Intuition and experience aren’t good enough in today’s highly competitive landscape of home services. If you’re still doing the same old things, you’re going to get left in the dust.

That’s why today we’re going to talk about data-driven decision making (DDDM), and what it means for you and your business.

Data-Driven Decision Making in the Home Services Industry

What is Data-Driven Decision Making?

Data-driven decision making is making strategic decisions for your business based on data (facts and metrics). We often do things because they “feel right”, but does that mean they are actually the best decision for your business?

According to Tableau, “83% of CEOs want their organizations to be data-driven but only 25% of companies are leveraging their data to its full potential.” Do you fall into this category?

In short, DDDM is about implementing a systematic approach to gathering data based on strategic business goals, and then using that data to influence how you make decisions.

Does DDDM Give My Business An Advantage?

Any business owner has to ask the question right away: “why should I care?” The answer? The businesses that ignore DDDM are going to be vastly less competitive than those that implement a data-informed approach. It’s not just conjecture, either. The current data we have around DDDM in small businesses speaks for itself.

Data-driven decision making is not a brand new concept, either. In fact, as far back as 2012, two professors at the MIT Sloan School of Management were researching the impacts of DDDM in businesses. Their findings about DDDM benefits for businesses included 6% higher profitability and 4% higher productivity.
In 2015, BARC research published a survey detailing the benefits of big data for businesses that continues the support in favor of DDDM. The results included an 8% increase in profitability.

In 2014, the McKinsey Global Institute released the findings of a survey on impacts of the use of customer analytics. The survey found that the utilization of customer analytics boosted customer acquisition rate by 2200%, customer retention rate by 545.45%, and existing customer sales by 640%.
In 2023 and looking ahead to 2024, the competitive landscape of home services demands every edge you can get. Contractors that aren’t gathering and implementing data to this level will be at a disadvantage to those that do, full stop.

How Does Data-Driven Decision Making Apply to Contractors?

In the home services industry, we see a lot of common trends. Everyone is using the same CTAs, the same coupons, and oftentimes the same processes and systems. How do you stand out? How do you know if what you’re doing is actually working?

As they say, what gets measured, gets managed. And it doesn’t stop there. What gets measured can become the basis for which you make strategic business decisions. With DDDM, you’re approaching each decision differently than just assuming what’s working. You’re collecting raw data, interpreting it correctly, and then using it as the foundation for the decision. No more guesswork – just plain facts to guide you.

Implementing DDDM Into Your Business in 3 Steps

Implementing data-driven decision making into your business doesn’t have to be difficult!
Really, it starts with being intentional about the shift. Getting your team to buy in and cultivating a culture of data is the first step towards successful implementation.

1 — Identify Your Goals

Start with a simple list of goals for your business. From there, you can extrapolate KPIs to keep your company on track to meet those goals. Where do you want your business to be at the end of 2024? Do you want higher sales? Customer satisfaction? Lower overhead?

2 — Gather Your Data

Once you have your goals in place, gathering and tracking data becomes the next phase. There are a lot of great tools that contractors can implement for success, such as ServiceTitan, or Housecall Pro.

3 — Use the Data To Make Decisions

You’ve done all the hard parts! Now, it’s time to analyze the data you’ve collected and start using it to make decisions. No more “I feel like” statements. You have real, raw data to understand exactly how your business is performing. That’s what should dictate your decisions, and this is how DDDM is going to give you a huge edge over your competitors who aren’t using data to this degree.

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How Can RYNO Help?

There are countless ways you could implement data-driven decision making into your business, and RYNO Strategic Solutions can help. We’re all about using REAL data to make informed, strategic decisions. In fact, our clients have access to our proprietary software, RYNOTrax, which provides exactly that!

RYNOTrax

The RYNOTrax dashboard is filled with data and metrics that can be used to make strategic decisions and gain valuable insights about your digital marketing campaigns including your cost-per-lead, trends, Google Analytics reporting, and so much more.

  • Monthly Statistics
  • Google Analytics Reporting
  • Contact form/email classifications & supporting details
  • Call classifications and support detail
  • Trend findings from the month
  • Highlighted call examples to reflect best practices
  • Suggested opportunities for CSR improvement

Not only that, we go a step further with our Call Listening & Reporting team. While most call listening services use simple metrics like the length of a call, we are interested in what REAL leads we bring in – not your repeating customers, and definitely not a tech calling in to the office to say they’ll be late for work. We categorize each lead by service, and look at whether it was a true lead that we brought in or not. How’s that for transparency and data you can use about your digital marketing company?

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Stay Ahead of the Competition

Data-driven decision making is how you’re going to crush the competition. We’re anticipating 2024 and beyond to be even more competitive, as the level of sophistication with home services companies is rising, leads are becoming more of a fight, and factors like online retailers and the economy continue to present challenges.

Doing the same old thing just won’t cut it anymore. Are you doing what you need to separate yourself from the herd and set yourself up to dominate in your market? And does your digital marketing company share that same vision?