Big data is changing business. It’s changing the way we create, produce, market and sell products and it’s also changing how customers seek, find and purchase your goods and services.

As 2.5 quintillion bytes of data are created every day, it begs the question, how can we use it? There are numerous applications for big data, but some of the most promising are in the area of sales. Here are several ways you can leverage big sala to boost your sales.

Learn customer behavior

Every business worth their salt knows who their customer is. They have information about their gender, age, race, socioeconomic status and other basic demographic markers. But do they understand how their customer behaves?

Understanding and predicting human behavior has boggled the minds of marketers for decades, but with big data, businesses can get to know their customers like never before. Once you harness big data to predict your customers’ wants, you can anticipate demand and better plan for the future.

Price to sell

Pricing can make or break your business. If your product is too cheap, your margins are dangerously low. Too expensive, and no one will buy it, leaving you with a glut of inventory and an empty bank account. In the past, most businesses priced by trial and error. Big data offers insights on effective pricing strategies.

Look carefully at your customers’ past transactions. Consider their geographic location, seasonality, whether they were online or in store and average amount of sale to categorize your customer base. Each customer segment will have varying price tolerance and, as a result, should be marketed different products at different price points. A Good POS System can help with generating the big data that is needed to improve your sales.

Upsell like never before

This is a no-brainer when it comes to big data insights. Use the customer information you already have to determine what factors influence upselling. Maybe it’s a promotion offered during checkout? Maybe it’s a “buy more, save more” coupon? Whatever it is, use big data to find it and increase the value of each sale.

This can also be used to sell additional products long after the initial purchase. Use your analytics to determine what products your customers already have and when they purchased them. Then send them targeted communications that encourage them to upgrade, remind them to purchase refills (if necessary) and more.

Understand your competition

There’s an old saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. In this case, if your enemy is the competition, use big data track their every move. You need to know how they are performing in the marketplace and how the public responds to their marketing efforts and product offerings.

There are many tools to track your competition, including Google Trends or social media analytics. The goal is to understand the public perception of their brand and products. With this information, you can adjust your efforts to make up for their shortcomings.

Enhance customer service

Customer service is more important today than it has ever been. With so much competition, offering unparalleled customer service can make the difference between a customer for life or using a competitor.

Big data enables you to create a tailored customer service experience for each client. This could be anything from automatically directing customers to their preferred account landing page or pairing them with a customer service representative based on their personality.

Conclusion

Big data is the best-kept secret in sales. The secret is, you probably already have it, you just have to learn how to use it! Use your data to sharpen your sales tactics and watch your business grow.