Win with Advanced Business Analytics: Creating Business Value from Your Data

COMMUNICATION: THE GAP BETWEEN ANALYSTS AND EXECUTIVES

We have seen examples of gaps in communication effectiveness between executives and analysts in multiple countries across the globe. Following are five typical quotes that exemplify the most common forms of analytical miscommunication:

1. “Oh, I didn’t know we have that!” said a C-level sales executive, talking to the analyst about a report he’d received from the marketing manager on Fortune 1000 leads ranked by employee size. Yet in reality, this report was sent to him every quarter, but he never looked into it.

2. “I don’t even know if they are using the list I have been sending every month!” said an analyst complaining to her manager that her job has no impact on the decision-making process.

3. “I didn’t know you were also working on that list!” Communications between two analysts in different groups within the same company. The two analysts were working on producing the number of customers to call for a renewal campaign, one sitting in sales operation and another sitting in marketing analytics teams.

4. “I produce this every month, and I sent you the list last month!” said an analyst talking to a marketing manager who was asking for an insight that had been repeatedly sent to him for months.

5. “We receive this report every Monday from the analytics team. I don’t even know what it’s about and what to do with it. I simply archive it,” said a sales manager.

All of the aforementioned examples have a common denominator: ...