How to make great business decisions

Unlocking the power of your business data

However big or small the business decision – making a data-driven decision is what will protect and maximise your time and money.

Think that’s easier said than done? You aren’t alone.

The reality is, despite the masses of data businesses have at their fingertips, 74% still feel overwhelmed or unhappy when it comes to knowing how to utilise it. The simple solution to harnessing that data and turning it into something you can rely on? An all-in-one ERP solution.

ERP takes the huge pile of data your business accumulates and uses it to answer the questions your business can’t afford to wait for. And sometimes, it answers the questions you didn’t even know you should be asking.

Better yet, it’s proven to make your business more profitable and successful.

According to a report published by McKinsey Global Institute, companies that are data-driven are 23 times more likely to acquire customers, six times likelier to retain customers and 19 times more likely to be profitable.

But what do those ‘good business decisions’ look like?

For your warehouse team, pickers could receive dynamic picking schedules on their mobile devices each morning, tailored to real-time demands and inventory levels. 

For a sales department, that could be receiving a biweekly breakdown of their top and worst selling products to determine where sales or marketing efforts need to be increased.

For an operations team, it might be receiving damage reports every month. From here, they can investigate any patterns with the manufacturer or the courier delivering the items.

For your accounts team, data can be used to set up targeted chase tactics for late payments. Better yet, processes can be put in place to stop credit problems before they even start.

Armed with the right data and the right tools, businesses stop firefighting and begin finding the time to strategise for the future. They can find out with the utmost confidence what works, what doesn’t work, and what processes need attention.

What is the value digging deeper into your data?

Around 70% of businesses say they’re investing more time into their analytics, while 58% say that, as a result, they’ve significantly impacted customer retention.

For example:

If you’re a company that sells vapes, you could pull a list of customers that are buying, or not buying from a certain category on your website.

You might find customers are buying vapes from you, but not vape juices. The question from here, is why? Is it the customer journey? Is it the price? Is it the quality of the product?

With further analysis provided by an analytics tool, you can establish what communication you’ve had with your customers. You can ascertain the promotions they have or haven’t seen around the low performing items, as well as the performance of the sales rep responsible for pushing out your different products.

With the right data being analysed, you begin monitoring and taking note of what creates a returning or high value customer. For some, that might be an increase in communication. For others, it might be making changes to the way the customer journey is mapped out on your website.

Whatever it happens to be, you can monitor your changes and start implementing what’s successful.

Find your power with Orderwise

An Orderwise ERP system already knows everything about your business. Every sale, every customer and every transaction. By uniting your data in one central platform, you’re provided with the power to use this wealth of information to drive smarter processes, improve performance and increase profitability.