5 Benefits of Using Business Analytics

Enhancing product value for total customer satisfaction is every companys end goal. Target
markets of different industries are dynamic with their needs often changing according to
societys standards, issues, and fads. Knowing this, it is necessary to pull ahead of the
competition through unique innovation of ideas and products which would readily attract
customers.
Before business analytics became the version we know today, businessmen had to make do
with error-ridden analytic models which also potentially damaged their plans. Since there was no
constructive way to initialize organized data extraction, earlier versions of analytics did not work
well for its first generation of users. Traditional analytics teams had to dig hard and deep
whenever they tried to gather information about their consumers.
The data gathered is vital in statistical analysis, which in turn is essential for decision making.
Decision making is the critical process which makes or breaks a companys goals. A slight
mistake or an overlooked factor can delay a decision and may even put the business plan to a
halt.
But how does analytics really work? What benefits can your company gain from it?

Analytics helps you measure how much of your mission statement is accomplished

A good business has its own missions statement, which is a set of values presented to their
consumers either as a marketing plan or as basis of checking in on their own development.
Many businesses retain or promote employees using the values in their mission statements as
guidelines. Although this is helpful in determining who helps your company succeed, it isnt
strategic enough to leave it at that. Values must also be quantified and expressed in a tangible
way such as generating more profit for the company.

Quantified values can help the business improve their analytical process because it defines a
common goal that should be followed by everyone involved in the business. When these values
are quantified, they will be evaluated by the employees in order to gain a clearer view of what is
expected from them. The more informed they are, the more productive they will become.

Analytics Encourages Smart Decision-Making

Accessibility to important data gives companies the power to make accurate decisions that
could leverage businesses. Not only does it provide useful data, it also allows companies to
make decisions faster and more efficiently than before.
Companies can maximize the use of analytics when they share the discussion to as many
employees as needed. Ever heard of the saying two heads are better than one? A group is
usually able to analyze data better and reach objective and informed decisions compared to just
one person.

Analytics Provides Clearer Insights Through Data Visualization

Recent versions of analytics care about how you present your data to your analytics team.
Comprehensive charts and graphs can be used to make sure that decision-making is more
interesting. Through visual representations of extracted data, relevant and useful insights can be
extracted in a much clearer way.
With analytics data visualization, information that you need about your market is there on your
table, presented in a visually appealing and organized manner.

Analytics Keep You Updated

Modern consumers change their mind easily as fads come and go, and they are easily swayed
by better offers. Analytics can give you insight about how your target market thinks and acts.
You will be prompted to be dynamic at all times to serve the needs of your ever-changing
consumers.
Changes in the industry can occur at a very rapid pace. It is not unusual to see larger
companies being devoured by promising start-ups. Protect your business from unpredictability
with analytics so that you may be able to innovate and pre-empt your products according to your
consumers needs and preferences.

Analytics Offer Efficiency

Efficiency for businesses has been improving since the advent of business analytics. With the
ability to gather a large amount of data at a fast rate and present it in a visually appealing way,
companies can now formulate decisions to help achieve specified goals. Analytics encourages a
company culture of efficiency and teamwork where employees are able to express their insights
and share in the decision-making process.
Analytics also provides companies with better choices on such matters like where to take the
business as well as determining the steps needed to achieve new goals.

Balanced Scorecard
Sometimes when an organization begins a business intelligence initiative (BI) they are so
excited about data visualization and data transparency in the form of dashboards that the first
thing they want to do is start measuring everything. I believe that strategy comes before
measures and those organizations that thoughtfully and purposefully align what they are
measuring to their strategic plan achieve more meaningful long-term results from their BI
initiative.
The Balanced Scorecard is a performance management system designed to align, measure,
and communicate how well an organizations activities are supporting the strategic vision
and mission of the organization.
It was originated by Drs. Robert Kaplan (Harvard Business School) and David Norton as a
performance measurement framework that added strategic non-financial performance measures
to traditional financial metrics to create a more balanced view of organizational performance.
Four strategic perspectives are addressed within the Balanced Scorecard framework:
1. Customer
2. Financial
3. Internal Processes commonly includes technology, systems, etc.

4. Learning and Growth (aka Organization Capacity) commonly includes people,

training, etc.
Objectives (goals) are set for each perspective, measures (numbers) that represent things to be
measured (such as sales, customers, returns) are identified and can then be transformed into
ratios or counts, which serve as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Balanced Scorecard dashboards include both leading and lagging indicators. For example,
customer and financial KPIs are traditionally lagging indicators the numbers indicate what has
already happened. KPIs for the two perspectives of internal processes and learning/growth
are leading indicators. This is because positive results achieved with respect to internal
processes and learning/growth initiatives should lead to a positive result in the customer and
financial KPIs.