The overriding purpose of your business information solution is to provide you with the information you need to make better operational decisions.
However, with today’s technology becoming increasingly sophisticated, ‘delivering up day-to-day data’ is by no means the limit for most modern-day platforms.
Whether you’re using Deltek, Yellowfin or something else entirely, most cloud-based systems are now highly intuitive tools that can contribute to the strategic as well as operational direction of your company.
The important thing is to make sure you’re using your business intelligence solution to the best of its abilities.
Here’s what you should be looking out for:
- Increased efficiency
In a world where there is a relentless pressure on profit margins, improving efficiency can be the key to your business’s survival.
Cutting back on the amount of time and resource you use to complete tasks will see you sticking to deadlines and freeing up more time for other matters, like sales.
Your business intelligence solution should see you systemising each critical business process with the effect of increasing output and scaling up productivity.
Does your current system support a new client or project as soon as it comes into the business?
Does it cover of the basics like automated estimating, time tracking and invoicing?
If not, then there’s definitely room for improvement.
- Increased customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction hinges on meeting expectations. The more you standardise processes, the happier your clients will be.
When it comes to meeting customer expectation, your business information solution should sit at the centre of things and help you out in two ways:
Firstly, it should keep your team and the client informed as projects or orders move through the pipeline. This may simply be through regular automated messaging, update reports and forecasts.
Secondly, your business information solution should play an important part in flagging up any critical issues that could delay delivery and see costs spiralling out of control.
Just a few simple adjustments to the system itself may help you maintain your credibility and build trust in the eyes of your customers. It’s likely to be easier than you think.
- Fewer mistakes
People that are stretched to breaking point because of excessive administration and paperwork are prone to making mistakes.
Even the slightest slip when it comes to data entry or time management can cost your company dear.
When it comes to avoiding professional errors, the devil is in the detail and this is where your business intelligence solution should help.
As a unified system your BI solution will save employees from having to cross over to separate platforms and apps and re-enter data multiple times.
Your employees are saved from the bother of humdrum data entry. Your company is protected from error.
What’s not to like?
- Greater collaboration
As human contact has been restricted in recent years, platforms like Zoom and Skype have played a major part in propping up people-based and service companies.
However, because of a lack of face-to-face interaction, some businesses have struggled to align teams to overarching objectives or goals.
If you’re relying on technology to unify geographically dispersed teams, you’ll want to make sure that the platforms you use help to turn communication into collaboration.
Collaboration tools that are properly integrated into your business’s BI solution will provide meeting attendees with a controlled, centralised and secure space in which they can discuss, share and make the best use of their time.
They will make sure everyone has access to a central ‘vault’ of information so they can quickly access and refer to the documents they need.
By simply providing a digital whiteboard feature, your system could help facilitate the sharing of ideas and provide a central focus for the event.
In short, your BI solution should contribute to making sure virtual meetings stay productive and don’t just become an excuse for an unscheduled break in the day.
- Greater growth
When it comes to growth, your system should have the ability to organise transactional, operational and market data and present it to business leaders in a way that easy to understand.
Otherwise, all that intelligence is just going to go to waste.
How might this look in a practical sense?
Take your company’s financial records, as an example.
By harnessing historical data, your business intelligence system should be able to reveal the most profitable types of projects or services that your company has supplied and then identify the type of companies that sign up to them.
With this insight you will be able to segment your target market base into specific categories – prioritising the segments based on spending potential.
You will then be able to work with your marketing and sales teams to create compelling, relevant and engaging campaigns that are aimed at the most lucrative segments with the intention of maximising revenue.
Don’t miss out
In essence, your business system can contribute to you company’s growth in many ways, if optimised and used the right way.
So, if you’ve worked through our list and feel you are missing out on the type of strategic insight you need to get ahead, then perhaps it’s time to chat.
Call us on +44 (0)1908 881003 or email hello@rhinoit.co.uk if you think it’s time for a review of your system and processes. As business intelligence consultants we are confident we can make a significant difference to your prospects.