FEBRUARY 2018 SEEDWORLD.COM / 39 IT NEVER fails to amaze me how many seed businesses are reliant on spreadsheets to run their seed production and processing operations. Spreadsheets are great, flexible and certainly have a place in the world for doing the things spreadsheets are good at doing — like formatting charts and graphs, ad hoc analysis and creating simple models — but using them for things they are not intended for could be damaging. Spreadsheets fall short in the following areas: Reporting: Sorting through multiple spreadsheets and countless numbers and transactions to compile the data can be confusing and very, very time consuming. To run a business successfully you need to have full control of your data. Accuracy: Spreadsheets do not stand- ardize processes across the business, so everyone does their own thing in their own way. This means that the data is inac- curate, out of date and not uniform with other data in other spreadsheets. Accessibility: Different people need access to reports and data at any given moment. Having quick, easy access to data is the only way to keep the business running smoothly. If that data is in dis- parate spreadsheets in different places, this can be disruptive to processes and ultimately cost money. Productivity: How much time do the people using these spreadsheets spend tracking and fixing issues? A study recently showed that regular ‘spread- sheet’ users were spending up to 18 hours per month doing just that. That’s 18 hours per month spent doing non-productive activity. 6 Ways Spreadsheets Could be Hurting Your Business VINCENT VENEZIALE, PRODUCT MANAGER, CULTURA SEED SOLUTIONS @Vince_Veneziale • vincent.veneziale@culturatech.com • culturatech.com Security & data integrity: Where are these companies keeping their spread- sheets? On a server? On someone’s laptop? What if you lose the spreadsheet and don’t have a backup system in place? Regulatory requirements: Seed compa- nies are audited regularly to ensure that they are recording the information adequately. If the spreadsheets cannot be relied on for accuracy, this is a major risk and should be of huge concern to a seed business. The only real way to have accurate and reliable data for reporting and running efficient processes in a business is to invest in a centralized and integrated system. An integrated system enables you to free people from the drudgery of wrestling with spreadsheets and allow them to focus on the important and productive things that would help to grow the business profitably. YOUR WEBSITE is open for business 24-7. It doesn’t take a day off when you do and customers can access it at any time. So, what is your website saying when you’re not around? Websites are too often thought of like a fact sheet or brochure. You made the investment, wrote the content for it once, it’s done and that’s it. The reality however is that your website should be thought of like a living entity. It’s is the No. 1 place all your content marketing efforts will live, and the anchor to every social media post you share. So, when people navigate away from your latest blog post, will the rest of your site con- tent reflect the expert persona you’re working so hard to build? To make sure that your website stays optimized it’s best to think about a few key points. 1. User Experience: a. What are the primary goals of your website – product awareness, lead cap- ture, brand education? Is the content and tools you offer on your site reflect- ing your goals? b. Ease of use – Is the navigation clear? Are widgets and tools intuitive for users? 2. Reporting: Having good analytics set up on your site can help you unlock some very powerful information. If you don’t know where your leads are coming from, how can you tell what content or marketing initiatives are moving the needle? Newer tools like heat maps can also be a powerful way to help you decide what changes should be made to your website. 3. What are Your Competitors Doing?: By picking three to five com- petitors and reviewing their websites you should be able to get a sense of what they are doing differently from you. Sometimes there will be things you do better, and sometimes there will be things they do better – spending this time reviewing can help create inter- nal benchmarks and determine future website goals. 4. Behind the Scenes: If your site isn’t up to spec from a technical per- spective, you might be getting a bad rap before your customers even finds your page. Things like having a mobile friendly site, good site speed (think page load times) and search engine optimiza- tion can have an impact on where your site appears in searches and the amount of time users will spend on your site. With an optimized site as a solid foundation of your marketing com- munications efforts, the next step is to make sure that your site content is current, compelling and in line with your brand persona. This will make it easy for consumers of your content marketing efforts to make the connection and feel right at home exploring your website. Consider Your Constant Content SHAWN BROOK PRESIDENT, ISSUES INK @IssuesInk • sbrook@issuesink.com • issuesink.com/create-by-issues-ink