Responding to external conditions quickly and effectively has become a clear business priority in recent years. Business leaders are looking to operate competitively amidst global challenges, and as a result, the need for good data quality is evident. While there are many well-known advantages to having a high standard of data quality, one benefit that often goes unmentioned is business resilience. Business resilience is the result of an organization’s commitment to consistently identify operational risks and create plans for how to respond to those risks. Keep in mind that an inability to capitalize on a market trend or opportunity can also be an operational hazard, and the best business resilience strategies will account for that.
With the help of accurate, trusted data, there are a few areas we think you should consider and incorporate into your own business resilience strategy.
Emerging areas of growth
A truly resilient organization is not only prepared to minimize loss, but also prepared to maximize gain. Do you have the resources and market awareness to capitalize on emerging areas of growth? Many companies already understand the importance of tracking key events in the market, but do they have detailed, tested response plans in place? With the accelerated growth of digital commerce, an opportunity to flex business resilience has presented itself for various industries. For example, while email marketing is not new, imagine if a grocery retailer went all-in on email to grow a loyalty program. Customers could receive discounts or redeemable points based on their shopping habits and preferences. Paired with rising inflation, this strategy could be amazingly advantageous for early adopters. Ultimately, think on how your business fits into the macroeconomic landscape to understand how you might be able to tap into emerging trends.
Model impact of crisis scenarios
Some may find it unnecessary to consider the possibility of another public health crisis or supply chain disruption as severe as what we’ve experienced. However, to build your resilience strategy, it’s important to understand how situations of similar magnitude may affect your business. For some companies, the past few years have been devastating, but for others they resulted in astronomical growth that likely wouldn’t have occurred otherwise. Think of companies that specialize in video chat software or home workout equipment. Have those businesses been able to sustain such unprecedented growth since the economy reopened? Have they flatlined or even declined? When you start to consider how different scenarios may impact your business, think about how you can sustain both a defensive and offensive response.
Ensure an open line to customers
As consumers become more digitally active, contact data becomes fickler. For example, as the market for smartphones expands and new releases become available, phone numbers may change. As consumers try to avoid junk mail, they may create email addresses specifically for potential spam or free trial sign-ups. Having the right customer contact data can make all the difference in communicating timely business changes or new offerings, especially if they are a direct response to market conditions.
Enable the business to act when needed
We often discuss how vital customers are to your business – and we should. However, the contributions of your staff and employees play a pivotal part in your business too. Remember that resilience also factors in your ability to retain your workforce and protect bandwidth in high-pressure situations.
Regarding operations, it’s imperative to assess how prepared you are to mobilize your workforce for rapidly evolving circumstances. Thorough preparation may include additional training materials, a reliable means of internal communication, or assigned responsibilities, and more. To keep employees ready, craft a plan to improve and maintain data literacy, accessibility to data tools, and democratize data within your business.
Update and iterate frequently
Lastly, update and improve your plans frequently. A key component of business resilience is timeliness and the only way to ensure that is to assess your plans fully and on a regular basis. Data quality solutions can support this effort by providing a level of automation that eases workforce buy-in and saves time and money.
How Experian can help
Data validation solutions:
Experian’s validation, geolocation, and consumer data solutions can help clients make better judgments about the impact of social and economic change impacting their customers. For example, they can do this by assisting in the planning of assortment changes at individual stores, based on local consumer circumstances and needs; to provide the location and consumer attributes necessary to plan logistics strategies for grocery deliveries despite climate challenges; or, to assist financial institutions in estimating the impact of new fintech solutions or super apps on customers in different locations, age groups, and income brackets.
Data quality platform:
Experian’s data quality platform, Aperture Data Studio, can monitor the quality of data being used across the organization, eliminate duplication, and harmonize records, feeding accurate data into governance solutions and helping to ensure trust. By automating mundane data quality tasks, Aperture Data Studio will help improve data scientists’ and engineers’ job satisfaction levels, enabling organizations to better attract and retain the skills they need to be agile and resilient.
