Technology is only part of equation, data-driven decision-making requires a major cultural shift
It’s one thing to have access to all of your consumer data, but it’s another thing entirely to actually use that data to run your business effectively. This requires a dedicated effort from a team of data evangelists within the organization. Two themes that bubbled up in our conversations with the Direct 60 executives who played that role within their organizations were –
Change how you measure performance: Measuring performance down to the individual level–based on consumer metrics and not just revenue goals–is one way to get an organization to become consumer data driven. According to Fayez, “Focusing more heavily on customer metrics breaks down channel silos and provides a structure to create customer value within the business. It moves teams away from attribution wars and towards complementary channel strategies that lead to more confident forecasting and overall revenue growth for the business”. Pooja Chandiramani at Coach also stated, “What gets measured gets managed. This cultural shift can only happen when using data to understand your consumers, measure your progress, and make informed decisions”
Be mindful of disruption caused by change: Change is hard. Brian Price of Tommy Hilfiger noted, “The most challenging part of implementing a data-driven business model within any organization is the short-term change management. You have to make sure you don’t impact what someone needs to do to keep the lights on, and that you don’t so overwhelm them with change that they can’t put it into practice. Plus if you’re just giving someone the same thing they already have but better and faster, they’re not going to care. The huge win is if you could give them actionable insights that they didn’t have before.”