The Importance of Data Analytics in Making Informed Business Decisions

Rather than letting your gut guide you after speaking to your team about their experiences with your internal processes, turn to data analytics to help streamline your business’s internal workings.

“If a company isn’t analyzing data as part of routine reviews of how well their processes are functioning in terms of productivity and efficiency, that business is only seeing part of the bigger picture,” shares Shaun Hinklein, Head of SEO at Ramp, a company that helps brands manage their finances with their line of business credit cards.

You can collect data through services, progress reports, and other key performance indicators, then use it to guide the ways you adjust your internal workflow.

A healthy business builds off of a healthy working environment. If your employees are satisfied, fulfilled, and challenged — and if their workload is exactly where it should be — you’ll likely see better performance and morale overall. That’s not to mention improvements in turnover and retention, both of which make your business more appealing to high-value recruits.

“Data analytics shouldn’t just guide a company’s external decisions,” says Gina Iovenitti, Growth Operations at Carda Health. “They’re also a solid resource to improve communication and relationships internally, helping to foster a more positive workplace.”

Building a superior working environment contributes to creating a superior product or providing a superior service. The best way to make decisions about how to accomplish this is by looking at data, whether it’s in terms of performance and survey responses or HR statistics like turnover.

There are so many features involved in the hiring process. When you consider potential candidates, it’s all too easy to find yourself attracted to the same qualities over and over again, leading to an imbalance in your team.

“The most successful teams have a wide spread of skills,” points out Raja Subramanian, GM of Power Wizard. “Businesses should keep a close eye on data in terms of employee performance and connectivity. They should also consider background and experience to ensure a high distribution of strengths and weaknesses.”

Using data analytics to identify skills you need to prioritize in your next round of recruiting and what skills you have in excess is a key part of building a more efficient company.

Whether you’re offering a good or a service, there are always ways that your business can improve.

“Finding shortcomings and identifying ways to improve a business’ offerings is so much easier with the help of data analytics,” explains Max Schwartzapfel, CMO and Fighting For You lawyer. “Proper data analysis can pinpoint flaws or opportunities that human intuition misses.”

Data analytics can help you and your business make clearer, better-informed decisions on how the next version of your product or the next iteration of your company’s services can reach new heights.

With an understanding of the data behind business decisions, your company’s leadership can make more confident decisions.

“Confident leadership that employees can trust helps companies reach that next level of market penetration and helps improve quality,” advises Andrew Chen, Chief Product Officer of Videeo.

When you know that you’re making decisions based on data analytics, you can make those decisions with more certainty. This allows you to set clearer expectations and lets your team know that they’re in safe hands.

Data analytics shouldn’t only be used to help leadership make informed decisions. They should be made available to the entire team so that individuals at every level of your company can be more proactive and make more informed choices.

“Equipping employees with the data analytics they need and teaching them how to really understand them will help to foster more independence within the workplace,” shares Andrew Mavis, CEO of 98Strong.

It allows your team members to prioritize more accurately and can enable them to spot problems at levels of the process that you might not have encountered often enough to notice yourself.

When it comes to cutting costs, it’s important to use data analytics to make sure you’re acting according to actual performance as opposed to a fallacious assumption.

“Using data analytics to find areas in which a business can streamline their processes, or identifying where performance is lacking can lead to a better strategy on how to reduce overhead,” suggests Susan Kim Shaffer, President and Co-Founder of Pneuma Nitric Oxide.

Relying on data analytics for reviewing your company’s performance removes the guesswork and ensures that nothing slips through the cracks when you’re making major decisions going forward.

Data analytics aren’t just useful to determine which types of marketing are converting into actual engagement from your target audience. This information can also be used to identify patterns and help you create more effective materials.

“The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight,” states Carly Fiorina from HP.

By improving your understanding of how to use data analytics, you can find new insights into how to make your marketing more effective and improve customer engagement and brand loyalty.

Tracking your company’s KPIs is one of the most common ways to use data analytics to drive decision-making. Knowing how to understand your business’s key performance indicators and data on a deeper level helps you ensure nothing is left on the table.

“Of course, hard numbers tell an important story; user stats and sales numbers will always be key metrics. Every day, your users are sharing a huge amount of qualitative data, too — and a lot of companies either don't know how or forget to act on it,” says Stewart Butterfield from Slack.

Improving your and your business’s ability to track, organize, and use the data available to you means that you can make decisions based on more than a surface-level understanding of your KPIs.

Markets are dynamic, and your audience’s needs are constantly changing. Data analytics can help you predict shifts in the market before they occur. Data can also help you identify the best changes to make to keep up with the times so that there’s no trial-and-error needed.

“Staying ahead of the curve is the name of the game,” advises Mara Dumski, Chief Fragrance Experience Officer of Pura, a company that’s innovating customers’ daily commutes with their line of car fragrances and USB-powered car diffuser. “Using data analytics, companies can change the game so that it’s easier than ever to ensure your company is never behind the times.”

Spotting trends and patterns early and often can help your business remain nimble and adaptable, no matter how big it gets.

Choosing the right time to scale or grow your business can be challenging. Thanks to data analytics, you can time your moves more accurately and help improve performance in the long term.

“Scaling a business requires a keen eye for both long and short-term goals,” explains Anthony Siskos, COO of HypeBlvd. “Balancing both of these objectives at once requires a knack for numbers and a commitment to making objective, data-based decisions as a company moves forward.”

Expanding your business in any way at the wrong time can be disastrous. Let data guide your decision-making to ensure that the changes you make will be effective.

When you have access to all of the data that drives your business and the ability to evaluate and understand this data comprehensively, it becomes easier to identify areas in which you could use professional development or continued education.

“Companies stagnate when their leadership isn’t constantly seeking out opportunities to learn and grow,” says Alia Bedi, General Manager of L'Evate You. “Professional development isn’t just for employees.”

Data analytics can help you make more informed decisions about areas in which your leadership could improve. Embracing any potential shortcomings as opportunities for professional development won’t just improve your performance — it will motivate your team by showing through example how continued education is always valuable.