Why Can’t We Get Our Data Act Together?

By Shannon Kavanaugh, Go-To-Market Strategies’ President

I was having a conversation with a business owner recently to help him determine how to bolster his revenues in this rocky time. As we were evaluating what his situation, a key problem became very clear. While he had gathered a lot of information from a lot of sources, it was not centrally located. Some data was stored on his computer in spreadsheets, some in sticky notes on various employees desks, and still more in salesforce.com or the accounting system.

I was reminded once again, that one of the biggest sales and marketing mistakes companies make is not capturing the information they gain in one central place–leading to lost opportunities, mistakes, and inefficiencies!

According to a recent study conducted by eConsultancy, only 35% of those surveyed report they collect data from different sources and store it in a single database. I realize it’s simply math, but that means 65% of you are operating from many different data sources, including that stack of sticky notes on your desk!

If everybody is doing it, or not doing it as the case may be, “why is it so bad” you might ask?

It’s bad because KNOWLEDGE is power. In many environments this is true, but never more so than in the sales and marketing arena. Whether you’re looking for more accurate forecasting, that “low hanging fruit” to fill the pipeline, or the right segment to launch your next campaign….you won’t be as successful without full integration!

SO, take the Spring Cleaning Challenge, gather up all your key data capture mechanisms (including those sticky notes, spreadsheets, and one off databases), design/document your sales process, and build a centralized location to house all associated information/data. You just might be surprised how knowledgeable (aka powerful) you are!