The Data Conspiracy
While watching a hockey game this weekend, I the announcers made a comment about a players +/- stat. It was followed up with the comment how some don’t like the stat. (It’s a simple stat that can be very misleading. It is simple math of goals scored vs goals against while a player is on the ice. They score and you get -1, your team scores and you get a +1.)
I talk to my clients about the import of tracking the data of their companies and their goals. When I speak about goals, one critical element of a strong goal is that it is measurable. However, data is not the end all be all.
Many forget that when you are watching, say, the news and they quote the latest poll on something that the question asked is just as critical in understanding the answer as the totals are. One of the most divisive right now are these two questions:
- Do you want to keep Obamacare?
- Would you rather hold on to the American Care Act?
Same question, but worded with and without Former Pres. Obama’s name attached. When these questions are asked, they commonly get different answers. How can that be? It goes to the critical element of asking the right question.
When working on our business, tracking anything, asking the right question could be much more important than you think. For example, when asking someone about marketing if you ask, “Did you hear about us from our radio ads?” you are likely to get a positive answer. (It has been proved people, in general, like to answer “yes” if they can. The thinking is, “Radio ad? I’m sure I must have.” (Turns out you asked a 85 year old woman and you run your ads on a Thrash Rock station. So, it’s not likely that’s where she heard of you.)
Ask the right question. In asking about your marketing, “How did you hear about us?” is much better. It is open ended and you are likely to get an answer that is at least true. They will search their minds for how they did. They may forget the radio commercial, but remember that their co-worker had suggested you.
The same goes for mining the data of your success. When you are analyzing the numbers at your company, be sure you are asking the question you want to ask. For example, if you are a company that is focused on customer service to be collecting data (and using it to make all your decisions) on how customers feel about your pricing may not be the best metric. If your company is focused on competing with Walmart, then asking about price is pretty critical.
Framing the question properly is critical when we are looking at data. Making sure that the data you are looking at is the right information is also critical. If you are tracking the growth of your business, just looking at revenue may not be the whole picture. What about margins, units sold, and average sale size. You may be seeing less customers, but selling each one more. Or, you may have raised prices so your growth is due to an increase in sales price. You may have more customers and are selling more stuff, but if your margins have taken a dive, you are likely doing so by bringing in less profit. (And that may or may not be OK.)
Be sure as you look at your data that you are looking at the right information. This is not a time to be lazy. Laziness gets you partial answers that can be very misleading.