{"id":9671,"date":"2018-07-02T09:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-07-02T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/passodue.flywheelsites.com\/2018\/07\/02\/data-analysis\/"},"modified":"2020-12-09T14:47:17","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T13:47:17","slug":"data-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diariodiunconsulente.it\/en\/2018\/07\/02\/data-analysis\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you think it, or do you know it? The data analysis underlying marketing choices"},"content":{"rendered":"

di Alberto Aleo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In our experience as consultants we see many companies operating in many different sectors, but despite this great variety, most of them suffer from the same recurring problem: a lack of data analysis<\/strong> to support strategic and operational choices.<\/span><\/p>\n

– – –<\/strong><\/span>
\nData analysis<\/strong> lies at the basis of many company activities. Marketing<\/strong>, especially, is closely connected to statistics and measurable information; so close, in fact, that it could hardly exist without them.<\/em><\/span>
\n– – –<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Data
Photo by rawpixel<\/a> on Unsplash<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lack of data analysis<\/strong> that afflicts many of our companies is often engendered by a certain presumption or a misplaced creative flair. I\u2019ll try to explain better: even today some sales executives, when asked to provide data on sales or a forecast of turnover, respond: “What\u2019s the point? I know my clients well and I know what the market wants!”.<\/span> The same happens with certain entrepreneurs who turnup their noses when presented with a profile of the target <\/strong>or data on the effectiveness of communication tools (for which they pay a lot of money every year), their typical response being, “If we had to rely on figures before making any decision we would not go far \u2013 even Steve Jobs said that marketing analysis<\/strong><\/a> is useless!”.<\/span><\/p>\n

In these cases, sales<\/strong> is seen as an activity that requires you to \u2018go with your gut\u2019, with no specific expertise behind it, and marketing<\/strong> is perceived as an \u2018artistic\u2019 activity that should leave you free to create, with few constraints. Obviously, we are oversimplifying a more complex reality that, however, increasingly reflects reality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Riccardo Silvi<\/a>, professor of performance measurement systems at the University of Bologna, frequently asks his students questions, looking for possible solutions to business problems. When they answer he then asks: “Do you think it, or do you know it?”.<\/em>\u00a0This question forces them to question whether their opinions<\/strong> are based on knowledge or personal feelings,<\/span> inviting them to adopt a rational, analytical approach based on elements and analysis of context data<\/strong>. We, too, every day in our work, should try to answer Professor Silvi’s question.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Analytics\"
Photo by Sharon McCutcheon<\/a> on Unsplash<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

– – –<\/strong><\/span>
\nIndeed, it is precisely in choosing what to observe, and in how to cross-check the data arising from this observation, that we express much of our \u2018strategic talent\u2019.<\/em><\/span>
\n– – –<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Yet very few companies carry out, for example, a serious analysis of their customer portfolio.<\/span><\/p>\n

Identifying customer segments will allow us, among other things, to study payment methods and credit risk as the characteristics of the target<\/strong> change. This is how many companies discover that the famous 20% of customers that generate 80% of turnover (the ones that should represent the \u2018hard core\u2019 of their business) are, in fact, a \u2018time bomb\u2019 ready to go off at any moment. We also receive information that is fundamental to calibrate sales arguments: we might discover that entire customer segments are much less sensitive to price leverage than other characteristics of the product or service. I personally believe that the minimum database available, should be as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n