Intelligent Fin.tech Issue 02 | Page 27

EDITOR ’ S QUESTION

The UK is preparing for what the Bank of England warns might be the longest ever recession . This on the heels of considerable economic uncertainty , rising interest rates and rampant inflation , not to mention much political and labour market manoeuvring .

Yet modern businesses boast digital programmes that can react in real-time to changing signals , trends and pricing information . Digitalisation across the organisation means that business intelligence can be adaptive to a volatile market landscape , with greater business agility able to follow the higher levels of data-use in the modern enterprise .
Use that data
Gathering and using good intelligence is the primary action . Every other action should flow from insights , led by data .
Risk audit : You want every manager , aware of and able to quantify their risks and have a greater understanding of how they may affect the wider business . Forward planning means being able to take the right action when needed .
Work the plan : A business plan is essential but will need to flex with conditions . Make sure the business plan is relevant to the times and departments are honest with what can be achieved . Stretch goals must be fitted to reality .
Your customer support must be truly supportive : Customer teams are vital to growing revenue . Deep dive into the sales , marketing and after-care team processes to ensure they maintain a pipeline of happy customers .
Negotiate with an eye on future relationships : Be armed with data and forecasts to give weight to your red lines when discussing pricing , compensation or payment terms .
Let technology take the strain : Automation and integration should be key to remove friction and manual labour from operations . Data must flow from team to team and up to leadership in a usable form . From the sales team ’ s CRM to the board ’ s dashboards , ensure software is fully integrated so that forecasting and reporting is seamless .
There ’ s room for positivity
Pipedrive ’ s customer research , the State of Sales & Marketing 2021 / 22 showed that 73 % of respondents achieved or exceeded company revenue goals in 2021 , despite global challenges . But those firms that reduced budgets and headcount were 7 % less likely to hit their targets the following year . The research also demonstrated patterns underlying success :
• Those whose strategy and goals required improvement missed sales targets more often
• Those who automated their sales data and activity management tasks were much more likely to make their sales targets
• Those whose sales and marketing departments were well-integrated were twice as likely to exceed growth forecasts
• Those who optimised their marketing spend reported subsequent higher growth
• Those doing more digital marketing hit their targets more often
• Those with a CRM platform grew more last year , compared to those that didn ’ t ( 74 % to 59 %) �
Deep dive into the sales , marketing and after-care team processes to ensure they maintain a pipeline of happy customers .

PETER HARRIS , CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER , PIPEDRIVE www . intelligentfin . tech

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