[Feature Friday] Mike Olson on Using Data to Make Better Business Decisions - The ROI Online Podcast Ep. 48

On this episode of the ROI Online Podcast, Steve talks with Mike Olson about quantitative and qualitative data, what using it to better listen to your customers, and how that allows you to make better decisions and succeed in business. 

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We all know data is important for our business. How can you make decisions if you don’t know what your customer does on your site or how they feel about interacting with your brand? But gathering the data and knowing how to use it effectively—without forcing it to do something for you—is slightly harder to grasp.

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Mike started his career in both radio and singing. In his touring and traveling days he took up marketing for the group and started diving into it to get better. That led him to gathering massive amounts of data over the years and learning how to use it to better run a business. 

Even if a lead doesn’t convert, you can still gather data about the interaction and learn from the experience. Finding out what you do well is just as important as knowing where you went wrong and it’s all quantifiable—if you’re using the right tools. The key is to make sure you’re able to look at the data objectively rather than forcing something to come out of it all. 

From Mike’s perspective, data is just a way to understand your customer better. If you always keep in mind who your audience is, and stay away from the mindset of needing to “squeeze one more dime out of this consumer,” you’re more likely to find and maintain your success. 

Mike’s best advice is to always keep in mind what’s happening with your first-time customers. To do so, sit down with a group of friends who have never interacted with your company before and ask them to interact with your website. Take note of how they click, where they get stuck, what makes them leave. You’ll gain incredibly valuable insights into how people use your site and be able to update it accordingly. Things you think are obvious might not be to someone who’d not as deep in the weeds with your company as you are. 

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