What does running a marathon and running a business have in common? Both endeavors require a lot of dedication, planning, and hard work. While proper nutrition is essential to peak performance when training for a marathon, establishing and growing a company also requires that “body” to be fed with essential elements to function optimally.
A “nutrient” that’s key to business success is a solid business strategy. That entails an intake of a variety of information to help keep your business moving forward. Such as…
Business intelligence
Business intelligence refers to information gathered internally about customers and product lines, such as number of products shipped, total number of sales in a month, and other occurring transactions. Looking at this information tells a story about the history of the company’s performance, guiding decision makers responsible for strategic planning.
What is market intelligence?
As valuable as insight into your company’s own performance is, there’s a critical piece missing for these strategic planners. Market intelligence provides concrete insight into classes of customers, demographic/geographic information, what they’re buying, and how you stack up against competitors. This information can also help the company determine internal goals.
How do both forms of intelligence work together?
Since market intelligence puts the business information collected into context, using both forms in tandem helps decision makers move forward and achieve strategic objectives. However, trying to gather market intelligence requires considerable and consistent research in order to be effective.
How NAED helps
Knowing the state of your industry is an integral part of operating any business. The Market Data Program from NAED can free up the time, effort, and resources needed to conduct market intelligence. Gain a comprehensive, living, breathing data tool to help answer tough questions and set goals while getting data on market share and market trends each month. Since the Market Data Program is based on real industry performance, you can eliminate other industry surveys or tools that are not meeting your needs.
What questions the Market Data Program can help you address
The market intelligence through the Market Data Program can assist you addressing some of the questions you have. Examples of this include:
- Are there patterns to what our best customers are buying?
- What products could be cross-marketed to existing customers?
- What demographic segments could we push new and existing products toward?
- Is there a void within the marketplace that current competitors aren’t filling? Can you fill that void?
- Can you become or remain competitive within your area?
Marathons are tough. But running a successful, long-term business is even tougher. Ensure your company can stay ahead in the race by feeding your business strategy with vital data. Watch this video about Market Data Program or reach out to learn more.
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