Company Data
Many types of data are used in business today. This calls for an adequate way to categorize data, think about it, and talk about it with other professionals. One common way of classifying data distinguishes a broad category known as company data. It is generally recognized that this class of data is made up of a few types of information, such as firmographics, technographics, customer relationship management and intent data. Let us look at why this way to group data types makes sense and what makes company data valuable for various business purposes.
Analyzing a company
Company data, as a category of information, is constructed by taking the data types that define some of the most important features of a company. As mentioned above, the main subcategories are such internal information as customer relationship management (CRM) data as well as external data, like firmographics, technographics and intent data.
Generally, CRM data refers to information stored in the com-pany’s CRM system. It is information that the firm collects internally about its customer experience and behavior. This kind of data can be collected from a company’s website, social media and any other channel that makes customer engagement possible.
Firmographic and technographic data is information that describes the com-pany by its various statistical features. Firmographics refer to any general information, like size, revenue, age, etc. Meanwhile, technographics are concerned with the company’s technological stack, that is what sort of software and hardware tools they use and anything else that describes the firm’s relationship with technology.
Intend data encompasses information about the com-pany’s recent business activity. Such events like a new investment round or a product release serve as buying signals from the perspective of a sales team looking to make a deal with the firm.
Thus, com-pany data is a category that helps to analyze the firm by looking at the most important factors that may determine whether a deal with the company is possible and desirable.
5 things to be aware of
Clearly, company data is very important for any B2B firm doing analyses of the potential customers. Here are 5 more things worth knowing when dealing with company data.
1) Company data has multiple benefits for businesses that utilize it. It improves lead generation and allows salespeople to prepare a better pitch and give it just at the right time. Additionally, com-pany data provides strong competitive intelligence that can be used to make improvements to the business plan. Finally, every managerial business decision will be better-informed after the market research that can be done with company data.
2) The subcategories of com-pany data supplement each other. For example, intent data is basically made up of buying signals, which indicate that there is a good opportunity to make an offer to a particular customer. But these signals can also be supported or countered by technographic data which would show the situation of the com-pany in relation to tech products. This information gives a better insight into whether the company is likely to buy from the seller.
3) The main source for the company data, like for many types of alternative data, is the internet. Data is collected through such procedures as web-scraping and web data integration. Additionally, some com-pany data can be collected manually, although it is less efficient, but might give an opportunity to the human agent to notice important features of the data.
4) The aforementioned 4 subcategories are the most commonly recognized as the building blocks of company data. However, as there are no settled rules of terminology, other data types may also be referred to as part of company data, for example, financial data. However, regardless of what other types are accepted under the umbrella term “company data”, experience shows that the 4 types of data mentioned above are crucial in having a high-value com-pany dataset.
5) Like most types of alternative data, company data can be used to train algorithms when utilizing machine learning for investment or other problem-solving tasks. As this is a large category of substantial information, company data is a great asset for any AI-training or model building.
The whole package
Thus, the existence of com-pany data as a specific category in business usage is dictated by the utility of these data types used in combination. Many B2B companies use at least one of the data types that encompass com-pany data. But utilizing the whole package leads to the best results of a well-rounded analysis.
Additionally, most of these data types can be used for self-analysis, with the exception of intent data which is directed at potential clients. Therefore, it is advisable for the managers to be aware of the firmographic and technographic data on their own com-pany, not to mention CRM data.
This would lead to better understanding in regard to where the com-pany stands in the industry and among the competitors.
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