In our efforts to understand our customer's business, we have 2 primary sources to utilize - data and information. To us, data refers to publicly available facts and figures. Information is the inside story that you can only get from people who have an insider's perspective. Both sources are valuable, but it seems that data is being rapidly devalued.

There are so many sources of data available - websites, reports, articles, social media - the list goes on and on. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that data is being undervalued. Some people seem to think, "If there is so much data out there, it must not be that valuable." This perspective could not be further from the truth! Just listen in an on earnings call with the CEO of one of your customer's and you will see why. You can learn a great deal in a short amount of time.

Another possible challenge with data is that there is so much data available that it's tough to keep up. To avoid the data fatigue challenge, give up on trying to stay current with data. Instead, think of data as a just-in-time resource. As an example, you can follow your customer on LinkedIn and Twitter, but wait to read current posts until you are preparing for an upcoming meeting. Don't drown in data, look at it when you need it.

Lastly, consider the fact that most people don't read their own company's data. If you are looking at your customer's data, you are gaining insights that many of their own people may not have. These insights will allow you to ask better questions, identify opportunities and align your solutions with the business outcomes your customer cares most about.