With all of the great medical and scientific advances we've made, it's odd that nobody has found a way to clean all the obsolete junk out of our own brains. Most web browsers have a little feature called cache clean-up which gets rid of information we don't need anymore. Since we don't have a little button next to our left ear to push when we want to clean up our brain cache, we're stuck with useless information which we no longer need. And, because the information is there, we sometimes try to use it anyway.
In the 1970s, I had contact with businesses all over the U.S. I knew all the area codes and knew which time zones they were in. Today, there are three times as many area codes and I don't recognize any of the new ones. I still remember the fastest way to get from O'Hare Airport to hotels which don't exist anymore. I can recite more obsolete product codes for plastic materials than anyone else in the Northwest. Because I know all of these things, my brain is pretty full and, therefore, I have a harder time learning new things.
If this sounds all-too-familiar, you've probably got the same amount of useless information in your head as I have in mine. Don't panic! It's OK to have all of this knowledge as long as you don't use it to the detriment of your business.
I met a business owner who has a fine list of ex-customers who haven't bought from him in five years. He intends to do a direct mail 'please-come-back' pitch from this list. The problem is that the list is probably 90% obsolete. In five years, most of the sales contacts have changed. Or the business may be under new ownership. Or the company may have moved. And, even if nothing has changed, they probably won't remember the owner's business after 5 years. He needs to rebuild his mailing list and reach out to them as new prospects - not as old customers.
Another firm has extensive information on what it costs to handle an order - to take the order, enter it into the computer, to do a credit check and to pack, load and ship it. The problem is that their well-documented study is now 10 years old. They've changed computers, so order entry is now much faster. Lots of customers are e-mailing orders, which can be pasted electronically onto their order form. Credit checking is now done on computer rather than manually. Packing is more automated; however, labor costs have increased. This firm needs to restudy their costs and, if necessary, adjust their prices accordingly.
A company I know is making strategic marketing decisions based on competitive information which they obtained in a survey three years ago. While the information is interesting, it's no longer enlightening - it's obsolete. The range of services, charges and pricing has certainly changed in three years and so have customer needs. This company needs to re-do their survey to get useful, current information which can help their business prosper in today's climate.
You may be very knowledgeable about the Tax Reform Act of 1986. Or, perhaps you know the average labor-rate charges from 1991. You may be able to recite the names of all the cities on the Grateful Dead Tour of 1982. Or you may have estimates of the yield from a business telemarketing campaign from 1977. All of these data are now history. That kind of history won't build your business in today's market. You must make business decisions from current information which you get from fellow business owners, your trade association or your own recent experiences. Then, and only then, can you run your company efficiently in today's business world, armed with useful, relevant information.
