When a Department of Labor and Training call center was overwhelmed earlier this year, workers were initially skeptical of the state’s response: deploy more workers at key times to reduce the number of missed calls.
But the strategy was based on more than a hunch, says DLT Director Scott R. Jensen. A computer analysis found that many of the calls were coming from people repeatedly calling back. By adding more workers during high-volume call periods, wait times and the total number of calls declined, he says.
As this week’s cover story reports, data analytics is no longer just within the purview of Fortune 500 companies or university researchers. Companies and government agencies of all sizes are mining their data to better serve customers and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
And the stakes have only increased during the pandemic, which has forced companies of all types to rely heavily on digital services and communication.
“If you want to remain competitive, you have to embrace data analytics,” says John Sullivan, BankNewport’s executive vice president for digital and technology strategy.
Financial services companies were among the first to recognize the value in studying customer habits to inform decision-making, managing the ongoing shift to mobile and online banking.
Now employers from every industry are competing to hire people able to decipher data that managers can use to help them stay ahead of the competition.
As Jensen tells PBN, “If you don’t know what’s happening, it’s hard to make a strategy to deal with it.”
