What Can Data Teach Us About Change?

“Change is the law of the universe.”

— Bhagavad Gita

At NASSCOM and ITSMA, a popular topic of discussion included the rise of the connected economy, and the challenges companies have in transforming their current processes to be more in line with today’s connected consumers. While many organizations see the digital reality as a disruption, I tend to see this as a natural course of events, taking to heart the primary lesson of the Bhagavad Gita that “Everything that happens, is happening for good.” In other words, what many organizations see as obstacles are actually opportunities, and to understand the true value of connected economies and digital transformation, we need only look more deeply into the vast data we collect through our systems of engagement.

I’m not religious – but the reference to the Gita comes naturally as I couldn’t ignore the connection!

Everything old is new again

Consider the oldest form of information exchange — storytelling. In essence the way companies present themselves to their current and potential clients is in the form of a story. Whether it be through awareness activities or pursuit marketing, at its very core a company is telling a truthful representation of its story to an interested audience. The difference today is that story is being told with the full power and speed of the connected world behind it. Messages that used to take months to deploy throughout the world, now take moments.

The same theory can be applied to repetition. It used to be necessary to amplify and repeat a message many times to be heard through the storm of information surrounding customers. Today however, a company can look to its data, albeit structure or unstructured, to find the more efficient and effective way to target their message. This is a tremendous opportunity to send resonant messages to interested parties with less effort.

Reaching a diverse and dispersed workforce

As increasing numbers of Millennials are entering the workforce in decision-making positions, advanced data analytics is not only effective, but expected. When you consider a recent study from Sacunas, a B2B marketing agency, revealed 73% of Millennials are involved in some form of B2B decision-making, and one-third are actually the sole decision-maker in their company, it is imperative that companies use digital methods to connect with customers. And to reach their intended audience, companies need to examine their data, and deploy targeted messaging to specific individuals.

This powerful workforce is using digital as the preferred method of searching, shopping and connecting. Consider these study results:

• 85% of Millennials use social media to research products and services for their companies
• 40% use Facebook as their primary choice for researching new B2B products and services
• More females than males use Facebook as their preferred channel as men tend to favor YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter
• 63% of Millennials use LinkedIn with one third using it on a weekly basis
• 37% of those surveyed consider Glassdoor as a key destination when researching new B2B products or services

What excites me is the idea that in today’s marketplace, the ability to connect a company’s storytellers to their customers on a one-to-one basis is more possible than ever before. This means we can more accurately curate stories to those that are eager to hear them.

Show me the data, part two

W. Edwards Deming, the great American engineer, once said, “In God we trust; all others must bring data,” confirming the idea that all sound decisions are based on data. In today’s connected world we have a wealth of data at our disposal with which to make decisions. At NTT DATA Services we work with our clients to understand their data to create meaningful outcomes for their businesses. What’s truly exciting is our work with the customer experience team to further connect a company to its customers through enabling an almost real-time feedback loop from the customer to the company.

Imagine the possibilities. Instead of a quarterly or yearly performance assessment for a solution or service, a company can engage with their customers on a real-time conversation, make continual adjustments to their systems and create a state of constant improvement. In this scenario, the connections become stronger and the decisions, based on data, become more sound.

In this sense and many others like it, digital transformation is not an obstacle to be overcome, but rather a logical progression in the ever-changing landscape of business. And that change is not only inevitable, it’s also incredibly worthwhile and good for business.