Information Overload? How to Find Data That Matters to Your Business

Whether you are launching your spa or massage practice or your business is several years old, there is always something new to learn and new challenges to tackle. Markets change. You need to be up to speed on the developments in skincare and touch therapies. And advances in technology to take client care to a new level require constant learning.

The good news is that there is no shortage of information to keep you on top of your market and solve business problems. Information is available from a range of sources: the internet, social media, books, news media, professional organizations, and continuing educations. But all that information can be a double edged sword. It can be enormously helpful but may be overwhelming. You may find yourself more confused than educated or enlightened because of information overload. Instead of action, you may become stressed and/or you experience information paralysis, whereby you take no action because of the fear of making the wrong move.

Problem of information overload

Mayo Clinic describes the problem of having too much information to process as cognitive overload. You reach a point where you cannot process all the input you are getting to act on it. While you are dealing with external sources, your brain also processes information from your internal memory source, which includes what you already know or have experienced.[1] Information overload can affect decision-making, productivity and even well-being, finds one research review.[2]

Consequences of information load include:

·         As it relates to productivity, you can spend too much time filtering through information, which takes time away from dealing with issues at hand.

·         Making decisions may not be effective because input lacks depth, is unclear, or does not exactly address your problem.

·         Staff is overwhelmed with too much information on products and treatments, which may be conflicting if it comes from various sources. The result is staff may not meet clients’ specific needs or cannot provide quality advice for at-home care in between treatments.

Confusion from information overload

Slack Consulting Group attributes the confusion that arises from information overload to lack of a filter or philosophy that helps you determine what matters. A consistent lens through which you process all incoming information becomes a critical sorting mechanism through which you take ideas and treat them in the following ways:[3]

·         If an idea aligns with your philosophy, act on it.

·         If an idea is interesting, save it to review later.

·         If idea does not line up with your philosophy, ignore it.

 

 

In the absence of a filter, you may find that every idea seems to be the solution to your problem. You abandon your internal judgement because you stop trusting your own instincts and outsource your decisions to the internet.

Generic advice is not the answer to information overload

Another risk of information overload is succumbing to generic advice. Your business is unique compared to other spas and massage practices and other types of businesses. Data you gather should help you identify and tackle specific areas of weakness in running your business that you may be overlooking. As an example, generic information may focus on meeting revenue growth goals through new client acquisition techniques. But generic advice does not factor in that your clients come from one demographic, and the marketplace is changing. Therefore, you need to target other types of clients to increase revenue, which may require a fresh marketing strategy and changes in your treatment menu.

Overcoming information overload

With so much information coming at you from a range of sources, you want to establish a framework for managing the information you receive. The framework enables you to extract what is relevant and useful to running your spa or massage practice. Information overload can be reduced with these steps:

·         Establish your goals whether it is how to reach a wider audience of potential clients, how to maximize profitability of treatments, or how to incorporate latest spa and massage therapy trends into your service offering.

·         Identify sources of information that are high quality, reputable and provide content that is both verifiable and relevant. Balance on and offline content sources.

·         As you review data from your range of sources, be critical in determining if the information relates to your goals and be mindful of credibility. For example, if you sign up to receive an industry newsletter, focus on the articles and news that supports your objectives. Do not spend time reviewing information that seems interesting but is not relevant to your issue(s).

·         Do not collect more data than you can review. Periodically, review and discard information that might have seemed relevant at the time but on re-examination does not support your decision making objectives.

·         Use technology to aggregate data and present digestible formats to save you time. Such apps include Feedly, which is a feed reader that aggregates information from around the Web into one convenient place.  Another is News Blur, a personal news reader that lets you find stores from various sources.

·         Gather the information that you deem useful and set time aside daily or weekly to review it, confirming that it aligns with your objectives.

Also consider that information overload can be reduced by sharing responsibility for reviewing information. Assign other staff members in your spa or massage practice to follow select sources of information. It can be helpful to use a team collaboration platform to share the information or meet regularly to share data.

The key to overcoming information overload is to establish criteria to ensure the information you gather is relevant and useful to meet your specific business goals.