Turning Data into Better Decisions

Data Point vs. Data Insight

A data point is a single piece of information that is raw and unprocessed. A data point could be a number collected from a survey or a transcript from an interview. The critical part to remember is that it is unprocessed. However, data insights are when you take a data point, analyze it, and infer a conclusion from that particular data point. Data points are the individual facts, while data insights are the inferences. Data points are what allow us to derive insights and make actionable and meaningful changes to our business. 

Turning Data into Decisions: Why you should care as a Leader. 

In today’s age, the reality is that data-driven decisions are vital for your business to remain relevant and competitive. Data and data points are so valuable because “when you gather the correct amount of data from the most relevant people, you are then equipped with the necessary insights to take any action or inaction” (Pollfish). Simply put, data-driven decisions result in more impactful results. 

As a gym owner, you likely have access to a lot of data. That data can come from your gym software management tool, or it could even come from the conversations that you have with your members on a day-to-day basis. That data can provide meaningful insights into your members’ behaviors, likes, dislikes, and preferences. And those insights can help you make more impactful decisions that will lead to success for your business. 

Example: how to transform data into insights and decisions 

Let’s put this into perspective. Imagine you’re creating a survey to measure the overall customer satisfaction of your current members. Because of some recent complaints and conversations with members, you want to ask about gym hours specifically. So you send the survey out, get your results or data points, and start to analyze your results. After analyzing the results, you find that 80% of your current members agree that they wish your gym were open later on weeknights. This piece of information is your data insight. With this data insight, you can now take action. You can run additional analysis to ensure it makes financial sense to change your gym hours. If it financially makes sense and your members want, you can make the change. 

Takeaway

This example is just one of the many ways you can use data to make better decisions. But the point is that data is robust, and it leads to better, more informed decisions. And more informed decisions lead your business to the direction of success.

Miss last week’s post? Read about statistical significance and why it’s important to understand.