The Complex System: Story of an Entrepreneur

Reports Are So 2004

Reports are only as good as you use them. Unfortunately most people don't know how, or even take the time to use them. For the most part we've found that to be true with clients of Leads360. Of course there are a handful of clients that really dig in and get value from our reports and the custom reporting engine. But for the bulk of our clients they're "cool" at best.

As we race into the 2nd quarter of a very instrumental year we've done a lot of thinking and research on what our clients really need when it comes to reporting. The most common thing we hear from clients is "just tell me what to do". Well, when we give them reports we're doing the exact opposite. This is where analytics comes in.

Analytics is such a ubiquitous term, how do we know what clients really want, and more importantly, how do we know what actually working? This is a question we're trying to answer right now.

Wikipedia defines analytics as how an entity (i.e., business) arrives at an optimal or realistic decision based on existing data. The online resource continues by stating, business managers may choose to make decisions based on past experiences or rule of thumb, or there might be other qualitative aspects to decision making; but unless there is data involved in the process, it would not be considered analytics.

Analytics is about making intelligent decisions that are meaningful and make a significant impact on the business. If we can present our clients w/ tools to enable good decision making, along with data to back it up, and a clear course of action to get results, we're on to something. My partner Nick Hedges has a great post on the importance of consistent metrics which I agree is the first step toward good analytics. Trust me, it's all coming, and then some.

Show Me the Data

When I first met Matt Coffin I vividly recall him hammering the importance of metrics. I can’t tell you how many times he said LMB was metrics driven. Intuitively I knew what he meant, but it was anecdotal at best. By that I mean I knew it was important, but I really couldn't tell you how to get it or even benefit from it.

As I've matured as a business leader I've come to realize with piercing intensity the importance and value of good data. Right now there is nothing more important for me. What I now see is that good data is the cornerstone of good decision making. And even though I believe in trusting my gut, which has gotten me far, without specific and measurable data, it's only a matter of time before your gut starts to miscalculate.

Sounds simple and obvious, right? Well so is going to the gym or healthy eating. Simple but not easy. Establishing metrics, gathering good data and putting it all to use is hard work and requires some real strategic thinking. My biggest challenge over the past few months has been in this area.

A few days ago I came to a pretty big realization that guys like Matt Coffin probably figured out long ago. In my hunt for good intelligence I've been pushing my management team to give me more reports. I need a report for this or an update on that. I've probably been driving some of these people downright mad. At the end of the day I could care less about reports. Really I don't want them; they waste paper and don't tell me what I really want to know. It's really about what the reports can "tell" me. Ironically, this is probably why reports in software really don't help (our software is no exception).

I think the trick is to transform my passion for data into a passion for answers. People understand questions; they understand how to find the answers to those questions. Getting the data that leads to answers requires asking the right questions. That's my job and I've got some work to do.