Closing the Loop between Analysis and Action

Accurate information is a platform from which strategies can be set and business decisions can be made. But that’s only possible when the data can be interpreted and put into action. Today’s most advanced enterprises are remaining competitive by acting before their competitors do. They are able to do so because of better insight gained from analytic applications and rich data sets. As a result, organizations are turning to business intelligence (BI) and analytics more than ever in their efforts to gain a competitive edge.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM software) systems are an often overlooked when it comes to Business Intelligence. A traditional approach to architecting a BI system is the creation of a data warehouse comprised of third-party market data, other external data (ERP data for example) and call data from your CRM software system. An inherent problem with this approach is the fact that data from the CRM software system can only be loaded periodically into the BI system, resulting in an incomplete and outdated data set that is ultimately limiting.

By contrast, loading sales and market data into your CRM software yields a business intelligence system that is always comprehensive, timely, and most importantly actionable.

An element just as important as the integrity and location of data itself is the way in which the information can be represented and interpreted. That’s where the value of a great analytics tool can be realized. Analytics is not just a summary of large volumes of data. The best analytics solutions put actionable information in the hands of those who must take action – without a translator. Data presented through user-friendly dashboards, charts and tables enables non-technical users to easily explore, filter and drill into the detail where appropriate. When the analytics engine is built-in to the front end of a CRM software system, additional benefits are derived as CRM software actions can be automatically set into motion.

Actionable analytics enable a continuous cycle of investigation, action and review. Most importantly, analytics help identify opportunities for optimization and improvement – whether it’s something as simple as sending out an email blast, or developing a complex sales strategy to penetrate a new market.