Last week I had the distinct privilege of “Zooming” with Todd Jensen. Todd is the VP of Sales at Harmons, a long-standing, upscale supermarket chain here in Utah that we at Domo have been working with for several years now.

On this particular call, I wanted to get Todd’s take on how Harmons was using Domo to manage the impact the coronavirus situation was having on its business. I got so much more.

Over the course of our fast-moving, 20-minute conversation, Todd provided a steady stream of ways in which Harmons used Domo and the real-time data flowing through it to get the grocer’s customers what they wanted during a critical period.

It all started on March 11, when star Utah Jazz basketball player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the virus. Todd, who also oversees Harmons’ analytics department, called it a “sentinel moment” because that’s when he started seeing sales across all 19 of Harmons’ stores go through the roof.

Spam and other items that typically don’t show up on Harmons’ daily inventory reports were flying off the shelves, which helped Todd and his team sound the alarm on what needed to be ordered.

Using Domo, Harmons’ analysts were able to grab two key data streams quickly “and turn over to our distributor the top 4,000 most important items to our customers,” Todd said.

They were also able to build a vendor dashboard for its bread company, so it could see what was selling, what was being thrown away, and more. That insight allowed the bread maker to increase production in order to get high-demand items on Harmons shelves faster than the competition.

What’s more, because Harmons’ pharmacies use Domo as well, pharmacists were able to immediately track and shut down random doctors who were trying to prescribe hydroxychloroquine, an old malaria medicine that has been touted as a potential treatment for COVID-19 despite a lack of clear medical evidence.

“Domo has put us ahead of some of the major national retailers as far as how quickly we have access to our data,” Todd said. “By having that data, you take the feel out of everything and see what is really going on.”

Todd also said that data is available to everyone within the organization, from the executive suite on down to store clerks.

Even the CEO “is dialed in with Domo,” Todd said. “First thing in the morning, we’re all looking at sales and what happened the day before. We can see everything from HR, accounting, capital expenditures, labor reports, total store expenses, and gross margins.

“And our department managers can see everything from labor sales down to item levels. It helps them execute their sales plan on a day-to-day basis.”

You might not need data to see every opportunity; sometimes it’s just plainly obvious. But in other situations, such as the one Harmons faced, having real-time information readily available throughout your organization can enable you to move fast and fearlessly—while others are still trying to figure out what’s happening.

At one of the most unusual and uncertain times in modern world history, it was nice to speak with Todd and hear how it is indeed possible to get leverage to meet the needs of customers and keep your business moving forward. For other examples of how companies are using data to navigate in this environment, click here.