What Are Actionable Insights?

I was delighted when so many sites picked up this simple presentation I've put together to describe what Actionable Insights are.

I think there is a great deal of confusion at the moment around the entire technology space because people are hearing whispers of BIG DATA, CLOUD, PREDICTIVE AND SOCIAL BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE and the like...  and what they really want to know is what any or all of these technologies have to do with their business.

For Business Intelligence Software vendors, it's not always easy to answer the 'So What?' questions when it comes to applying their technology; particularly when the people making the introductions are enthusiasts of technology - and they generally are.  If you are passionate about technology like me, you just want to shout out to everyone in the world "Hey, give this a try!" but every business, and business user has a different perspective on 'what insights matter most to them'.  Failing to appreciate and land on the specific insights useful to buyers and instead making a general technology silver-bullet pitch is an all too familiar Lion Pit that Business Intelligence vendors fall into.

This presentation covers descriptions of types of Business Intelligence software and the key outcome areas that are driving demand for Actionable Insights.  I've covered a lot of the background and technology issues in this presentation that I think are most helpful in understanding the general topic area. What I haven't done is to even start to describe the road-blocks and organizational design issues that are probably going to make the biggest difference to the value of Actionable Insights to early adopters of the technologies designed to source them.

These are about:

• Changing attitudes and behaviors.
• Appreciating that IT systems have focused for years inwardly on processes that exist WITHIN AND ACROSS the enterprise but rarely beyond it.  That means to really get to grips with harvesting and assimilating actionable insights new technologies need to be introduced along with new thinking on security governance, data governance, scaling and analysis tooling.
• Accepting that some Actionable Insights that are most valuable to an enterprise aren't being captured today at all (such as 'soft-measures').
• Some Actionable Insights don't have any specific role in the enterprise responsible and accountable for making use of them. 

I.

Operational Analytics: Best Software For Sourcing Actionable Insigh...

Operational Analytics: Best Software For Sourcing Actionable Insights:

In this article I summarize the buying options for businesses looking to source actionable insights - data views and reports that give managers cause to take action to improve the way they work and achieve double-loop learning results.

I hope you find it helpful!

Ian.

Talent Leaders Can Learn From Customer Science - To Foster 'Loyalty Beyond Reason'

 

'Loyalty' by Sherry Ezhuthachan

Stepping across from the world of marketing and brands into talent management has helped me to appreciate there are more common areas than I'd previously realized.  To be high achievers in the talent industry, HR and talent leaders will need to learn the lessons of brand managers.

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"Loyalty Beyond Reason? - That's a funny name for a blog.."

I often get funny looks when I tell people about my new blog title.

I came across Loyalty Beyond Reason when reading one of my favourite books for the second or possible third time and I was reminded how central it is to running business in the noughties.  The book,written by Kevin Roberts, then CEO Worldwide of Saatchi and Saatchi, is called Lovemarks: The Future Beyond Brands.  It's a slightly annoying book because it's better than the three books on business I've written myself.  Anyway, reading the book you realize Kevin is one of those guys that 'understands' how customers and markets work at an 'organic' rather than 'theoretical' level, a bit like Richard Branson.

The key argument introduced in the book is that industry and commerce has moved from a focus on products, to (but products have become very similar, companies need to protect their IP some how and therefore we have..) trademarks, to (but customers don't connect to trademarks so we have..) brands to (but now we even have too many brands to think about so we need to give customers reasons to grow 'loyalty beyond reason' so we're heading towards..) 'Lovemarks'.

It isn't difficult for me to buy into the idea that companies don't own their brands anymore and - if they want their brands to be successful - they need their customers to take them on, buy into them, promote them.  Just look at brands like Apple and the passion users have for their products.  This isn't just a cold, calculating buying decision at work here.  Nope. These boys and girls LOVE their brand.  No matter how many advertising dollars go into Microsoft I don't see the same thing happening with that brand.  Now I know some of the guys at Microsoft in the product marketing teams and I have to say they're an exceptional bunch of folk.  They know their stuff when it comes to Outcome Driven Innovation and all the latest thinking and approaches on Product Management and how to deliver world class products.  Recent launches show there's nothing wrong with their products.  Yet they don't engender the same passion and loyalty in their customers as Apple has managed to do.  They are failing to create Loyalty Without Reason.

Spending my time in the talent industry over the past few months I've learned that the need for Loyalty Beyond Reason is missing in many employer:employee relationships, let alone contractor:contracted relationships.  The relationship between a customer and and a supplier very often only becomes contractual when the customer chooses their brand.  Before that they can go anywhere.  Perhaps employers think that because they have an employment contract in place they can within reason 'do what they like' when it comes to their relationship with staff and contractors - but this is a pipe dream.  Even when there are contracts and agreements, these don't create great productivity and game-changing ideas.  Like any contract, it's only really there for when the relationship breaks down.  No, if talent leaders want high performing workforce and world class talent, they're going to have to forget about contracts and compliance, using performance appraisals as a way of formalizing how the carrot and stick are applied, they're going to have to find better ways of creating loyalty beyond reason.

The brand industry knows that you can't tell customers to buy your products,  you can't even ask them nicely.  You have to get customers to want to buy.  And the buying decision isn't all about facts, analysis and reason, the last 9-yards is pure emotion; how it makes you feel to own a product or use a service.  I fly Virgin Atlantic because they play T-Rex when you walk down that long isle on the plane past the nouveau riche to economy. Makes me feel good.

Talent leaders need to invest in their people 'in a certain way' - not the Microsoft way, the Apple way.  As with the Customer Science industry, the starting point is to invest time in understanding 'the individual' and applying actionable insights to draw out the things people care about emotionally, on the edge of reason.  Any business can do this - big or small, accountants or engineers.  You just have to start in the right place.

I.  

Actionable Analytics Trends: 'Will Be Driven by Mobile, Social and Big Data' Says Gartner

Gartner Says Actionable Analytics Will Be Driven by Mobile, Social and Big Data Forces in 2013 and Beyond:

The Gartner article is interesting because it starts to evidence what most practitioners in the business intelligence field have I suspect known for some time - that instead of examining 'dead' data that has been purposely shaped, organized and crunched for the purpose of analyzing performance, we are heading into an era where the really useful 'So What?' type of analytical metrics will come from the live workspace environment.  Users of mobile phones, tablets, and PCs will contribute data unknowingly through their clicks and taps into the big data cloud while others will find their movements, preferences and locations picked up through sensors - on doors, on billboards, on product labels, on shopping trollies and vehicles.

Whilst this all sounds terribly 'big brother' to some generations, the techno savvy youth of today a leading a charge towards the 'thoughtful web' (as I describe it in my book 'Social Operating Systems') will think nothing of a few more sensors and clicks being monitored.  Most will have no choice if they want to afford to pay for motor insurance or use social networking sites like Facebook. You either agree to the supplier terms or are cast off.

Analytics is moving into the clouds to make this possible.  Platforms like Streaminsights from Microsoft and BusinessIntel from Encanvas enable data to be captured as it travels, or where it resides without needing to build data marts or purchase BI platforms.

It's going to be interesting to see how businesses adapt their thinking to take advantage of these new innovations and new ways of working.

I.

Benefits of Profiling Customers For Motor Dealers - And How To Do It

Customer Science - ...building deeper, richer, more personalized customer experiences by applying customer insights to better understand what customers care about, how they think and act, how they make buying decisions, how they want suppliers to communicate with them, how they want to be treated, what they expect from their suppliers... and more.  But does it work (is it working?) in  Motor Retail? Is it being used successfully to turn 'sleepy customer data' into a dynamo for new reasons to speak to customers, turning clicks and visits into cash?

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Since the 1980's I've watched with interest as the methods adopted by marketers to engage customers and prospects have adapted as new technologies and created approaches have come of age.  More than in any era before, the noughties has required marketers to take on a cacophony of new techniques to engage customers that want the perfect mix of a personalized customer service experience and relevant, timely offers while not wanting to be barraged by suppliers with direct marketing and unwanted contact.  The growing impact of the Internet, mobile communications, social networking and a more techno savvy customer communities is changing the rules for marketers on how to get the biggest impact from their marketing spend.

By now, the marketing industry has worked out that it's vital to gather information on customers 'as part of the day job' to build up a profile and persona on each and every customer so the customer enjoys a personalized 'shopping' experience.  Companies like Tesco and Amazon have shown the way in exploiting customer data to sensitively give shoppers what they want rather than forcing them with a strong hand down paths they don't necessarily want to follow.

The type of relationship customers want - location-centric, timely, fine-grained, event-driven offers personalized to their particular wants and preferences - can only be achieved in my opinion by taking every opportunity to learn about customers through each and every interaction.  Customers don't want to be contacted out of the blue, or left standing in service receptions JUST SO THAT DEALER CAN CAPTURE DATA TO SELL TO THEM.  For Motor Dealerships that means not only investing time into collecting data 'as part of the day job' but also investing in the PROCESS of 'digital persona-lization'.

In an odd way, customers generally WANT suppliers to build and know their digital persona because they want that type of personalized experience (with the suppliers they want to buy from).  What they definitely DON'T WANT however are relationships with suppliers that abuse their trust or over-bite on the level of relationship they want.

Marketers in most industries profile their customers these days, but 'Customer Sciences' are only now appearing in the Motor Retail sector.  This is partly no doubt down to the fact that in certain countries and regions, dealerships with the right franchise have very little local competition for the brand they promote. While it's always silly to generalize, the feedback I get is that this is changing and levels of competition are growing in most geographies.

Understandably, dealer principles want to know:

• How does profiling help me to sell more?
• How do I build up profiles and personas from my data?
• How do I enrich my data when it's poor?
• How do I channel dialogue opportunities to encourage sales people to engage customers at the right time and for the right reasons?
• Where do I start?

So here I attempt to answer these questions:

How does profiling help me to sell more?
When dealers have a better idea of the sorts of customers they sell to they become more adept at appreciating the types of offers that work.  Knowing the affluence of customers on your database for example means that you can find out (from third party agencies like www.improvemydata.com) the addressable market in your locality by mapping these target customers against your existing database. Marketers and dealer execs can use the profiles they hold about their customers to understand how to maximize their revenue potential per customer - to then work out which customers are not achieving their anticipated life-time value. Sometimes enriching data can seem like a 'painting the Fourth Bridge'  experience where you need to start again every time you think you've finished.  Focusing on the most important customers first and devising marketing strategies to grow value in the customer segments that matter most allow marketers to drive optimal value from the smallest efforts.

How do I build up profiles and personas from my data?
There are many ways you can profile customers - the most obvious being:
(A) Life-time value - It's quite easy to derive a value for each customer based on assumptions of what they should spend over their lifetime.  Many motor manufacturers hold and share these insights for each model they sell.  Comparing your revenue per model against the forecasted return helps to qualify 'where things are going wrong or could be improved.  Seeing this data, dealerships can realize that some makes and models are more reliably generating the life-time revenues they should than others; perhaps because some makes and brands face more local aftersales competition than others.
(B Buyer behaviour - At NDMC we define the buyer behaviour of private vehicle buyers through fourn buying personas:

1.  Cherished Teddies > Loyal buyers that consistently reach within 20% of their future planned life-time value. Typically these customers will purchase service or loyalty plans (often with additional insurances or paint protection options) to make sure their dealership can look after their needs. For this group dealers should have a very complete picture of the customer profile.  Cherished Teddies need looking after because they are the group most likely to recommend others buy their vehicles from your dealership!
2. Loyal Dogs > Vehicle buyers that purchase after-sales products but don't achieve the future planned life-time value.  Understanding why this group doesn't achieve their future life-time spend is helpful because it can point to weaknesses in your offerings or aspects of local competition that you're not aware of.  At the same time, it pays to contrast buyer behaviour with affluence ratings given that it may well be that Loyal Dogs WANT to be Cherished Teddies - they just can't afford to be ;-)
3. Cats > Buyers that have purchased a vehicle from you but only come back for aftersales services when it suits them.  Just like cats you can't rely on their loyalty and you have to work harder to get their attention.  Cats are harder to love because they're not around as much. The obvious thought is 'What does it take to turn a Cat into a Loyal Dog?'
4. Neighbours' Cats > Buyers that haven't bought from your dealership but have bought services or parts. Perhaps these customers are 'sampling your dealership' to understand how well they get treated. If you pay them more attention, perhaps they will become your Cat in time.

(C) Affluence - How much money people earn is a good indication of how much disposable income they have to spend on a vehicle and indeed the sort of vehicle they might want to purchase.  Consumer data can tell you a great deal about who your current customers are and the target people in your area most likely to be willing and able to purchase a vehicle from you.
(D) Contact activity and preferences - It helps to understand these days 'HOW' customers want to communicate.  There is a significant shift to social media and mobile methods. Assumptions that 'mobile and Internet' tools are for the young are usually baseless. Many 'people that want to be young' are avid smartphone and Facebook users (My mum twitters all the time!).
(E) Location - Location awareness is a powerful market tool.  These days it's quite possible to focus events and campaigns to target specific geographies that have a proven bias towards your brand based on affluence or locality. Consumers can also be targeted 'on the hoof' if you have the means to engage them when mobile.
(F) Arbitrary Banding - Even when all of the above fail, marketers can start their entry into Customer Sciences by thinking about their own arbitrary bands based on a selection of customer metrics and see what falls out.  Dealer execs have a very good feel normally about their customers and what works and doesn't work.  Exploring these perceptions and seeing if the 'data' backs up the assumptions can be a good place to start for organizations that have never experimented with Customer Sciences before.

One other thought - unsurprisingly, when you compare these different aspects of profiling together it helps to build up a visual image of the 'persona' of the buyer and this can help to further develop the rapport with the customer through a 'deep support' understanding of their wants and needs.

Building up profiles is a question of understanding key data metrics and then validating where the data needs to be sourced from.  Sometimes data is already held in admin systems (like Dealer Management, Showroom or Service Management systems), while other times it will need to be captured by installing new systems or methods.  Not all methods require manual data entry.  These days, customers are often prepared to enter their own data provided there are rewards for doing so (such as gaining free access to an online portal that provides details on their vehicle valuation and the impact of their driving behaviour).

The life-cycle for Customer Science (i.e. creating and leveraging profiles) goes something like:
(1) Harvest - Gather and cleanse data from its various latent sources
(2) Make Connections - Build new connections between data items to produce new metrics
(3) Personalize - Apply the learning lessons to personalize the dialogue with customers and create new reasons to interaction with more relevant and timely offers
(4) Learn - Measure the effectiveness of personalized interactions and learn from them to source new ways of bringing value

Like most processes in business, the first job is to recognize that the process needs to exist and, having formalized it, it becomes something that can be measured and improved to become progressively more effective.

How do I enrich my data when it's poor?
In the motor dealership arena, the most frequent response I encounter is 'Sounds great but my customer data quality is so poor it wouldn't work for us."  Wrong, wrong, wrong.  It's not that difficult to improve the quality of data these days. The weapons marketers can use to enrich data include:
(1) Paying external agencies to manually enrich data (very expensive)
(2) Progressively improving the quality of data over time by becoming more robust in making sure members of staff complete records more consistently; some of which can be enforced with changes to software
(3) Exploiting 'big data' to cleanse your data by straining it through a source of 'good data' such as an industry database, consumer insights database or postcode database.

How do I channel dialogue opportunities to encourage sales people to engage customers at the right time and for the right reasons?
Systems like NDMC's LeadGenerator360 enable dealers to upload/mine their existing data from administrative systems and build up a pipeline of reasons to speak to customers when they want you to (I'm sure there are other systems that work in a similar way out there ;-).  Such systems generate a pipeline of reasons to engage customers 'one customer at a time' based on key events like vehicle birthdays, service plan expiries, warranty expiries, MOT reminders etc. that ensure every single worthwhile opportunity to engage customers is not overlooked.  At the same time, leads are allocated and load-balanced in a way that avoids sales people from becoming overburdened. Linking lead pipeline to customer profiling builds a virtuous circle of 'using insights to capture insights' that reduce the need for contact 'expressly to capture data we should already know about our customers' or spurious sales calls that customers hate because they feel they're being sold to.

Where do I start?

The best way to start the journey towards Customer Science based marketing methods like profile and persona building is to perform an audit of the 'net present state' of your customer insights and the extent to which your dealership is exploiting its dealer insights.

NDMC (www.ndmc.uk.com) ... and again, I'm sure there are other supplier companies out there... offer a 'CRM Diagnostic' service and system.  This is a one-time reporting cycle where key data is extracted from existing DMS and administrative systems to a secure space, where it is cleansed, normalized, analyzed, and then - from the connections made in the Customer Science Engine - out pops a series of online (still secure) 'drill-downable' reports and views.  This type of diagnostic service will qualify how complete and consistent the customer data is, and the number of 'meaningful reasons to engage customers' against what the dealership should be capable of based on the size and characteristics of their customer database.

- ends -

The eight word phrase that every salesperson should know

The eight words that every salesperson should know!! The article attached is a fascinating look into how it's possible to invoke positive reactions from people simply by choosing the right words. It's well worth a read for any sales person!

Why behavior change apps fail to change behavior

How often do you 'look up at the sky' in your business?

It's been (almost) full blue sky over Northampton, England this last few days... rare in Britain.  Weather is all too unpredictable in our little backwater of the world which is why we've made it our most prevalent talking point as a nation.  If there was a national pastime beyond gardening it would be talking about the weather!

US Tech Solutions is a global business and so I regularly find myself speaking with guys and girls in India and in the hotter states in the USA like Florida and California.  In those spots I'm sure blue skies day after day are far more common.

I was reflecting on this today... business is a bit like the weather because some days are clear blue skies while other days are far more unpredictable and unpleasant.

I take a regular half hour walk at lunch to make sure I have a clear head for the afternoon session.  During this time I will make an effort to look up at the sky instead of where I'm putting my feet.  I've found this takes a conscious effort.  It's all too easy to look down at the floor and never lift your head. In my reflective moment I wondered if I would bother to look up at the blue sky if it was ALWAYS blue sky.  Would I bother to take notice of it at all if I were in LA, Florida or Pune when in all probability the sky would be completely blue?

Then it struck me (no, not the low hanging branch silly, the THOUGHT).

I'm always working with business people to extract new value from their customer insights and data.  This work typically requires an investment of management capacity on looking inwardly at systems and processes.  But the PURPOSE behind this work is normally to become better at 'listening to customers' and apply the learning lessons. What can happen, and so often does, is that managers start to forget about why they began these projects - somehow the emotional reasons behind such projects can get 'lost' - and one finds the focus of discussion is on IT systems and data... the mechanical stuff.  One reason for this is because business landscapes don't visibly change every second so it can become difficult to justify investing in looking up at the sky.  One has an instinct to concentrate of looking where one is going rather than investing time looking into the distance or up in the air - because it's unlikely to have changed.

And yet...  business is about the small margins.  Competitive advantage is normally found on the fringe of a proposition.  New strategies can come from external impacts that nobody in the management team was looking for.  How do I know this?  Because I've spent a decade helping businesses to find the unusual connections in their data that show real promise for new products and services, new up-sell opportunities and ways to streamline processes to cut costs. Any thoughtful STRETCH STRATEGY focuses 80% on the core and 20% on the margins.

How many of the great game-changing ideas and stretch strategies came from looking 'down at your feet' - where the business is going?  Answer.  Very few indeed.

So please... think about your business day and how much of it is spent looking up to the sky to search for those small differences that have interest.  And if your sky is normally blue anyway, look all the more harder.

Ian.