Moneyball: a system of using statistical data to improve performance.
Moneyball is more than a concept; it is a reality in today’s competitive
business environment. By now, most companies realize that there is a lot of
data out there they haven’t captured. Many are recognizing that by doing so
they can generate significant advantage. In fact. some businesses are actually
able to turn that data into a new business. Here are three great examples:
Balance Innovations provides revenue reconciliation and cash office
management solutions for retailers. On any given day–a certain day of the
week, or a holiday–Balance Innovations can make sure the business has the
right amount of cash on hand. They do this by systematizing all transaction
records and form of payment, increasing accuracy and drastically improving
productivity, while integrating the back office with the point-of-sale system.
In fact, what they do with technology used to take the average business five to
eight hours a day to complete.
The next business, Waypoint Analytics, helps a company identify which parts
of their business are generating profitability. With minimum set up and no
fancy record keeping they sync the companies data with software that computes
the customer profitability of each customer, transaction and product. Every
business should know who the most/least profitable and the fastest growing and
fastest declining customers are. Do you know? If not, you are leaving money on
the table.
The third example, Able Engineering, is a company that developed a
performance management system that aligns culture and performance requirements
with corporate goals and values. WOW! Everyone in the company is on the same
page and focused on the priorities. Quite a feat. And their system is easy and
dummy proof (I can do it!) They have seen amazing results by implementing it.
Employees know what is expected, they are accountable for results and the
business just keeps getting better. Now they are beginning the process of
making this new technology available for sale and Jack Welch has jumped on
board. Not bad!
The point is that every single one of these businesses has found ways to
exponentially increase performance with data managementt systems. We will see
more and more of this in the future. Technology is no longer a back room
network but key to operational strategy and potentially a huge competitive
advantage.
How do you manage your data for your benefit? If you are interested in
knowing more about any of these systems, let me know.