I truly believe that data collection can be very simple and efficient. These are by no means scientific data collection procedures, but they are straightforward, hassle-free, and functional tools that small businesses can apply. In your data collection processes, the key is to obtain true unbiased data. After the data is collected and analyzed then, it is transformed into information or knowledge. At this stage, the data becomes useful and meaningful to you and your business.
The collection of data is important for all businesses. Data analysis can help with business process improvement, business profile and marketing strategies development, responses to business or market-related changes, consumer profiling, needs, perceptions, and the development of target markets. Overall, data analysis can provide useful insights that can benefit or boost your business operations in these competitive markets.
Now that we have gotten this out of the way let’s look at five simple, inexpensive data collection tools that you can apply in your everyday business operations.
Sales Management Software
Your sales management software is one of the best tools for data extraction. If you do not have sales management software, I strongly suggest you invest in one. Whether it is a basic point of sales system or even a manual, a sales tracking system provides useful historical information on different facets of your business, such as clients, sales, and products. Overall, it provides useful insights that can help boost your business operations. Yet, the application of a sales management system is sometimes neglected by many small businesses. For that reason, I would advocate that you do not solely trust your business operations to your memory.
Normally, your software will format your data, but you will later need to download and analyze it. The information obtained from this method can be used for various types of business research objectives. But for the daily operations of your business, it is important to regularly analyze and keep your data up-to-date.
Social Media or Website Statistics
If you have a social media business page or a business website, you have the option to obtain data and analytics. Data extraction from these sources is diverse. You can track the number of visitors, average time spent on the page, engagement, and many more. The data and analytics retrieved from these sources can be useful in reaching new customers and building brand awareness and promotion. If you are interested in the retrieval of this data, you can further research how to obtain such information.
Once you know how to extract the data, I would suggest extraction at least once a month and keeping it in one location. After the download, you can either save it on an excel spreadsheet or wherever is most convenient. Most importantly, the idea is to build on this data and analyze it periodically.
Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are effective revenue-increasing strategies by way of persuading your customers to continue to shop at your business or use your services. Loyalty programs can take many forms by which your customer can earn rewards; these methods include but are not limited to membership and discount programs. Loyalty programs benefit most companies; if you do not have a loyalty program, it is something to explore.
Besides the value-added component received by your customers, the creation of a loyalty program opens the avenue of customer/consumer data collection. This is another key benefit of its implementation. With customer information, you are better able to profile your customers and serve them better. This will increase your customer knowledge, help you in building better consumer relationships and guide you in the implementation of effective and efficient marketing strategies.
After collecting data from your customers, do the same – analyze. Remember to keep this data in a safe place because it is sensitive information. Customer loyalty program is one of my favorite tools, and they provide more flexibility and control. It also allows space for creativity, innovation, and personalization, and most critically, it builds engagement.
Observations and Conversations
My final data collection tools are observation and conversation or interview. Observing and talking to your customers are two data collection methods that are FREE. Although it is free, the major drawback to these approaches is their time constraints. Hence, in implementing this method, your interactions and conversations should be purposeful and timely. In doing so, you would need to develop your main objective. Start by first answering these two questions, what is my problem? And what am I trying to solve? After you have answered these questions, then ask yourself the following question, what information do I need? Asking these questions would assist in developing the purpose of your observation and conversation.
I have bundled observation and conversation together because I suggest you execute these two methods consecutively. When observing, take impartial notes. But most importantly, notice what is being done and what is not being done, your customers' reactions, attitudes, expressions, and as many nonverbal cues as possible.
Similarly, before approaching a customer for conversation, ensure you have already established your main objective and a conversation guide of what you are seeking to answer, i.e., the reason for the conversation. Conversation for data collection without intent is pointless. I would suggest no more than three guided questions. However, if the conversation leads on and you realize that your customer has time to spare, then you can expand your conversation and develop your main objective. It is essential during your conversation to pay close attention to your customer's responses and, if possible, creatively record the answers during the conversation [cell phones may not be the best instrument] or immediately after the conversation has ended.
Due to the qualitative nature of this collection approach, the data analysis might be challenging for a few. However, to make it easier, when initially recording your observations and responses, I would suggest the use of labels. Labels can take the form of codes, words, actions, and statements. After you have coded the data, use the labels to create categories and subcategories for the main category of the data collected. Then, relate the categories to the questions that you are seeking to answer. When that is completed, you can achieve a report of your findings. It is that simple! Note there are many other approaches to this analysis; I recommend you choose one that is best suited for you and your business.
In the end, knowledge is power, and if you do not know, you cannot do it. Data collection and information finding can be achievable to all. While scientific research and data collection application are considerably more integrated and standardized, I believe the information derived from these tools - can make better business decisions.