{"id":1424,"date":"2020-02-03T15:51:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T15:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:35:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:35:35","slug":"do-you-really-need-data-and-metrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/do-you-really-need-data-and-metrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Really Need Data And Metrics?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The innovations we\u2019ve seen in cloud computing, mobility and artificial intelligence have been amazing, but so far there\u2019s no technology that can allow busy entrepreneurs to create replicas of themselves. <\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve launched a small or medium-sized business and have watched it grow, you know how great this kind of capability would be. <\/p>\n

As one of you continues to make more sales, the other one would handle things like marketing, or customer service. <\/p>\n

As one of you attends industry conferences and events that teach you new ways to scale, the other could be applying those takeaways and reaching new milestones in your business plan. <\/p>\n

While one of you sleeps, the other could deal with all the things that haven\u2019t gotten done. <\/p>\n

Instead of hoping for a clone, though, most entrepreneurs turn to a more traditional method: hiring people. This, of course, brings some other challenges. <\/p>\n

How will you attract the right people? How much will you pay them? Are you collecting the kind of data they\u2019ll need to be successful?<\/p>\n

That last question may be the most commonly overlooked, but also the one that makes developing the right team exceedingly difficult. <\/p>\n

As the owner or founder of a startup business, you might feel like you\u2019re already swimming in data<\/a>. You know, at least roughly, who your biggest customers are and the opportunities to increase the amount they spend with you. The most common service issues<\/a>? You know them by heart. You also know which marketing channels are converting<\/a> into leads. <\/p>\n

Once you start looking for talent, winning them over and onboarding them, you not only have to teach them how to do their jobs, but also how to access the data that may have mostly been in your head until now. <\/p>\n

Besides goals or objectives for each new hire, you’ll also need to establish and explain the metrics that will be used to evaluate their performance. This is how it\u2019s done:<\/p>\n

How to identify the data that drives decisions<\/h2>\n

The one downside of data collection is that there are almost limitless choices in what you can examine and apply to your business. <\/p>\n

It will become overwhelming (and frankly, not very useful to you or your growing team) if you don\u2019t prioritize certain kinds of data over others. <\/p>\n

You also don\u2019t want to do all the data collection and analysis manually. That\u2019s what tools like CRM<\/a> were designed to assist with in the first place. <\/p>\n

Think about what really moves the needle in terms of capturing customers\u2019 and prospects\u2019 attention, and what leads to closed deals. Here are a few ideas to help you start brainstorming: <\/p>\n