Real Data is "Nationally Mappable"

#1 - Let's Talk Analytics........Later!

10 Years ago it was nearly unthinkable for a small to mid-sized company to engage with market intelligence systems as the cost of information was generally prohibitive. 'Big Data' has most of us whirling headlong into a new world of terminology that seems to build faster than we can keep up with as the technologies of measurement add a new components and systems that work 'in the cloud' while we sleep. What most companies don't realize is that a massive amount of insight is already known about all consumers in powerful applications that are easily accessible (and it's not about how to interpret your social analytics).

#2 New Technology........Not!

The understanding of target marketing and the use of intelligent alignment of products or services is as old as the human understanding (or sensitivity) of whether your wife loves silk or she's more comfortable in flannel (so to speak!).? My son loves pasta (any pasta), hamburgers, pizza and triple decker meat sandwiches (I know, what son doesn't). The fact is, I know how to 'market' many things to my wife and my son but when it comes to someone I don't know, I have a tendency to make things more complicated than they really are.? Today, I can segment my own wife & son & map their exact profile in every city in the U.S. with 'Scary Accurate' data of which is already known through 'algorithmic' data.

#3 Start Today

For every day we delay in either understanding of terms as well as differing uses of marketing intelligence data (i.e.: Segmentation, Analytics, Intelligence, Geolocation, Psychographic, etc.), it's another day later that we are not accumulating critical data & in-turn,?an accurate basis for?your?intelligence-marketing approach. ?To delay the inevitable (Which IS: All winning companies either use or will use data to market & sell or they will be minimized in the market) is to suggest we can operate business with 'slap on the back politics' & hard sales tactics rather than what all businesses must, which is, always be reinventing and refining approach.? Using pre-historic sales & marketing values to run a modern business will ultimately render your business obsolete.? It's just a matter of 'time'.

#4 Monitor Before You Jump In

When?deciding to implement consumer or business intelligence into your business, spend some time interacting, downloading & reviewing free versions & demos of different applications & programs (such as CRMs) & go through the learning curve of whatever technology it is that you want and/or need to understand.? For example, I'm working to integrate a CRM from a company called Geostrategies from their platform 'Epiphany Analytics'.? The CRM is a sophisticated tool called the List Manager that is not limited to contacts, per se, but can coordinate lists of anything.?Well, as this software was being designed, I tried to interact with as many CRM systems as I could to see how different functions would work, such as the simple process of migrating data or how to categorize a contact immediately upon entering the contact into the system (a weakness of many CRM's).?It not only helped me to understand the differences that I could speak to the issue, but what a 'better' CRM might integrate to make it more powerful, faster & more user friendly.

#5 Familiarize Yourself With Definitions

This is where Webster's dictionary doesn't add a lot of value, or at least complete the answers you need concerning 'what means what' in Modern Intelligence Practices.? Historic uses of terms used in our daily lives have meanings that seem to vary from one person to the next.? Years ago, when developing a sales & marketing strategy called "Initiatives", the simple use of the term 'Social Strategy' drew 10 definitions from 10 sales & admin support staff.? To get our organization 'in-sync', we first had to define each of the strategic marketing 'initiatives' in what was not only the most accurate use of the term within our industry but the terminology we would use within our own organization to define it as a whole.?It is critical to get your team all on the same page concerning definition of terms (and be a part of the 'defining process' within your industry).?We live in a world where we are literally battling over definitions & the time spent in defining your internal use of terms is worth its weight in gold.

About the author: A student of wine business strategy & consumer preference analysis for 35+ years, Nicholas has been mentored & influenced by many early California wine greats including Joseph Filippi, Sr., Davis 'Class of '54' (mentored by Joe Heitz, first Davis class of '51), Dr. Fred S. Nury, "Wine Analysis & Production", Fresno State University, Champagne Master Primo Scorsatto of California Bonded Winery #1 & many more.?For 25 years, Nicholas has been a professional wine judge & educator along side of the late Peter Sichel of Blue Nun, Wilfred Wong, Nick Goldschmidt, Darrel Groom of Groom Wines, Darrel Corti, et al.?Nicholas ended his tenure with Oak Ridge Winery after 11 years of designing & establishing a portfolio of top Nielsen rated wines including the new sweetheart of California Zinfandels, OZV. Nicholas is founder of Wine Concepts & Design, Intl. providing business & wine intelligence solutions to the US & International wine trades. [email protected]?wineconceptsintl.com