“Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.”
We all like to start with the best possible end in mind. This quote expresses exactly what helps us to do our best—in business, in relationships, and life.
In striving to do our best, we often encounter obstacles, hindrances, setbacks, and things that can make us doubt our skills. Yet, by learning from these challenges, we grow stronger and more successful.
Let’s look at how this works in real life.
Planting Seeds For Success
The quote on planting your best seeds, at the beginning of this post, expresses the spirit of Spicy Organic LLC, a small family spice company that’s become internationally successful.
It’s the kind of story that makes your heart open and sets an excellent example of starting with good seeds, good intentions, and good responsiveness.
Spicy Organic is owned by Sunil Kumar and has always been committed to growing spices organically. At a time when pressures are high to use additives, this family-run business remained firm on using no additives, chemicals, or preservatives. As a result, they can deliver top quality and delicious-tasting spices. They’ve expanded and are now competing with the world’s top spice brands.
By planting smart seeds of ethical practices, this company is growing and rewarding customers with exceptional flavor, color, and intensity in their spices.
Focusing On Customer Value
Customers are increasingly demanding and expecting personalized relationships with businesses. You may have noticed this whether you’re shopping on Amazon or checking on insurance options.
To deliver real-time personalized marketing and support, businesses are turning to new technology called master data management. Mastering data management or MDM is a way to use data effectively, and gain a competitive advantage.
MDM enables you and your business to use more data, clarify data, and determine hidden connections and opportunities within the data.
Many business leaders are seeing the trends towards advanced data technology, but have not yet understood its unmistakable value.
Making Data-Driven Decisions
It’s a funny thing really—a lot of businesses in the past have made decisions on a hunch or instinct. Yet, today, the most successful business leaders are making decisions based on data.
Data-driven decisions are only valid if the data is accurate. Common sense, right? The best data comes from having a robust system in place to gather data from all locations, with the same criteria, same semantics, and in real-time.
When you have accurate data, you can analyze, assess, and interpret the results. In short, you can make informed decisions to serve your customers, provide value, and open up new market opportunities.
Data management is key for preventing data breaches, ensuring security, and understanding what customers want. MDM is essential to ensure that you’re making strategic decisions, using the most reliable data possible.
Using Best Practices for Your Business
As we’re heading into this quarter, it’s a great time to look at how to apply best practices and achieve your business goals. Every aspect of your business is affected by this weave of positive intention, customer centricity, and data-driven decisions.
While examining each of these areas may seem time-consuming and arduous, it is certain to position your business for success. Taking a magnifying glass to your business, ask yourself a few questions to start the wheels turning.
Positive Intention
• Are you clear on your values, mission, and purpose?
• Is everyone in your leadership team equally clear?
• Are your employees aligned with your values?
• Are your customers fully aware of your values, mission, and purpose?
Customer Centricity
• Are you fully aware of your customer’s value?
• Are you using data to keep your finger on the pulse of evolving needs?
• Are you communicating your commitment to loyalty programs?
• Are you using data insights to develop effective products and services?
Data-Driven Decisions
• Are you maximizing data to make strategic decisions?
• Are you gathering consistent data from all locations?
• Are you evaluating changes with real-time data?
• Are you tracking the speed of decision-making?
With this vision, you can plant good seeds, serve your customers, and achieve your business goals. Looking forward to your business success in 2021!