6 Keys to a Successful Business Intelligence Strategy

With a well-crafted business intelligence strategy in place, you'll have a powerful competitive advantage on your side. Leveraging business intelligence enables companies of all sizes to make better decisions, optimise their business operations, and increase profit.

We've put together a list of six keys to a successful business intelligence strategy that can transform your company.

Let's learn more about them!

• Prioritise crucial metrics and KPIs

Tracking all data points is not realistic when it comes to small businesses. The majority of them are trying to make the most with limited resources. That's why focusing on crucial metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) is vital.

Although every company is unique, there are some main metrics that most businesses should monitor. 

Conversion rates like sales, repeat purchases, and subscriptions are all the valuable information. They will provide you insight into whether your content and other marketing efforts are working.

Customer satisfaction, logistics efficiency, and delivery times are also essential metrics to track. 

The customer retention rate is especially important. Retaining a customer is around seven times less expensive than customer acquisition. 

• Utilise dashboards and data visualisations for better understanding

Work towards making your data as easy to consume as possible. Dashboards and data visualisations like graphs, charts, and diagrams provide fast access to your data. They also simplify big data, making the complicated simple.

With visualisation tools, we can grasp data's meaning more quickly. 

Instead of digging into Excel and deconstructing a spreadsheet, the time from question to insight is significantly decreased. 

And even more, we can pick up things that we would otherwise miss, like trends heading in the wrong direction. This way, we can intervene on time. 

Foster an intelligence-focused culture across your organisation to achieve a better understanding of big data. Converting data into visuals will help you discover patterns and optimise decisions and performance. 

This way, you can take your business to new heights.

• Store and protect valuable business information

Prioritising security is an essential point for every business. When dealing with large amounts of data, the storage and analysis processes need to be legally compliant. Also, sensitive information like customer details and financial data must be properly stored and protected.

With the right information management technology in place, your sensitive data will be safe from hacks and unauthorised access. 

When it comes to in-house data storing, one of the best solutions, especially for small businesses, is to buy dedicated secure cloud storage.

Cloud computing technology allows your team members to access and share information securely and easily within a cloud-based platform. 

Another critical point to cover is comprehensive cybersecurity training for your staff. Relevant IT courses will help your business protect its networks and data from malicious attacks and cybercriminals. 

All employees have an essential role to play when it comes to the company's security. Providing cybersecurity awareness and learning safe behaviours will enable your people to be the first line of defence.

• Streamline business operations with the right IT tools

Running a company comes with many operations like planning, bookkeeping, financial management, and documentation. Investing in the right IT tools can make your regular business operations easier, faster, and more efficient.

Modern IT tools can massively improve your business intelligence strategy. For example, you can automate most of your business's financial aspects using quality accounting software.

You can track business time automatically too. When you have an accurate overview of every activity, you will know how much time goes into each project and each client. 

This will allow you to discover inefficient processes and fix them so you can optimise your operations. 

Another useful tool to consider is centralised collaboration software. It will keep your workflow organised and enable your team members to collaborate more efficiently.

• Enhance your customer support

Advanced technology has taken customer service to the next level. Nowadays, customers can get assistance from multiple channels. Emails, telephones, and social media platforms are the usual offerings. 

Some businesses resort to more progressive customer services like a live chat or online problem ticketing. These services help your business stand out in an oversaturated market. 

And with more data at companies' disposal than ever before, having an insight into customers and your target market has become feasible. You just need to interpret data correctly and apply it properly.

Advanced data analytics can help you better understand your customer base, identify opportunities for improvement, and exceed their expectations. The richer analysis will allow you to accurately pinpoint areas within customer service that require attention. 

As a result, you'll achieve greater customer satisfaction.

• Utilise qualitative data too

Don't fall into a trap and marginalise qualitative data. To craft an effective business intelligence strategy, you need to gain insight into large amounts of quantitative data. But, leveraging qualitative data will allow you to make even smarter and more informed decisions.

Surveys, direct customer feedback, and testimonials are all important in a data-driven approach.

Combining qualitative insights with quantitative ones will help you better understand how you can take your business up a notch. 

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