KEY DRIVER ANALYSIS/REGRESSION

If your company is targeting a particular measure (often overall satisfaction or Net Promoter Score), you will need to know which things to focus on to have the best chance of moving this metric. Regression analysis is a mathematical technique that shows how different factors drive a particular measure. The output of this analysis will give you a clear idea of where to focus your money and resources.

DATA VISUALIZATION & DASHBOARDS

Bored of reading/writing PowerPoint reports? Or are you spending time filtering the results by a different cross-break, to answer a question? By switching to interactive dashboards, both you and your clients can filter the results however they’d like to, and ask and answer their own questions. They can also connect directly to your data, so there is no typing to be done when new data becomes available. I have been building attractive & interactive dashboards in Tableau for many years, having introduced the software at Eurostar and Guinness.

SEGMENTATION

It is easy to parrot the phrase “there’s no such thing as an average customer”, but unless you are tailoring your messages and products, that is exactly how you are treating your customer base. Segmentation is a technique that will cluster customers, based on their behaviour or attitudes. This technique can never be applied neutrally, but always with a specific goal in mind. For example, a travel company might segment based on purpose of travel and price sensitivity; a social housing company might segment based on financial vulnerability; a bank might segment based on channel preference and affluence. The practical outcome of segmentation is the ability to target and tailor your communications and products.

KPI EVALUATION

Many companies track too many performance indicators. Analysis can show you which measures have most impact on your overall goals, and remove measures that duplicate each other. Following this, reporting can be simplified from long lists of scores, to simple one page visualizations that tell you exactly what is going right or wrong. The reporting can also be structured in a way that shows you how measures interconnect with each other.

REPORTING

Housing is a highly regulated sector, so there is a great deal of regular reporting that needs to be produced, for internal executive teams, board members, and external scrutiny panels. I regularly produce reporting for these sort of audiences, and can strike a balance between brevity and detail. Prior to this I produced monthly reporting on satisfaction and key performance indicators, which was presented to the CEO of Eurostar.

COMPETITOR INTELLIGENCE AND GAME THEORY

I offer desk research services to collate, summarise, and report on competitor activity. This is mainly qualitative rather than qualitative in nature (if for example, you wanted to have live reporting of the different interest rates offered by banks, there are automated options on the market that would serve you better).

I also have an interest in game theory; this simulates the optimum and likely strategies of decision makers within competitive environments. At Eurostar I used this to understand the strategic elements of whether to implement onboard Wifi or not, based on a hypothetical competitive environment.

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

If your questionnaires are too long, you will get lower response rates; if they’re too short, you won’t get the right information back. Additionally, the way in which you gather responses (for example, use of different rating scales) can obscure the message that your respondents are trying to send. I have designed questionnaires across multiple sectors for my whole career, and ensure all these factors are considered.

PREDICTIVE ANALYTICS

Most data analysis techniques describe and investigate events that have already happened. In some cases we can use these techniques to predict what will happen in future. For example, while at Natwest I was involved with a project that predicted the likelihood of bank branches being raided (one of the risk factors that we hadn’t forseen until modelling was the proximity of the branch to a main road). At Guinness, I have investigated the factors that lead to premature tenancy termination. I also have a personal interest in predicting the outcome of sporting events, with obvious financial benefits…

TENDER EVALUATION

I have overseen six-figure research tenders at both Eurostar and Guinness Housing Partnership, in both cases saving considerable amounts of money without compromising the quality of research.

If you are considering a research tender I can help write the key questions for potential suppliers; I can also provide objective evaluation of the responses you receive.

(Please note that I do not offer legal/procurement services, just consulting on the research and analysis elements of your tender).