DD #4 – Check for Information Silos
In the fourth edition of the Digital Directive, we’re addressing information silos. What are information silos? How can I resolve silos in my business? Ways to prevent information silos in the future?
Information silos can be a pain and cause a lot of strain on a business. Similar to a leaky pipe, the longer your silos build, the more spread out they become, and the more difficult the problem becomes to fix.
Surely you understand this; you’ve probably noticed it before; someone on your team says they’re working on something, maybe a lead, that’s already being worked on or converted to a buyer.
Imagine that experience from the customer’s perspective; you just bought something from a company, and now you have a new salesperson from the same company trying to sell you the same thing. I know I would hate that
These types of problems are more common than you think and can range from the lacking of necessary information, to a complete stone wall in communication or maybe internal strife over the way decisions are made
Let’s get to the bottom of it.
Information Silos
What is an information silo?
Information Silos occur and exist when information is stuck in one place and someone is unable to access the information that is pertinent to their work
Due to these factors, basic information and knowledge bases within the company are only accessible to a number of people when that info is actually necessary to people across the business.
What causes information silos?
With the rise of digital business tools and the division of work, teams using different software within the same company can often lack connectivity and direct routes of communication.
What are the results of information silos?
Information silos, more than anything, cause lag in a business. It takes longer to get answers to questions, and find that pertinent information, and both time and resources get wasted.
Are information silos always bad?
There are times when having “silos” of information is logical. It does make sense to store specific things in specific places, like gating sensitive or secure work. But aside from things sensitive in nature, there are not many “silos” in business that should be inaccessible.
Common issues caused by silos
Examples help, so here are a few standout information silos that businesses across industries experience.
Sales →
Sales teams lack a centralized location for all sales activities to be documented and recorded. You eventually end up with multiple people trying to sell to the same company, creating a bad experience for the customer.
Marketing →
Marketing teams not receiving feedback from sales teams or not getting enough notice from development teams when updates to products or services are coming.
CRM →
CRMs can be messy with outdated, wrong, or duplicate data. Customer relationships are harder to manage without an organized database, and scaling a business is impossible. Check out our previous directive on Getting a CRM System.
Support →
Often times support specialists create resources or guides for customers but don’t share them amongst their teams, doubling up on work that could be stored for the entire team to use.
Development →
Product dev teams often don’t get insight into the success of the product, and often time customer feedback is not streamlined to the devs even though they need to hear that kind of feedback.
Our CRM Suite is Live!
We launched our first official product, the CarbonCRM Suite, a little over a week ago to the monday.com marketplace!
We’ve been hearing a lot of great feedback from our users thus far; grab a free demo and let us know what you think!
-> Demo the CRM (for free)
Connect your silos together!
Once you know what your silos are and where they’re located, it’s time to think about mending them. There are dozens of options for integrating your business tools, unifying processes, and aligning departments across your company.
Do some research on Google about your specific industry, niche, and types of silos you’re encountering. There are a lot of resources online to help resolve these types of business problems.
If you want some more direct 1-1 help, book a free workflow exploration with us, and we can dive into your process and discuss ways to improve and reduce the silos in your business!
-> Start resolving my silos
From a previous directive: How to outline your workflows
If you need help visualizing your workflows, check out our first directive: Outline your workflows
