10th October
Driving more value from your existing customer base is more important than ever, but to be able to maximise spend you have to understand your customer data. So here are our data expert’s top 5 tips for briefing data analysis work, to help you get the results you want and need.
- Stipulate a focus on actionable analysis – something may well be interesting but if it doesn’t influence commercial strategy or tactics what’s the point?
- Ensure time is spent on the final presentation of the work – it’s vital that analysis is presented well in order to be of use in decision making. If you can’t use it, it has no value.
- Allow time to develop your analyst’s understanding of your business – in doing this they can better understand your needs and therefore provide the most relevant solution. E.g., ask them to attend relevant meetings – you can learn a lot through mental osmosis.
- Always request interpretation – if data is not interpreted, then it’s just information and not analysis. Interpretation is useful even if it may seem to be stating the obvious.
- Re-work is a big time killer and can be costly – make sure you agree clear objectives from the start. Without them the likelihood of having to redo work will be high.
Steve Hulmes runs data courses in your offices or at venues around the country, for details email him at steve.hulmes@theblackhole.co.uk
