Is Your Business in Danger of Analysis Paralysis?

Unchecked, too much data and too much data availability can naturally lead to analysis paralysis: the phenomenon of spending so much time and so many resources on gathering and analyzing data, that there’s little or no time or resources left to act on all that analysis.

Even though valuable insights may be generated, there are so many of these insights that managers have a hard time prioritizing them and can’t seem to create even one marketing program that creates bottom-line results. In short, too much analysis can paralyze an organization, leading paradoxically to inactivity, inertia, and lack of real results.

In short, even if a company’s data infrastructure (data warehouse, CRM and SFA systems, data marts, and so on) are in good shape and capture and store all the customer data necessary to generate insights, too much time can be spent in generating insights without enough time spent on figuring out which insights are worth acting and then actually acting on them!

The Action Gap

I call this yawning chasm between insights and results the “action gap.” Whether there’s too much time spent on creating data and not enough time analyzing it, or too much time analyzing data and not enough time prioritizing insights, the result is the same: a lack of action and results.

Too often, a company’s customer data infrastructure is seen as an end in itself – gee, isn’t it terrific that we’ve captured all this customer data in a nifty data warehouse with a bunch of cool BI tools? – rather than as just a means to the end of becoming a more customer-centric organization and dramatically improving bottom-line business results (profitability) by improving marketing efforts, product development, customer service, and communications through the strategic use of customer insights throughout the organization. 

Without a clear focus on the end result, people, departments, or entire organizations can spend an entire lifetime in the action gap – generating huge amounts of information, but unwilling or unable to act on it.

Closing the Action Gap

So, how does an organization maintain the focus on Customer Intelligence but close the action gap? In my next blogpost, I’ll talk about three key steps you need to take that will help you close the gap and take action!