Hi Friends đ,
If you work in analytics, chances are you have been given the advice, âIf you want to be successful in your role as data professional, you have to get close to revenue.â
We were working with a large multinational company we will call "GlobalTech." The company specializes in advanced technology solutions that they sell through traditional partner distribution channels as well as through an extensive online store.
We were asked to analyze user behavior in order to help optimize the online purchasing experience for their customers.
While conducting our analysis, we noticed a steep drop in completed purchases.
After Investigating further, we discovered a critical website error affecting over 80% of customers attempting to add products to their shopping carts.
The potential revenue loss from this error was an estimated two million dollars. But by identifying and communicating the problem quickly, we enabled GlobalTech to resolve the issue that same day, preventing any further financial losses.
We thought we were heroes and the company was going to renew our contract, right? RIGHT?!?
NOPE!!!
We felt we had delivered significant value, but GlobalTech chose not to renew our contract.
That one issue we found, even if that was all the value we would have produced for the client over the course of our partnership, would have paid for the entirety of our contract 10 times over.
ButâŠit wasnât enough.
WHY?!?
The core issue lies in a misalignment between what we valued (helping the company make more money) and what GlobalTech stakeholders prioritized (something else that we failed to understand).
What was it? Was it that they hired us to help their key stakeholder and budget holder get promoted? Were we not in alignment with their data teamâs performance goals which were maybe not at all tied to revenue? Were we perhaps a bad cultural fit?
We didnât know, we didnât ask any of those questions and we should have.
What i learned is that while connecting analytics efforts to revenue gains/revenue savings âcouldâ be beneficial, if those efforts are not aligned with what the person who pays your wages/fees wants out of your services, then there is a low likelihood of a continuation of your business relationship.
Much Love đ
-jason