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There’s beauty in business data...
There’s beauty in business data...
July 01, 2010
Look, I’m just going to come out and say it - I like spreadsheets. I also like greenfinches, the music of Debussy and the plays of Jez Butterworth - but it’s the spreadsheet thing that worries people most.
Let them mock. I mean, spreadsheets - where would we be without ‘em? Most businesses need to store at least some of their data in a spreadsheet file, while for some there’s a constant need to send spreadsheets from one partner or client to another. Microsoft’s Excel has become the standard for this sort of thing.
For much of its life, Excel serves merely as a means for storing, packaging and distributing data; you squirt it from one system into Excel, then send it off to be squirted into something else. It’s these other systems - accounts packages, customer relationship management (CRM) programs - that do the data analysis.
This is fine if you run CRM packages, but many small businesses rely on their office suite software. Understandably, such firms try to make the most of Excel for analysing data as well as storing it.
The trouble with spreadsheets
The trouble is that spreadsheets can only go so far. Let’s say you want to track Mavis’s expense claims for sandwiches. You can see how much she spends in one week, a month, a year - but what do you do if you decide to look at what she spends on tuna compared to cheese?
Sure, you can add that detail. But how about tuna or cheese on white bread, tuna or cheese on brown? How about the data from year one compared to year two? The more you add, the trickier it gets to maintain. And that’s just sandwiches.
The solution is a database. Plenty of proprietary database programs cost less than Microsoft Excel itself, and they make it easier to structure data, to add summaries and ‘what if’ calculations - and, by tying one set of data to another, to run most of your business processes.
There’s a problem, though, and it’s a biggie. These programs make data analysis easier - but only if you know how to operate them. Understandably, you might think you’re spending more than enough time on this kind of thing as it is.
Invest time, save money?
If you’re to make your investment in them worthwhile, database programs demand much more of your attention. But accounts and CRM packages are just databases themselves; if you’re handy with Excel, you could put the same effort into a database and save yourself the expense of a CRM package. Project management, diaries, document storage, strategy - they can handle the lot.
So - plug alert - this is why you’ll love the IT Donut. We’re going to have experts who can advise you on how to make the most of your company’s data without breaking the bank. And if you do end up engaging with them, try to remember that while they may indeed like spreadsheets, experts are people too.
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Comments
there is also an ugly side to business data... If you receive poor quality records.
Mark, I am in complete agreement and secondly CRM systems are not just databases, they are much more incorporating a wide range of inbuilt funcationality.
Why build a database from scratch when any CRM (or contact management) system already has a data structure suited to the vast majority of organisations. Yes for specialist requirements we may need to add on a table etc but that is about it, in fact in many cases we implement without the need to add a new entity. (Yes another CRM provider here: GoldMine, Sage CRM & MS CRM)
Organisations need know nothing or very little about data structure to spec a CRM system, in fact I would go as far to say its much harder to spec a database from scratch than define your business requirements for a CRM system. We do not want the customer defining the data structure etc we need simply to understand their business processes which are then mapped to the CRM system.
A modern CRM system is now typically very easy to use (see Sage CRM, my mum could use it) and reporting/analysis via the CRM does not require the user to have any knowledge of data structure, in fact that's the whole point.
I firmly believe implementing a CRM system can be far less painful and less costly than building a database from scratch.
Mark,
My view is that if an SME takes the time to better understand the mechanics of databases, they'll then make better informed decisions about their CRM. There's no doubt at all that dedicated CRM systems can enhance a company's relationship with its clients considerably, and save on time.
You could indeed spend oodles of time recreating the wheel if you were to create your own bespoke CRM system, but I think it's important to get across that a database has this kind of capability and could therefore do a lot for your business.
After all, as well as an often inadequate way of manipulating business data, spreadsheets do little to help you model your business plan. To me, getting a basic understanding of databases allows you to do that. Even when a business has got to the stage where it can confidently deploy a third party CRM solution, it will still benefit considerably from manipulating data in its own personal database from time to time, perhaps to test and monitor its business processes and markets. Any time a company needs to adapt its model - and let's face it, that happens more often than it used to - modelling using a database is better than attempting the same thing in Excel. As for CRM, it's like accounts software - you'll get the maximum from it if you know enough in the first place to specify the solution that's right for you.
Now all owner-managers need do is magic up some spare reading time...
Whoa! Invest time & save money. Are you sure? Lets look at this logically. CRM has been around for over a quarter of a century now and has become firmly established as an essential component in the standard suite of business software for entrepreneurs, small businesses and large organisations. Why? Because for those 25 years, whole teams of specialists have developed and honed the functionality of a CRM to meet the needs of businesses in todays environment.
OK confession time. I admit it, I work for a CRM company - Maximizer. But I have also selected, implemented and used a number of CRM systems during a couple of decades in marketing, sales and commercial roles at both large and small organisations. I know that for the latest version of the Maximizer CRM released earlier this year, we listened to feedback from some of the 120,000 global customers . Spent many hundreds of developer man hours on each individual change and enhancement to the functionality that already existed in the software. This collective experience and expertise is then condensed down a product that is ready to use and available off the shelf for as little as £130.
I would ask why reinvent the wheel for £130? Exactly how much is your hourly rate worth? Could you conceive, write and test a CRM (with 25 years of proven experience from multiple sources) in spreadsheet form in a couple of hours? Yes spreadsheets are easy, convenient and in the right hands quite powerful. But you also have access, management, duplication, maintenance issues with them – not to mention greater potential for loss / overwriting of data.
Just because you can boil an egg, does not mean you could run a restaurant. So why apply that logic to a vital component of your businesses success? So I would say invest a little money in a CRM and save a lot of time.
I agree 100%. Spreadsheets are the mainstay of SME's administration and they often hold vital information. However, I've seen very sparce spreadsheets that should have not existed at all (better on a paper file) right through to spreadsheets that have so much data in them that they make the PC screen dim as you scroll around !
In essence, these spreadsheets are the manifestation of a bigger problem............. a lack of understanding of what the alternative could be, coupled with a lack of time to undertake suitable research.
CRM and databases are the way to resolve these problems and I agree with Martin, a way to add process and workflow to a business activity. However, unless either the SME owner is keen to outsource this role, or is keen to do the research themselves, then the humble Excel spreadsheet will remain the mainstay of small business data management
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