Monitoring sales is a critical aspect of any high performing business. In the mission to work smarter, sales analytics tools provide a level of optics that help leaders predict and understand critical business trends.

While “analytics” has become one of the digital buzzwords of the past few years, it’s more than just a trend. Using the right analytics software can bring many benefits to businesses. The powerful programs on the market today make granular sales data accessible to key stakeholders in any organization and help foster 30,000-foot views of organizational performance and analysis of niche details.

Integrating analytics into a corporate workflow has become a critical dimension of marketing that helps consumers get to know businesses and vice-versa. The strong consumer-business relationships and positive outcomes speak for themselves, and companies that don’t recognize it will soon fall behind.

Driving Growth

Understanding customers is the gateway to getting new ones, and in markets where new customers are scarce, every lead counts.

Leveraging analytics helps parse the sales pipeline to a level that was once impossible, and allows executives and sales representatives alike to understand what works best in the buyer journey and the pieces that need to improve. The four stages of the sales pipeline are as follows:

1. Prospect
2. Discovery
3. Demo
4. Buy

Is the company pitching to the right prospect market? Are representatives giving the most relevant information to customers that show interest? Is the product performing at the highest level during the demo or trial period? Does the customer come back with complaints or comments after purchase?
By tracking results at each stage, data can help businesses answer these questions and fix gaps in the pipeline where potential buyers are falling off. Having that understanding of the customer experience will also continue to pay dividends throughout the relationship—being able to track the nuances of each goes a long way in retaining clients and also upselling them on another product in the future.

A Boost to Marketing

It is no longer enough for businesses to take marketing for granted, and those that do not proactively recruit customers will struggle. Analytics platforms help businesses cope in the era of digital marketing by helping to develop effective cross-marketing strategies that reach consumers across several channels.
Cross-marketing itself is integral to the advertising experience. Rather than having analysts dive into marketing data from across platforms and evaluate them individually, cross marketing optimizes advertising by using the metrics from a single channel to improve messaging on others. Doing so will boost brand awareness statistics and legitimacy, making it more likely that a consumer in the market for a product will be drawn to the business.

Personalizing the Experience

Another universal trait among businesses is that they are increasingly being asked to reach more people with less resources. Too many times the result is a fishing expedition for customers. Casting a wide net might catch a few minnows but using analytics the right way will get you closer to the whale.
By clustering customers, sometimes known as segmentation, the algorithms within analytics platforms can separate different pools of customers based on their qualities and behaviors. Through segmentation, businesses can assign each “persona” their own marketing strategy—what they see, where they see it, when they see it, and how they interact with it. Personalized microtargeting drives sales and increases consumer interaction, and the only way for companies to do it efficiently is via analytics.

A Fresh Perspective

Many businesses fall into the habit of focusing on getting their customers to know them. Analytics turns the table and gives businesses the tools they need to get to know their customers. These are insights that help them get a foot in the door over their competitors.

Like clustering and segmentation, insights take knowledge of the consumer a step further by deducing the reasoning behind why people use a product or service. With that knowledge, companies can further innovate to meet that demand and achieve the value that sets them apart from competitors. By optimizing innovations, company leaders can make profit-focused decisions that lean into their strengths and close any gaps that are holding a product back.

Analytics are not the future. Analytics are now. Companies are using this data in real time to make the most informed decisions possible on timelines that only continue to accelerate. They are working smarter—and yours should be, too.

Clayton & McKervey, P.C. is an MMA Premium Associate Member and has been an MMA member company since February 2018. Visit online: claytonmckervey.com.

About the Author

Ben Smith, CPA, is a Senior Manager with Clayton & McKervey and focuses on providing consulting and advisory services. He may be reached at bsmith@claytonmckervey.com.