Category: Analytics Training

Seven Tips For Marketing Graduates

Next week I will be speaking at a couple of different schools about marketing careers. As always I will focus on marketing analytics and how the most successful marketing efforts are data-driven.

With that in mind , here are my Seven Tips:

  1. Align Your Passions – Find ways to do what you love and all the hard or boring stuff will be much easier to deal with. Build on your passion and everything else will follow.
  2. Show Up Every Day – Can’t see it enough. The business needs you, the customers need you and your team mates need you.
  3. Build Your Network – Always be in a networking mindset. Think how this next person can help you achieve something.
  4. Offer Solutions – Come to meeting with some ideas. Take time to write things down. Do your homework.
  5. Tell Stories – Being able to engage a group of people to take action is the single most important skill that no one really teachers marketers.
  6. Always Have Data – Never, ever, ever base your plan on gut. The data is out there, and if its not then you need to create it.
  7. It’s All About Making Money – In the end, marketing is all about increasing revenue. You need to make the company more money with you and your plan then without it. Its really that simple.

1075177_10151826941667425_1417094118_n

So obviously, there is a whole lot more to it. But each of these tips are things that marketing professionals need to be thinking about every day.

And one more thing… if you don’t already have a network started on LinkedIn, you are already falling behind the pack.

Limiting You Core Values To Just 3

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/you-have-more-than-3-core-values-think-again-dave-kerpen?trk=tod-home-art-list-small_2

For DMAIPH, I have infused 3 core values into everything we do. They come from having seen companies succeed and seeing companies fail. The ones who succeed have the in common. Here they are:

Partnership

Integrity

Teamwork

For my the core valued of any business starts with the partnerships is has with its industry. For public trainings its all about having a robust network. Being able to get new business, mine existing business, and bringing back old business all comes out of strong partnerships.

Integrity is also super important. Being honest and doing the right thing. Have an identity that makes one thing of likability and trustworthiness. When you have that you take care of your customers, your employees are satisfied and engaged, and you ability to partner gets much easier.

And the third value is teamwork. Teamwork is based on trust. And trust comes from integrity amount partners. Work partnerships, between employer and employee and between each employee with their peers all lead to a more vibrant teamwork.

DMAIPH stands for strong partnerships among analytics providers and consumers, for being know for our rock solid integrity, and for engaged and empowered team we have.

What are your 3 Core Values?

If you cant recite them of the top of your head, then you probably have too many.

DMAI - Logo_ver2-02-01

Analytics Leadership – DMAIPH specializes in arming the Data-Driven Leader with the tools and techniques they need to build and empower an analytics centric organization. Analytics leadership requires a mastery of not just analytics skill, but also of nurturing an analytics culture. We have guided thousands of Filipino professionals to become better analytics leaders. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to discuss a uniquely tailored strategy to ensure you are the top of your game when it comes to Analytics Leadership.

 

Building Business Dashboards > One Of My Favorite Things To Do

Per Wikipedia, a business dashboard is “an easy to read, often single page, real-time user interface, showing a graphical presentation of the current status (snapshot) and historical trends of an organization’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to enable instantaneous and informed decisions to be made at a glance.”

kpi-03

Whenever I talk to an audience about business dashboards, I always start out with this mouth full of an explanation. Because thats what dashboards do… they take a lot of complicated data and break it down into a few powerful visuals that provide insightful and actionable intelligence. Actionable being the key term.

My favorite dashboard builder is Tableau, and I instruct all my trainees to use Tableau Public (it’s free) to get some hands on experience in building dashboards. Qlikview is also pretty cool at building user friendly boards. There are several others that have free or trial versions. Gartner does and annual review of BI tools with a special focus on the ones who best provide an easy to use dashboard builder. Below is a sample dashboard.

db1

“Numbers have an important story to tell. They rely on you to give them a clear and convincing voice. ” – Stephen Few, the grandfather of Business Dashboards.

Don’t Be A Recruitment Dinosaur, You Need To Be Thinking Mobile First

Per monster.com… As more consumers set aside laptops in favor of smartphones, iPads and other tablet computers, job seekers expect to be engaged with videos, job notifications and quick follow-up. Many experts say that recruiters must learn to adapt their recruitment strategy to these platforms.

Today’s mobile job seekers have different expectations and look for:

  • Instant updates about new jobs via their mobile devices
  • Immediate feedback to their job application
  • Recruiting videos to watch on their mobile devices
  • Engaging, interactive content from employers

Recent Facebook data for here in the Philippines shows that as much as 90% of job applicants will apply via mobile for the same job they would pass up if looking at the post via a laptop or desktop.

IMG_1310

And according to CareerBuilder’s 2013 Candidate Behavior Study, 65 percent of workers who search for jobs via mobile devices will leave a website if it isn’t mobile-friendly, and – possibly worse – 40 percent walk away with a more negative opinion of the company.

You have to think Mobile first if you want to attract 18-24 year old Filipinos for jobs in the BPO Industry.

HR & Recruitment Analytics – The recruitment and retention of top talent is the biggest challenge facing just about every organization. DMAIPH is a leading expert in empowering HR & Recruitment teams with analytics techniques to optimize their talent acquisition and management processes. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to learn how to get more analytics in your HR & Recruitment process so you can rise to the top in the ever quickening demand for top talent.

Understanding Business Analytics Outline

I’m scheduled to speak to do a workshop on Understanding Business Analytics in mid February. I will be followed by a 1 hour Analytics Overview with a couple hundred students. Pretty excited about this!!

And to make it even more awesome… its in Cebu!

Scope:

(1) Provide a 6 hour presentation on Understanding Business Analytics to 15-20 faculty members (Core Group).  (2) Provide a 1 hour presentation on an Overview of Business Analytics to a student group. Both presentation will include exercise and discussion in addition to the lecture.

Timeline:

  1. The presentation with the Core Group will be from 9:00AM- 3:00PM.
  2. The student overview about Business Analytics from 3:00PM- 4:00PM.

Core Group Content:

  1. An orientation about the concept of Business Analytics (60 minutes)
  2. Current Trends in Analytics for the Philippines (60 minutes)
  3. Analytics Group Exercise: Let’s Find Some Data (60 minutes) – will need internet access via smartphones, tablets and/or laptops.
  4. Lunch
  5. Discussion about Descriptive Analytics, Predictive Analytics and Big Data (60 minutes) – will need internet access
  6. Demonstration on how to use Tableau (30 minutes)
  7. Questions and Answers (30 minutes)

Student 420Group Content:

  1. An quick orientation Business Analytics (15 minutes)
  2. Analytics Group Exercise: (15 minutes)
  3. Demonstration on how to use Tableau (15 minutes)
  4. Questions and Answers (15 minutes)

My absolute favorite thing to do in the world is to get college students excited about analytics careers!!!!

Recruitment Analytics: A Simple Classification System

How do you classify the applicants in your pipe line? There are hundreds of ways to separate resumes at the first point of contact by potential job fit. Most Applicant Tracking Tools have this built in and really smart ones will auto separate and classify based on keyword searches.

If you can afford an ATS or have veteran recruiters and/or an optimized process you are probably already doing this. But you would also be shocked to know how many companies are not doing this.

To get started just create 3-4 piles to put resumes in. Its as simple as this:

  • Pool A is for candidates who have most if not all of the qualifications you are looking for.
  • Pool B is for applicants who have some of the qualities.
  • Pool C is for applicants who really don’t have any of the things you are looking for and/or have some fatal flaws that you believe are incompatible with the job.
  • Pool D can be for resumes who currently don fit, but might in the future.

If you are just using Excel to track your applicant pipe line, it is easy to add a column for general classification. Through in some weighted scoring to rank within each category and you are actually doing better than a lot of small and medium sized companies.

tracking-analytics

Just as an example, In each pool, you can add a rank of High, Medium and Low. High being they should be ready to start day one, medium meaning the will need some training time if they are hired and low meaning they will need some extensive training.

It is really that simple. Starting adding structure to your recruiting so you can focus your time and energy on those who have the most potential to help you right now, but also keep track of those who might be able to help you down the road.

IMG_1310

If you don’t have a good ATS, then doing something like this will make a huge difference. You will soon be able to start making more strategic choices on who you spend your time, focus and money on.

HR & Recruitment Analytics – The recruitment and retention of top talent is the biggest challenge facing just about every organization. DMAIPH is a leading expert in empowering HR & Recruitment teams with analytics techniques to optimize their talent acquisition and management processes. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to learn how to get more analytics in your HR & Recruitment process so you can rise to the top in the ever quickening demand for top talent.

Introduction To “Data-Driven Decision-Making”

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.  – Theodore Roosevelt 

Making Data-Driven Decisions is one of the mottos I live by. It simply and powerfully sums up what I believe in as an analyst. In order to make intelligent decisions in all aspects of a business, you need to have the right data at the right time. That is what analytics is all about.

Whether you dream of being an analyst, aspire to be a better analyst or hope to surround yourself with people skilled in analytics, you have to strive to be different. You have to look at data as having the answers and analytics as the key to determining which answers are the ones you need.

My love for analytics comes from many places. When I was a kid I used to collect baseball cards and memorize all the statistics on the back of the cards. When I got into college I took a lot of courses on student developmental theory and learned a lot about why people are the way there are.

Sir Dan (1)

I combined that passion with classroom teaching experience and then corporate training experience. During my time with Wells Fargo I was always the data guy or the reports guy, long before I had even heard of the term analytics.

All of these experiences have prepared me for what I do today; teach people about analytics and how to use analysis to make data-driven decisions.

My book, “Data-Driven Decision-Making”, is in it final stages and will be ready for publishing within a matter of weeks.

Doing My Own Market Assessment > Setting Up A Manpower Business

When I first moved here to the Philippines, the business model I set in motion was to set up a recruitment, training and placement business for analysts.

The concept was simple, recruit fresh grads, give them 2-4 weeks of analytics training and place them primarily in the BPO industry.

Three years and a lot of interesting adventures later, I am kind of back where I started when it comes to this idea of upscaling young talent and helping them get their foot in the door as their careers begin.

With that in mind, I am once again doing my own market assessment for the new business venture.

Last time I looked, I saw that the no one else doing analytics themed training and certainly not for the youth. I also saw over 1,000 analyst job posted in jobstreet.com and thought it was a no brainer to get into the business of helping fill those slots. So it looked like the competitive landscape was wide open. Three years later there are a handful of schools and private companies offering analytics-themed training. The pie has gotten bigger even though there are more people cooking the same pie.

College and Universities continue to churn out hundreds of thousands of graduates every year. And a nearly equal number of students leave school early because of financial challenges. However, there is a ever widening skills gap between the skill set of these students and the hiring requirements of the BPOs. There is a huge talent pool out there to be tapped.

The BPO industry continue to grow at double digit pace, with more and more requirements for new hires to not only start at entry level, but further up the food chain. Today I just did a search on jobstreet.com and there are 1,500 analyst jobs posted in jobstreet.com

10689576_882059205157856_1304820785870216256_n

So, there is still a huge need for a manpower business that supplied an upscale level of analytics talent that higher education and private enterprise has not been able to meet.

This analysis is based on not just my assumption and my experience, but also lots and lots of cold, hard data.

2015 = Game On

When I Put My Mind To Something…

Before anything else, I always remind myself to be thankful for my blessings. It has been a long and challenging journey to get to where I am today. More blood, sweat and tears than anyone would believe.

All the hard work, doing the right thing and being prayerful has however, put me in a position to be pretty successful at what I do. And what I do best is empower people to achieve their dreams the same way I have seen my dreams come true.

When I put my mind to something, I have a laser like focus. That focus drives me through difficult times and keeps me moving forward. For a lot of people, I know they have trouble dealing with someone who has such a powerful focus on his goals.

But that is what I look for in people to surround myself with, to add to my team and to be partners in opportunities. The ability to focus to me is a primary key to being successful.

On Friday I, as I was working diligently on a plan of adding as many as 12 new employees in the next few weeks. My focus on the challenge at hand, certainly ruffled some feathers and made a few people uncomfortable.

1075177_10151826941667425_1417094118_n

Out of that focus came three action items that I could accomplish over the weekend that would do a lot to help our recruitment efforts.

In the short term, we need to augment our recruiting team. So I sent 200 LinkedIn emails to recruiters I am connected with to see if I can pirate one way from someone. I have an interview today with one and several others I’ve had convos with.

In the near term, we need to continue to diversify our marketing efforts. One of my goals has been to write a couple of business books. Two of them I have near completion, but I have been to swamped to finish them. So I blogged about needing a co-writer to finish them. I got several applicants and think I have already identified the one I want to partner with.

And in the long term, I want to get on the calendar of a couple schools to keep the pipeline of future analysts and DMAI employees going. I have one locked up at Jose Rizal University and  another in the works based on some FB conversations.

Some blessinga from above, a supportive family and a great team all help… but in the end my success is all a product of my ability to focus on a goal and just work harder at it than anyone else.

So there you go, the secret of my success is that I just flat out work my ass off and enjoy doing it.

Achieving Better Results Through Analytics: What’s Your Analytics Strategy?

Just put together a pitch deck for a potential in-house corporate training.

Here’s some of the highlights…

You need an analytics strategy.

Making data-driven decisions is key to success in any business.

Having the right data at the right time makes all the difference.

Data-driven decision-making, as well as improved productivity and better overall outcomes begins with analytics.

Some of the benefits from a good analytics solution include:

  • Provide timely and targeted coaching/training to agents.
  • Ensures that the right materials are assigned.
  • Optimizes process of following agent improvements, leading to skill development and job mastery.
  • Eliminates the need for e-mailing countless excel spreadsheets
  • Schedules coaching/ training at an appropriate time.
  • Optimizes the follow up process to review impact of training and identifies when agent performance requires management attentions.
  • Give’s Management a High Level Overview of important KPIs.

IMG_6912

Business Strategy with Analytics – Aligning a business strategy to drive an organization forward requires a robust analytics solution. Businesses who have good analytics tend to be much more profitable and efficient then ones that do not. DMAIPH has helped dozens of companies in both the U.S. and the Philippines with adding more data analysis in their business strategy.

That’s why we have joined up with our key business partner PMCM Events Management to showcase our solutions at #TechToniPH in July 2017. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out what we can do to help you align your business strategy with analytics.