The 7 Bad Data Habits That Hamper Sales Operation Success

It’s all too easy to fall into bad habits at the office: browsing social media, online shopping during business hours, or maybe even sneaking glimpses of World Cup matches when you should be finishing that critical report. But what about the habits we don’t even realize we’re repeating day in and day out? These commonplace behaviors can seriously damage your chances of success, especially if you’re a member of the sales team working with large amounts of customer and prospect data.

If you want to stand above the crowd with a sales operation that’s the envy of your peers, you must stamp out these bad seven data habits before they drag you down:

1. Daydreaming: Poor Data Quality. It’s no good running campaigns and sending salespeople on calls with unreliable or mismatched data. You might as well be making it up. If data’s not accurate in the first place then the chances of sending people out with the wrong information or leaving them with egg on their faces increases dramatically.
2. Snacking on Fast Food: Can’t Digest Data. The variety and volume of data sources in combination with the fast pace of data flows have put many of us on a fast food data diet, consuming new sources randomly in a vain effort to stay on top of it all. Our unhealthy data consumption habits are made worse by inadequate tools that make proper preparation of new data sources too much like hard work.
3. Absenteeism: Not Enough Data. For many of us, the data we need just simply isn’t turning up
for work. We don’t have access to the data sources and segmentation that let us make sense of all that information.
4. Checking Yourself in the Mirror: Inflexible Reports. Of course you’re perfect! But if you’re churning out the
same reports month after month it’s a red light that you’ve fallen into bad habits. Data sources evolve. No report format can stay perfect unless it adapts to business environment changes.
5. Biting Your Nails: Erratic Feedback Cycles. It can be very frustrating when you constantly have to go back-and-forth with people to fine tune reports or align data, especially when changes can be time-consuming. No wonder you’re on edge!
6. Losing Your Temper: Stale Data. Effective decisions are made with real-time data, but too often we’re left kicking our heels waiting for data to come in or for reports to run. It’s all too easy to lose your temper when you discover vital information too late to save a deal.
7. Low Self-Esteem: Arms-Length It. Sales operations often find themselves getting a lot of attention from IT and business analysts. Being dependent on others to help extract the data saps motivation.

Do any of these sound familiar? If so, it’s time to pull yourself together and kick these old habits, many of which were formed back in the days before the advent of cloud connectivity and Big Data. New tools with flexible connections and rapid-assembly report formats can foster good habits that will help modern sales operations lift their performance to a new level. Take Progress Easyl, for example. Easyl can help sales and marketing teams use data integration and data sharing to assemble meaningful reports. Learn more about our latest addition to the Progress family of solutions, and even sign up for a free trial here.