Information overload

When I first started working as a management accountant I learnt that it was no good having loads of data unless you could turn that into information. But even information is pointless if you can't use it. For example - it's no use having all the data about your sales opportunities if you can't turn that into a report that helps you manage the sales pipeline. But even the best pipeline report is useless if it takes you hours or days to produce.

I was reminded this week that the information trail goes even further:

Data becomes Information,
Information leads to Knowledge
Knowledge develops Understanding
Understanding gives Wisdom

Data is raw and has no meaning;
Information is data that has been given meaning;
Knowledge is where information sources are gathered so that it becomes useful;
Understanding happens when knowledge becomes embedded and you can take action;
Wisdom is much higher. It allows us to determine the difference between right and wrong.

In business, nothing less than understanding is truly useful and wouldn't it be nice to have a bit of wisdom!

How often do you talk to your customers?

When I ask this question to small business owners I often get the answer 'I don't know, probably not enough.' Who can blame them with all the other pressures - cashflow, closing sales, order processing etc etc..

We go to all the effort of getting customers to buy from us and the last thing we want to do is to leave them to it, hoping that they are happy. Most people know they need to keep in contact and do so, it's just that they can't monitor it. This type of information can be at your finger tips if you have a process and a system.

Logging calls, meeting notes and email can seem like a pain when you're busy but it really is essential if you want your customer service to be consistent. If you log every customer contact it is only a short step away from reporting who you are not in contact with.

Jonathan Richards is fundraising for Kids Company - JustGiving

Jonathan Richards is fundraising for Kids Company - JustGiving


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Keeping the green shoots alive through winter

Whilst there are still two polarised views about the economy, many people I speak to are seeing a pick up in their business. Let’s face it, most small businesses have had a tough time over the past year and any sign of improvement is very welcome. For many companies an upturn sees a wave of pent up demand heading their way – the customer always needed your product but was unwilling or unable to pay for it.

To ride this wave you have you have three choices:

1. Carry on as you are but paddle faster – sooner or later you will fall off the wave. Or worse, it will overtake you..
2. Get another person to paddle with you – who wants to recruit right now when there are so many pessimists predicting a ‘w’ recession.
3. Work on improving your technique – match investment with income and build a better platform for the future.

Now is the time to look at how you are working and question if it is the most efficient way. This covers both what you are doing and how you do it.

In the HR world it is a good time to review how your organisation manages admin heavy processes. Is there away to automate tasks, leaving you to manage the people not the paperwork? HR professionals need to be out there building confidence in their teams rather than doing admin.

Sales and marketing people can always improve processes. We sales people hate to be tied down to a system but grudgingly admit that things work best when we are. I for one need to go through my sales pipeline to remove those deals that never seem to close – it was worth chasing them when I had the time but now I’ve got enough ‘winners’ to work on.

Biggest employer in the world.

I've just been looking at the results of the 2009 Fortune Global 500 and it's quite sobering. The biggest employer in the world is Wal-Mart with 2.1 million employees! Can you imagine handing out the payslips?

Slightly more sobering - if you sort the results by the biggest losses our very own Royal Bank of Scotland comes in second with a stonking loss of $43.1billion. The 'winner' is Fannie mae with a massive $58.7 billion loss.

Top 6 most profitable companies in the world? All oil or gas providers.

Have a look at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/global500/2009/index.html for more big numbers.

What use is social media?

There’s a debate going on about the use of social media in a business environment and how that relates to relationship management. Three schools of thought:

1. It is personal and should never be used for business
2. Responsible use is to be encouraged
3. "I don’t get social media and it has nothing of use for business".

The middle approach is the one I support, provided it becomes part of a bigger relationship management strategy. If a customer goes to the trouble of maintaining a Linkedin profile, only a foolhardy sales person ignores it. However, Linkedin alone will not close a deal – we must co-ordinate all our activities to build a strong relationship with each and every client.

Like every aspect of selling we have to tailor our approach to individual clients. If a client regards Facebook as purely personal then the last thing we want to be doing is using it to sell to them.

In summary, social media should become another valuable tool in your relationship management toolbox. Use it where appropriate and make it part of your CRM system.

If you are firmly of the view that social media is a fad, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8. Before you go - a word of caution. As with all things on the web treat the statistics with with some caution.

Boosting profits through customer retention

Keeping customers happy has always been important - the theory goes that a happy customer keeps on buying. Marketing gurus tell us that there are degrees of happiness with the ultimate being an advocate - someone who raves about your company without any prompting. In practice most customers don't reach that stage, they end up being just plain satisfied.

But satisfied is good, in fact it is fantastic. A satisfied customer will keep buying so long as you communicate with them. They may get tempted to go elsewhere but regular communication will pull them back.

The great thing about communicating with your customers is that it isn't rocket science. All it takes a good procedure that is well executed.