Everything can be measured. That’s my hypothesis. And not only can be, but should be in order to create the most effective business operations. This isn’t a new concept—the volume of content focused on the importance of data and analytics is staggering. But the actual execution of shifting a business to a data-driven, analytical approach to growth is still impressively lagging.

My belief is that individuals are better equipped and more capable of being data-driven than they realize. However, they typically need help with three things:

1. Figuring out where to start with company analytics as a whole
2. Integrating analytics into marketing and sales operations
3. Gaining confidence and know-how to continually iterate on their progress

In many cases it’s a lack of familiarity or comfort with data that intimidates people. Essentially, they don’t know where or how to start properly utilizing their data. In other cases, where individuals are eager to dig in and figure out how data should drive their business, they unfortunately don’t have the time to perform the analysis or integrate analytics into the process.

I’m still surprised by how many pitches I hear from companies, regardless of size, focused on qualitative and/or vanity ‘metrics of success’ for their business. The same is true for companies I’ve worked with and for… it’s common. And it’s easy to fall into a trap of reporting on the same ‘ol previously agreed upon (key performance indicator) KPI, without questioning the value and impact this metric has on day-to-day operations. By surfacing salient data and insights to each team, every individual is immediately aligned with the key business priorities and can drive a bigger impact in their role. Empowering team members with individual metrics and the accountability of managing them is an achievable and hugely valuable investment.

Simply put: This analytical, quantitative approach is rarely done to the extent it should be and is stifling business operations, especially within marketing and sales.

I recently founded Quantified Ardor to work with growth stage companies with the goal of untangling and simplifying complex sales and marketing operations and enabling every single team member of being data driven. Our approach is simple and straightforward:

1. Identifying impactful KPIs
2. Extracting actionable insights
3. Establishing (or enhancing) processes for optimal team and individual performance

My mission is to put these tools in the hands of full time employees to empower and enable them to become self-sufficient with these analytical methods—and not be dependent on outside help (me) in the long term.

With 12+ years of experience managing people, I firmly believe in the adage “my job as a manager is to make myself obsolete.” I have led, trained, and developed my employees into individual leaders who can take on more responsibility and drive better performance, ultimately replacing the need for my oversight. That’s also what I do for the companies I work with. I help build out the strategy and roadmap for getting the right data to the right person at the right time so they can be more effective and accountable in their job. 

Then we execute. As we work toward our established goals my role becomes increasingly obsolete as the team continues down our shared vision and roadmap for how to use data for maximum business impact. They become not only comfortable with but excited by the data and insights they can extract themselves. They too believe everything is measurable. And this data-driven approach continues to spread through the organization, becoming be a key driver for both company and employee growth. Most importantly, this saves the company a lot of money.

So many ‘aha!’ moments to surface as we nerd-out on the data and dig into valuable insights. I’ve experienced it with every client, role, and project I’ve been a part of to date. And now I’m giddy to focus full time on doing so – let the fun begin!