The importance of data-driven decisions in sales & customer service

Recently we can hear and read a lot about “big data”. Although it might seem like only a buzzword, the fact is that taking advantage of business intelligence helps to make more informed decisions.

BARC research showed that businesses that are using big data saw an 8% increase in profit and a 10% reduction in cost. As you can see, there is always a field for improvement, and one of the ways to increase profit is to make data-driven decisions.

Both sales and customer service teams can benefit from collecting and using data, and therefore boost their performance. In the following article, we will list the most significant reasons for why your organization should be data-driven.

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What does it mean to be data-driven

Data-driven can be used to refer to a process that is spurred on by data. The opposite of that approach is to make decisions based on intuition or personal experience. 

For sales teams numbers are crucial. Instead of looking at the reports only to measure your business performance and compare results from last year, etc., use data to get inspired. To learn more about your current or potential customers and their needs, you should take a closer look at data. 

Customer service depends on numbers as well. To deliver excellent customer support, you need to estimate how many agents do you need, but not only that! From statistics, you can find out which agents are the most productive, what channels of communication are the most used for contacting your company and much more. 

3 pillars of data-driven customer service

Good, data-driven customer expereince relies on three things: people, data and processes. 

When it comes to people, the message is pretty clear. A company should be familiar with its customers, including their demographic information and preferences. 

Data, of course, is only useful when its organized well. Companies need to be using a data management system in which they can build a profile for each of their customers. Adopting a modern data stack is essential in this regard, as it enables more efficient data handling and better integration of various data sources, enhancing overall business intelligence. 

Lastly, processes are so important to define well because they allow to smartly modify your customeres’ experiences according to their profiles. 

7 reasons why your business should be more data-driven

Making informed decisions based on data can bring you many benefits, which lead to saving money for your organization. What can you achieve thanks to conclusions from data analysis?

You can set up more accurate KPIs

We all know that business goals should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timely), but how do you define, for example, if a goal is realistic? Do not rely on your gut feeling or previous experiences. Take a closer look at data and set up KPIs (key performance indicators) exactly knowing the trends in sales or how fast on average your team is solving customers’ inquiries.

You are able to deliver more personalized experience

For sales and customer service teams, a customer-centric approach is a must-have. The more information you gather and analyze, the more you know about your customers. Nowadays, people are approached by many sales-people, and they contact a bunch of customer support agents. What can make your company outstanding? 

Delivering personalized experience can help you win over customers hearts. By offering your future clients suitable products and services, you have more chances to close the deal. You can track customers behaviour to find out, for example, which blog posts were interesting or them, or what features would be helpful. While contacting them, use that knowledge to warm-up cold leads. For customer service team having insights about how clients use your products, what plan they have, and what is their history with your brand helps a lot in creating more personal experience.

You have a chance to become proactive

Thanks to the data analysis combined with machine learning, you can revolutionize sales and customer service. You can automate many processes to make sure your customers feel that you care about them. For example, you can create automatic onboarding process which can be adjusted to the customer journey. So that, they can receive onboarding e-mails immediately after signing-up or taking any other action. That way, they will get all the essential information at the right time. You can learn more about data analysis and machine learning on platforms like Udemy.

You can maximize the customer lifetime value

A better understanding of customers needs and preferences gives you an opportunity for upselling. By knowing what features your customers are using and which are less helpful, you can expand your offer and increase customer lifetime value.

You have more opportunities to improve your products and services

Thanks to insights, you can continuously work on your offer to make it even more competitive. Data can help you analyze customer experience and eliminate pain-points. For example, once you take a closer look at the numbers of given inquiries, you might find key disadvantages. 

You can limit the biases

While making decisions without a look at data, you are not entirely objective. You might think that some strategies could work because they work well in the past, but to avoid biases, you can simply base your future decisions on analyzed data.

You are able to reasonably prioritize your leads

Lead scoring based on demographic and behavioural data lets to prioritize leads by assigning a number value to every prospect. That way, you can focus on more promising deals and spend more time with certain potential customers without guessing.

How to make data-driven decisions for sales and customer service teams?

• Analyze existing data – make the use of knowledge that has been already gathered in your company. Ask your sales and customer teams what data they collect and analyze them. 
• Introduce knowledge sharing culture in your organization – make a change in your organization. Encourage your coworkers to share insights and data. Initiate the process and start with sharing data that you have, presented in the brief and accessible form. 
• Create a strategy and set up right goals – for example, your KPI can be to increase monthly sales value by a particular percentage or to cut the average time of resolving customer’s issues by the customer service department. 
• Identify the unresolved questions – once you know what goals your organization needs to achieve, you should be aware of what data can be useful to solve these questions. 
• Choose the right tools – to get accurate data, you need to use a set of tools. Nowadays, while the market is filled with solutions for sales and customer support, you should select these, that combine essential features with collecting data and reporting. If you are looking for tips on how to choose a good call center software for your business, read our guide. 
• Analyze new data and present them in accessible form – that way, you can show others how useful data can be. Distribute reports, make data-driven decisions and focus on the most significant prospects and issues.

Thanks to the data-driven approach, your organization can benefit in many fields, including sales and customer service. In the process of making informed decisions, you will face the challenges of gathering and analyzing data, as well as introducing the idea of knowledge sharing in your organization. Even though it might seem like a hard nut to crack, with right, intuitive and powerful tools, it can be a piece of cake!