Building the Foundation

It’s hard to make sense of things that are unorganized. Data is no different. Just like trying to find the needle in a haystack, it’s challenging to glean insight from unstructured data.

Insight Compass builds the data infrastructure and simplifies it to one source of truth which helps assure that everybody in the organization is reading from the same playbook. We do this with guidance from management so the structure makes the most sense for your organization.

While the KPI Dashboard is a powerful tool, this high level view often doesn’t include all of the information necessary to determine a course of action. The dashboard gives us clues as to where to look and additional, multi-page reports to zoom in. These reports allow users to dig deeper, uncover opportunities and develop action plans.

Information to consider for reporting:

  • Profit & Loss Statement

    • Revenue (price/volume/product line)

      • This is generally the focus of KPI dashboards; especially when operating with a separate CRM.

    • Expense (labor/procurement/administration)

    • Profitability (Net Operating Income/EBITDA)

  • Marketing/Sales/CRM

    • Sales Funnel (prospecting/pipeline/conversion)

    • Incentive structure (align productivity with results)

  • Operations

    • Headcount & related expense

    • Quality & efficiency metrics

      • Turnaround time to complete work

      • Customer complaints

    • Capital Expenditures

Once we’ve set the foundation we can build reports on top. The first step is to determine the key metrics most important to the business - often called KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). These KPIs are typically organized into an easily digestible, one page format - often called the KPI Dashboard. This format enables the viewer to see a data summary that focuses in on the most important drivers of the business in one place.

Sometimes opportunity arises that standard reports cannot capture. Whether market forces have made a new line of business particularly appealing, or a competitor has recently become available to purchase, building a separate financial model with upside and downside cases can be a valuable tool. With this we use fully customized inputs and see the possible outcomes through scenario analysis which help determine whether this unique situation is worth pursuing.

Let's Talk

If you’re interested in learning more about how Insight Compass can help your organization, we would love to hear from you. Introductory consultations are designed to give you an understanding of how we can best serve you.