Is your small business getting the best value from its data?

When it comes to data and analytics, it’s not what you know. It’s what you do with what you know.

Our accountants in London specialise in working with small businesses to help them understand the data their business collects and use it in the most effective way to ensure the business performs at the optimum level.

Get in touch with our highly qualified small business consultant today to speak about how our team can get the best from out of your business.

The majority of today’s organisations are not even close to recognising the value data and analytics can bring and, with customer relationships at stake, this is something SMEs in the UK will quickly need to address.

Businesses today are under increasing competitive pressure not only to acquire customers, but also understand their customers’ needs and wants in order to optimise the customer experience and develop long-term relationships.

But these customer expectations are changing. Providing a good product or service is simply not enough for today’s businesses. Most demand an end-to-end seamless experience, from the delivery of products and services to how that customer interacts with the brand.

The customer is now dictating the rules of what is expected from companies, and they have the ability to quickly choose new suppliers if they don’t get what they want.

Data and analytics can make all the difference here.

Data drives businesses forward

In addition to last year, 2018 will mark an even more meaningful shift when it comes to utilising data in business. Data will drive business direction rather than simply reflecting its performance.

Most organisations today understand that if they capture all the data that streams into their businesses, they can apply analytics and garner significant value from it. The benefits that big data analytics are already bringing to businesses are speed and efficiency.

Whereas a few years ago, a business would have gathered information, run analytics and unearthed information that could be used for future decisions, today that business can identify insights for immediate decisions.

We are already witnessing organisations with the ability to respond to customers with personalised, contextually relevant offers and communications in real time, using insights not only based on their in-the-moment activity, but also past behaviours.

Look no further than the infamous Cambridge Analytica, who used data from five million Facebook accounts to pre-qualify leads and specifically target individuals who matched the profile of supporters for both the Trump campaign in 2016 and the pro-Brexit cohort of the UK.

Ultimately, their data and the way in which it was used was the key decider in two of the biggest political decisions of the modern day. Albeit an ethically questionable action, this is still an example of data’s power, particularly when its potential value is harnessed by the business who access it.

Other companies are reinventing and reimagining customer journeys to increase client satisfaction, sales and service productivity, while automating processes to reduce operational costs and drive standardisation.

They are identifying sub-optimal channel/cross-channel processes that lead to complaints/attrition and increased costs, while fixing them quickly. This is driving enhanced loyalty and customer engagement via improved focus on managing and measuring customer satisfaction and retention.

Data and analytics: Giving organisations a competitive edge

Effective data and analytics management can help organisations stay competitive when demand changes or new technology is developed. Core to effective brand building are distinguishable products that will help attract customers and maintain loyalty.

Applying analytics for designing, controlling the process and optimising business operations in the production of goods or services ensures efficiency and effectiveness to fulfil customer expectations and achieve operational excellence.

Advanced analytical techniques can be deployed to improve field operations productivity and efficiency as well as optimise an organisational workforce according to business needs and customer demand.

Optimum utilisation of data and analytics can also ensure that continuous improvements are instigated on an ongoing basis as a result of end-to-end view and measurement of key operational metrics.

Analytics are helping to deliver a secure environment and guarantee business continuity

In an age where the market is overcrowded with information exchange from numerous sources and devices, keeping the organisational network secure and free from potential attack or exposure is paramount for business success and efficiency.

Effective deterrence requires mechanisms that allow companies to quickly detect potentially fraudulent activity identify and trace perpetrators and anticipate future activity.

Big data and analytics are also some of the most effective defences against cyber intrusions. Better, faster, actionable security information reduces the critical time from detection to remediation, enabling cyber warfare specialists to proactively defend and protect an organisation’s network.