Data Analytics for Marketing and Sales
Sales and marketing are a business’ life blood. They also have a reputation for costing a lot and being challenging to measure. Today, I’d like to spend a little time zeroing in on the questions organizations tend to have about these areas of their business and how data analytics for marketing and sales can help answer them. Data Analytics for Marketing and Sales Starts With Questions Two weeks ago, I wrote that almost all analytics initiatives begin with good questions. Last week, I spent some time discussing how true this is for human resources; the same holds true for...
Read MoreData Analytics for Human Resources
For many organizations, labor is their single greatest tool for generating revenue — and their biggest cost. With that kind of opportunity and money on the line, and because personnel decisions can be difficult to reverse, managers spend lots of time thinking about which employees to hire and how to keep them productive. Unfortunately, real measures of hiring success and productivity can be difficult to come by. Even the best managers frequently must make personnel selection and management decisions based incomplete information, faulty assumptions and instinct. This week,...
Read MoreHow to Get Started With Data Analytics
There’s a lot of buzz in the marketplace today about Big Data, business intelligence and data analytics – and a lot of confusion. One of the biggest misconceptions about analytics – and all of these these can be lumped under the term “analytics” — is that it’s some kind of software package you have to purchase, or that it requires the launch of huge software project. While those things are important for some organizations, they’re not always necessary – nor are they among the first things you’ll want to take on if you’re going to get started...
Read More3 Common Data Quality Problems Facing Data Analytics Projects
When I start an analytics project for a new client, I usually get a few laughs when I talk about the need for data cleansing. “We have dirty data? How on earth did we ever survive?” The truth is that the systems we use to record information often are as imperfect as the people who enter the data and maintain the systems and as such are subject to a variety of data quality problems. Before I build the first graph on a new project, I have to put on my archaeologist hat and figure out how consistent and uniform the data sources available to me are, and then fix any mistakes that might...
Read More5 Tips for Reporting and Analytics Projects
I’ve spent a lot of my career leading or supporting reporting and analytics teams, and unfortunately, I’ve seen plenty of projects drag on long past their estimated completion dates, killing budgets and frustrating business leaders. It doesn’t have to be that way, though. Here are five ways to increase your chances of building reporting and analytics tools that decision makers will trust – and want to use – on time and on budget. Designate a Business Owner for Each Report or Analytic There’s a reason universities offer four-year degrees in accounting and finance: Business...
Read MoreData Analytics Technology: Are You Using the Right Tools?
One of the biggest misconceptions about analytics is that it’s a software package you have to purchase. In fact, analytics is the process of using data to solve business problems – and is really about the marriage of an important business question, the right data set and an analyst who knows the techniques needed to answer the question at hand. In many cases, the systems we use to track our business already include reports that answer our business questions, but if not, analysts rely on a few basic tools to help managers make better decisions with data. So what are these...
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