The Value of Business Analytics: Identifying the Path to Profitability

WHY YOU NEED TO PLAN YOUR COMMUNICATION STRATEGY

Although business analytics typically revolves around doing things smarter, implicit in any business analytics project is a need for change. The business analytics team rarely owns the processes that will execute on the insights it creates. Because of this, other stakeholders within the organization will almost inevitably need to work differently if the value is to be realized. Effective communication therefore requires the business analytics manager to:

• Convince others of the need for change
• Achieve consensus in how this change will be delivered
• Generate commitment to this change

A big part of a successful business analytics project is therefore identifying sufficient reasons for change. And, a major factor in this convincing process is typically the additional value that will be created by doing things differently. Building a comprehensive business case is a critical step in building support for a business analytics project. Without this business case, it is hard to identify specific examples of how the organization will be better off after the project is completed.

As discussed in Chapter 4, there are many ways of defining the value created from business analytics. A project may create a variety of tangible benefits including:

• An increase in average revenue per customer
• Growth in customer acquisition
• Reductions in customer churns

The same project may also create a number of intangible benefits for a variety of stakeholders within ...