BI solutions, with the right data and features, should be able to take operational data and enable users to answer specific questions such as:
Sales and Marketing questions- Which customers should I target?
- What has caused the change in my pipeline?
- Which are my most profitable campaigns per region?
- Did store sales spike when we advertised in the local paper or launched an email campaign?
- What is the most profitable source of sales leads and how has that changed over time?
Operational questions
- Which vendors provide the most are best at delivering on time and on-budget?
- How many additional personnel do we need to ad per store during the holidays?
- Which order processing processes are most inefficient?
Financial questions
- What is the fully loaded cost of new products?
- What is the expected annual profit/loss based on current marketing and sales forecasts?
- How are forecasts trending against the annual plan?
- What are the current trends in cash flow, accounts payable and accounts receivable and how do they compare with plan?
Overall business performance questions
- What are the most important risk factors impacting the company’s ability to meet annual profit goals?
- Should we expand internationally and, if so, which geos should we first target?
Continue to Example of BI in Action - Sales Executive Using salesforce.com
