a non-technical introduction to sales analytics for business leaders

Sales AnalyticsA NON-TECHNICAL INTRODUCTION for BUSINESS LEADERS

WHY ANALYTICS?

SALES ANALYTICS 2 • 24LEQUIRE BUSINESS CONSULTING (LEQUIRECONSULTING.COM)

know thyself

“A measure of honest introspection is worth more than an immeasurable pile of pontification.”- Bill Purdin


Flat sales?

PICK YOUR PATH

The difference between knowing what drives sales and not knowing can be dramatic.

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Flat Sales GROWING Sales

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPT


Basic Math

f(X) or Y = x1 + x2 + ... Xn

one or more x’s (inputs) creates a Y (output)


Build upon SOLID foundationS

GO TO THE ROOT DRIVERS OF YOUR SALES

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BEFORE ANALYTICS

start hereWithout good data, you can’t perform good analytics. (Garbage in, garbage out).

Use a good Constituent Relationship Management (CRM) Platform to capture sales and customer data.

Still using pen, paper, and unkempt spreadsheets? Call me for help.

Good to go? Ok, let’s go to the next slide.


Begin WITH THE BASICS


LOOK BACK

‣ SALES (Y) ‣ PROFITABILITY (Y)‣ BY PRODUCT (X)‣ BY REGION (X)

A simple, multi-dimensional view of sales by these variables will quickly show your big winners and losers.

Action Item: Ask “why” enough times to arrive at the root cause of why some items perform better and worse than others. Could you pare back the losers and grow upon the winners? Are there interdependencies?


Instant information: The Best and the Worst

ouch!

Yay!


What’s in your pipeline?

LOOK FORWARD

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ANALYZE CURRENT OPPORTUNITIES


LOOK AT TODAY AND TOMORROW

‣ OPPORTUNITY SIZE (Y)‣ OPPORTUNITY STAGE (Y)‣ BY PRODUCT (X)‣ BY REGION (X)‣ BY SALESFORCE (X)

A simple, multi-dimensional view should show your best and worst sales opportunities.

Action Item: Are the opportunities in your pipeline consistent with your past sales (first analysis)? What opportunities match your biggest winners and losers?How different are opportunities by product, region, and/or salesforce (sales rep)? Why?

Multiple Instant insightsSALES ANALYTICS 11 • 24LEQUIRE BUSINESS CONSULTING (LEQUIRECONSULTING.COM)


WHAT DRIVES YOUR SALESFORCE?

THE PEOPLE SIDE

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ANALYZE PERFORMANCE + INCENTIVES

REAL TIME DASHBOARDS + SCENARIO ANALYSIS

‣ SALES REP PIPELINE SIZE (Y)‣ ACTUAL SALES (Y)‣ BY OPPORTUNITY ATTRIBUTE (X)‣ BY REGION (X)‣ BY SALES REP (X)

A live sales performance dashboard gives immediate insight into salesforce performance. You can use this data to predict possible results from adjusting compensation structures.

Action Item: Integrate live sales performance tracking into your management routine. Work towards understanding individual strengths as they relate to opportunities. Build incentives that drive people towards your strategic goals.



Manage performance, test scenarios

REAL TIME ANALYTICS


Predicting the future

RELATIONSHIPS AND PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS

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TYPICAL VARIABLES

HOW TO DEVELOP A PREDICTIVE MODEL

G O O D ‘ O L EF A S H I O N E DI N T U I T I O N

R E L A T I O N S H I P SI N D A T A

E X T E R N A L“ M A C R O ”F A C T O R S

H I S T O R I C A LI N F O R M A T I O N

Good forecasting models arise over time from a balanced approach utilizing these inputs.

Don’t forget to backtest, check, and refresh.


START WITH TREND ANALYSIS

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

SALE

SSTRAIGHT LINE


WHAT VARIABLES AFFECT YOUR SALES?

It is very likely that a combination of variables will provide a statistically significant basis for predicting your sales.

VISUALIZE RELATIONSHIPS


WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIPS?

‣ promotions‣ pricing‣ brand awareness‣ volume of advertising

Sales could have risen or dropped in your firm for a very large number of reasons. Consider the relationship of these important variables from other areas that could have had an impact on your sales.

IMPORTANT VARIABLES



DON’T FORGET TO FACTOR FOR MACROECONOMIC AND COMPETITIVE FACTORS

The big PICTUREProducts have life cycles, competitors are, well, competitive, and “it’s the economy, stupid.”

Conditions change, so should your model. It’s easy to look at what you have internally and use that solely for predictions. Sometimes sales drop or spike simply because of factors outside our control.

THOSE PICTURES SURE ARE PRETTY, BUT HOW DO I GET RESULTS OUT OF THEM?

ASK, Drill down, act, then analyze againThe previous examples are starting points, not immediate solutions.

Analytics is an exercise of asking questions, finding answers, devising strategies, deploying these, and then doing it all over again.

That is, you have to translate insights into actions then test, measure, and verify new results.


use data wisely

BE CAREFUL ON HOW HUMANS USE ANALYTICS

"Most people use statistics the way a drunkard uses a lamp post, more for support than illumination."Mark twain


Lequire THANK YOU

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WHO IS LEQUIRE?

JOSH LEQUIREI’m a husband, father, and nerdy guy who loves taking data and making something really cool pop out of it.

There is real opportunity to give your business a big boost, just by analyzing your data. I’d love to show you how.

a non-technical introduction to sales analytics for business leaders

Technology

predictingyour sales

past sales

sales analyticsa

pathflat sales

comsales analytics

sales y variables

good analytics

worst sales opportunities