This is a guest post written by Justin Basini, Founder and CEO of ALLOW, a UK-based consumer privacy and personal data company. Developing unique technologies and expert service, ALLOW aims to put consumers back in control of their personal information.
Data is now one of the most precious commodities owned by any modern business. Without data you don’t know who your customers are or what they are buying; which products and services work for your target market and which completely miss the mark; you don’t know how efficient your operation is or how happy your workforce are. Without data you are flying blind.
We’re all dealing with more and more data every day and arguably, if you’re not then you are definitely missing a trick. It’s estimated that there is as much as 2,950 exabytes of data stored on computers (that’s 2,950 plus 20 zeros, or one quintillion bytes!). And this number is growing exponentially. The giants of the internet, such as Google and Facebook, have proven that data is one of the most valuable resources.
So we’re posing the question to you, are you getting the most out of your data?
Data, data everywhere
The world of data and information, especially in large enterprises, can be a headache. Anyone working in a corporation knows the problems of getting data from one system to another, let alone trying to understand and analyse it.
Experience has taught us that keeping it simple is the key to unlocking the value of your data.
Here are our five steps to data heaven:
What should I be doing?
Ask for permission and be transparent, after all customers are savvy and they’re much more understanding if you’ve been upfront from the first interaction. Take time to understand the increasingly rich data asset you hold – it’s the key to understanding your customers. If you do all this we believe your business will reap the rewards – you’ll be trustworthy, have a better relationship with your customers and most importantly you’ll be one step ahead of the game.