Introduction -- Mapping your Vital Statistics
Desktop mapping is now becoming an extremely powerful tool in many businesses. It really does bring your data to life.
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Simple map of part of Great Britain
Typical Customer database
Do you have to deal with this type of data?
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Typical customer database file
But what if it looked like this?
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Customer database as a map
Market Square
PMS has developed particular skills in mapping the UK's agricultural census data. We have it transformed into Ordnance Survey Grid Squares. This is known as our Market SquareTM service. Some examples follow.
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Distribution of sows in Great Britain
….. at a higher resolution!!
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Detail showing distribution of sows in East Anglia
A mythical company and its sales force
Lets say this was the trading area. The map shows the margin distribution for agricultural inputs.
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Margin distribution for agricultural inputs
Typically, rep sales territories will not be based on the real distribution of the market but on some historical way the company has built up – probably with roads, rivers and counties forming some of the logic.
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Margin distribution for agricultural inputs by sales territory
Other Markets & Ideas
Some of the other things you can do are:
- Human population census. There is a wealth of statistics here and it can be mapped in a variety of ways (county, postcode etc)
- Business databases. You can map most businesses by SIC Code (Standard Industrial Classification) at aggregated level (eg Post Code sectors) or at individual level.
- Consumer retail expenditure by various categories (food, electrical, DIY etc) – again aggregated by Post Code sector level.
- Retail outlets – individually mapped with data about store size etc.
- Demographic profiling of consumers by lifestyle categories etc.
These are just some of the things that can be mapped and brought to life.
Your Own data
Finally you can add your own data and map it. Excellent mapping software is now available on PCs and this really does make the data come to life.
However this software is not that easy to use and we have found that unless someone in the business really knows how to drive it, then you do not get the most out of the data.
This is where we can help. We can do all the analysis for you and if you have Internet access (or better still video conferencing) we can deliver the results and answer your What-if? questions in real-time.
Give me a ring or send an email to discuss any mapping approach/need.
To contact
PMS - Call David Thelwall on 01765-602514 or send an email.
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