It’s what tells you what you need to know about your customers’ needs and expectations so you can serve them better.

It’s what drives customers to choose you over other contractors.

It’s what helps you track callbacks so you can minimize their impact … or lead conversion rates so you know how much time and money you put into making a sale.

It’s what helps associations like PHCC identify and build resources around our members’ needs.

It’s what we use to identify the latest employment and economic trends so that your company can accordingly adjust your strategies every year.

And it’s what helps formulate the topics of the articles in this magazine … not to mention the content offered at CONNECT and other PHCC events.

It’s data, and it influences – or should influence – how your business operates. After all, if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

Fortunately, businesses are realizing the value of data more and more. According to a 2024 survey of data leaders by Wavestone, the percentage of organizations that are “driving business innovation from data” increased from 59.5 percent in 2023 to 77.6 percent this year.

PHCC is Among Those Organizations.
PHCC is working hard to create a more data-driven culture. Those surveys you receive from us in your inbox? They drive everything from the way we communicate with you to the benefits we provide.

On a daily basis, our staff reviews the results of communications and marketing campaigns to see what’s working … and what’s not. We also identify industry trends based on data and then conduct deep dive discussions at PHCC Board meetings on the important issues affecting you.

Our Business Intelligence resources, for example, are heavily influenced by data provided by you and by economic and industry experts. We know that when we share trends and member sentiment, that helps influence your sales strategies, purchasing power, and employment efforts, among other business management decisions.

For our association, that information also helps guide the partnerships we seek, the events we host, the issues we advocate for, and the training opportunities we offer.

Key Questions … Answered in this Issue.
Along the way, we ask ourselves some key questions … the same questions you’re hopefully asking yourselves. How do we use our data? Protect our data? And – the big question these days – how does AI tie into all this?

In this current issue of PHCC Solutions, your PHCC peer contractors and chapter executives share their experiences … including the AI platforms and software they’re incorporating to improve efficiency, cost-effectiveness, employee onboarding, and much more. We also hear from PHCC partners like Federated Insurance that help you manage some of the risks associated with more technology.

So How Do You Cultivate a Data-Driven Organization?
A 2024 article from ASAE, the Center for Association Leadership, suggests it starts at the top … that’s you! “Your data strategy begins with [the CEO] building a case for a data strategy and setting expectations for success milestones.”

Then, according to the report, “instill a data culture.” Include data in conversations; question the “hunches,” and regularly inspect outcomes. Next, “define metrics and apply specific measurements and goal timelines to communicate outcomes with all internal stakeholders.” ASAE suggests tying each metric back to your company’s strategic goals and business outcome.

Perhaps the most important guidance from ASAE – and something that we at PHCC regularly examine – is that “leaders must be willing to inspect past choices and seek lessons to inform future decisions.” Leaders, it continues, “must also recognize that teams require support to become data-driven via upskilling, tools, and time.”

Finally, remember that data strategy is a journey, not a destination. As ASAE advises, consider rolling out new ideas in phases, “providing regular success milestones for your company and continuing momentum, and budgeting for ongoing investment of dollars and people as you upskill teams to support growth and innovation.”

Of course, a huge resource in building a data-driven culture is right here at PHCC. Ask questions of your peer contractors. Send your employees to one of the management workshops offered by our PHCC Educational Foundation. Rely on current data from our industry partners. For example, they are providing the Knowledge and Technology Hubs at CONNECT 2024 in Birmingham, and they often share their insights on this hot topic in publications like the PHCC Advocate and the one you’re holding in your hands right now!

Cindy Sheridan, CAE is Chief Executive Officer of PHCC—National Association. With decades of association management experience – most recently as the Chief Operating Officer of the PHCC Educational Foundation – Sheridan and her team work to ensure that PHCC contractors are the best choice for professionalism, reliable products, and knowledgeable service.