USING DATA TO PREVENT & FIGHT BUSINESS IMPLICATIONS OF COVID-19

First, I hope you and yours are healthy and safe.

Things are changing and we are not sure for how long – some of the latest projections are telling us to prepare for “social distancing” protocols to last a year or possibly even more. Big businesses have implemented work-from-home policies and protocols. In-person gatherings have ceased. Schools are closed. My life has changed dramatically over the last few days as I’m sure many of yours have.

I have a young son who is home from school. My business development and networking practices have slowed almost to a halt. But our company does have an advantage from a business perspective – we help companies adjust to these changes and provide insights into understanding the implications on things like productivity, profitability, while finding ways to maximize revenue and profitability during this difficult time.

Here are a few ways you can move things forward for your business during COVID-19:

1) Get creative! - Now is a great time to experiment with new, more streamlined ways of doing things. As an example, since most businesses are implementing stay-at-home protocols, there is an opportunity to collect and trend data when it comes to the productivity of employees while working from home. Also, make the effort to pilot different methods of maintaining employee engagement, and identify how you can the efficacy of each method. If you work in a professional services firm, billable hours are one way of measuring engagement, but so are the number of virtual meetings for teams. Watch how they trend and gain a better understanding of what motivates the employees at your business.

2) Data deep dive – All companies have information that is generated by the day-to-day operations of the business. Now is a great time to start digging into that data and making it useful. There are always ways to increase operational efficiencies, decrease costs, and increase productivity. By analyzing the data you have the ability not just to improve the overall business, but also to find ways to increase profitability while the economy is suffering.

3) Discover new ways to be valuable to your clients – What has been most valuable in the past may not be top-of-mind for your customers at this time. Dig into your actual and potential value propositions and find ways to increase that value. Be sure to reallocate resources accordingly by adjusting staffing models and business plans, as needed.

4) Increase the frequency of reports – With the current instability in the markets, those businesses not in healthcare, medical supplies, hand sanitizer and toilet paper know that there will likely be a downturn in sales. Most companies also monitor performance on a monthly, or even quarterly basis. These reports are too infrequent to understand exactly how the business is being affected until it is too late. By having more frequent reporting (daily via data dashboards or weekly via task force meetings, for example), you can get a more immediate and exact idea of how your business is affected and to what degree and formulate a data-driven strategy to respond. This can mitigate potential losses and allow for a much earlier and calculated response to changes in the business.

We at Alpha Data Strategies are offering free 30-minute consultations to speak with businesses and help guide your data driven strategy at this time. Please email info@alphadatastrategies to schedule your consultation. Be well and let us know if there are other ways we can help to support your business during this difficult time.