Data Should Reflect Your Organization Not Just Your Industry

When tracking and managing data, many companies start with industry wide tools and norms. These can be template reports, or “canned reports” as I call them, industry KPI’s, CRM provided data points. These tools are a good starting point but they only provide us a general perspective of a specific organization. However, if you use cookie cutter tools then expect cookie cutter results.

If I asked you to tell me about your company, you probably wouldn’t start with “We’re a generic X company inside the Y industry”. No, you would probably explain all of the things that sets your company apart from the rest of the industry. If that’s the case, then we need additional data points and measurements to track and show that difference.

Industry wide data points and KPI’s are good for measuring your overall performance within your business space. But when it comes to managing, each company that I have worked with has their own methods and nuances to how they operate. If you’re not considering these nuances and leveraging in your analytics then you’re treating your organization like a cookie cutter company within your industry.