Why External Data Should be a Part of Your Sales Strategy

At Pontem, we often talk about the importance of harnessing the power of your organization’s data and using those insights to make data-driven decisions. We believe in creating a data ecosystem that can put you strides ahead of competitors and unlock improvements in performance and productivity. An MIT study deemed that “analytical innovators” – companies that incorporate analytics into most aspects of decision-making – are four times more likely than the average organization to use a variety of data types, including mobile, social, and public data.

Public data sources provided by third parties and vendors have so much potential when linked to internal data to drive holistic decision-making. For example, utilizing Census data on the COVID-19 pandemic can give your organization insight into consumer purchasing habits and digital behaviour which might justify a pivot in sales strategies. Creating this ecosystem of data can allow you to more granularly examine your own information and identify patterns, allowing you to respond to these changing trends in the optimal way.

External data can add real-world context to high-level decision-making. Especially when it comes to a complex department like sales, areas like lead generation and customer lifetime values can be optimized based on robust data. Many companies use historical data as a basis of developing sales strategies, however by integrating external data sources such as Stats Canada, companies can generate a 360-degree view of the customer and provide a more granular level of detail on target customers. Taking it one step further, news reports and social media can provide an additional level of detail to be incorporated into your sales strategy.

At Pontem Innovations, we want to enable all of our clients to become analytical innovators. Having a strong understanding of your internal data is the first step in differentiating yourself from competitors, connecting it with external data is the second. Contact Pontem today to get started with building your data ecosystem.