Generating Insight from data
A skill all World Class Account Managers need
Insight – not data. The world is full of data…
But how do we create insight ?
Turning data and information into insight is a critical skill for most salespeople and indeed most business people.
It’s a 4 step process
- Graph the performance
- Analyse over or underperformance
- Profit Opportunity
- Plan
Step1: Graph the performance
This involves looking for over and under performance vs what you expect to see or vs comparable businesses or customers
Comparative Development Indices
Create a Comparative Development Indices [CDI] so you can compare one with another.
For example:
The average customer purchase = 20
This particular customer has bought only 15
The CDI is 15 ÷ 20 = 75% – i.e. underperforming
It is quite easy to highlight over and under performance and then graph the performance – this makes it easier to understand and explain to other people.
Step 2: Analysis
Look for any over and under performances
Focus on large numbers not small ones
Use root cause analysis [link] to explore the reasons
Ask yourself these four critical questions –
- What does this mean?
- Why is this happening?
- What action could I take to put this right?
- What action must I take to put this right?
Sometimes you may need to visit the actual place to see the problem and talk to the people who are involved.
If you are at a loss – then think about the use of the 4 eye principles [link] to help understand the options
Step 3: Profit opportunity
Having used the CDI to spot anomalies and analysed the causes it is now time to put a value on the opportunity – if you moved the indices to 100 what would or could it be worth?
Step 4: Plan
The next step is quite simple
What is your plan for addressing the underperformance or driving the over performance?