be ingrained in the company culture so that every employee knows the value of making better decisions going forward.
In a data-driven society, you can make better business decisions by using relevant data to make goals and inform your choices. By learning from past mistakes and focusing on customer needs, your company will hopefully realize great future success.
