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Data Scientists are the Future

Data scientists help people create knowledge from data, including sometimes million of gigabytes of data. An example is iTunes using the number of songs and length of each song on a CD to find the name of the CD, the artist, and the titles for each song. To data scientists, tracks on a CD are not music, but data.

Until the turn of the century, someone’s knowledge was limited by their access to a library or university. Now, because of the increasing power and storage capacity of computers, and the increase in data being published, someone’s knowledge is limited by their ability to process data. For example, for $600 you can buy a hard drive capable of storing all the music in the world. (more…)

December 12, 2011 Nate Watson News 6 comments

How Not to Introduce Yourself

I got to cross something off my bucket list this year, I was a pastor in a wedding. Two of my really close friends got married and I had the honor of introducing them as man and wife. It was one of the more unique things I will ever get to do. However, I was shocked because I realized that how easy it was to introduce the newly married couple, “I now pronounce you man and wife”, however it can be so difficult to introduce yourself properly at networking events.
If introducing a newly married couple is so easy, how is it so difficult to introduce yourself at a networking event? It shouldn’t be hard or awkward. Yet we go to an event to meet people who we have never met, who are there to meet people they have never met and are scared and clueless as to how to make our introductions. Most of us gather up 20 seconds of insane courage and, more often than not, dive awkwardly into the introduction. I have immense respect for courage, but there are good and bad ways to introduce yourself that will lead to someone remembering you which is the point. In my years of networking, I have experienced quite a variety of these introductions. The following are some of the most “interesting”.

Lesson 1: Never let the act of introducing outshine the introduction.

None of the names used here are real because I did not remember the person or what they did. That is partly the point. I tell new networkers to always keep in mind that 1) most of us, including myself, have done one of these things in our 20 seconds of insane courage, 2) networking is tricky, hard, and has a massive learning curve, and 3) wisdom is only gleaned from the lessons of those that have gone before us.

Lesson 2: Wait until you are acknowledged before jumping in, and then stay and talk.

The Cannonball. These guys are the worst. There I am having a nice conversation with 4 of my friends when a person walks up to the table introduces themselves, in the middle of my sentence, to explain they are so and so and they are glad to meet me, and here is their card. Then they leave without another word and do the same thing at the next table. I believe this is the number one cause of sorting through cards at the end of the event and not being able to remember who half of them are.

Lesson 3: A card is not an introduction, throwing a card is like introducing yourself by yelling your name at someone as you drive by them.

The Dealer: This one makes me laugh every time. This is when someone walks up to you and your friends at a table and proceeds to introduce themselves as they toss you, not hand you, a card. It goes something like this:

“Hi, I’m Rick”,”Hi, I’m Rick”,”Hi, I’m Rick”, “Hi, I’m Rick” each time dealing you one of their business cards; not passing or handing, dealing. Throwing a card at you. I always laugh when “Rick” is done. A table full of people now have your card, but are thinking to themselves “Did I just get introduced to someone?” Its never a good sign when after you introduce yourself, people are still asking what just happened.

Lesson 4: Use an excuse to refill your plate or cup to disengage from a Never Ending Story. It is good for you and them.

The Never Ending Story: Great movie in 1984. Horrible way to introduce yourself. NES’ers think the only way to make you remember them is to talk to you. The. Entire. Time. I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten myself stuck with one of these. I just have to excuse myself to go get more food or drink and pray they find someone else to stick to. The hard part is when they find me again on the other side of the room and I have a full plate . The best way of getting rid of them is by using a trick my friend Rick Sheahan came up with. Give them a card, and tell them to call you. It works because they think they have accomplished their goal; and, to date, not one of them has actually ever called.

Lesson 5: Always give cards face up with your name facing them so they can see, not just hear, what your name and your company’s name is.

The Reverse Pick Pocket: This is my favorite networking story. So there I was, eating another plate of food, avoiding the Never Ending Story, when a man I had never met, walked up and introduced himself. While simultaneously shaking my right hand, slipped his card into my shirt pocket with his left hand. I think I probably looked at him for a full 5 seconds before I could say anything. What do you even say? Thanks for card Mr.??? Wait, Let me get the card back out of my pocket so I can know what your name is.” Unbelievable. He actually violated my personal space to try and give me his card.
A few things jump out at me about this story. While being very brave, he was very lucky I don’t have much personal space. I found it more funny than offensive, but he didn’t know that. Try that on a different guy he might get knocked out. We won’t even mention how wrong that would be for the opposite sex.

Lesson 6: Its hard enough to coach people to give referrals. People do not give them of their own free will. Especially not to someone they just met.

The Double Carder: This is when someone walks up to a complete stranger and hands them two cards so that you use the extra card to refer them. This is way too forward. Why should I refer you? I just met you, I barely understand what you do, let alone, am I confident enough to refer you to people that value my opinion. I do send double cards in Thank You notes and Christmas cards, but never as an introduction.

Lesson 7: It is hard remembering people at the end of the night. It just becomes confusing when you have two companies.

The Two Card Monte: Similar to the Double Carder, you get two cards from this person too. This time, they are different. One for each company this person has. You then have to play the game similar to the one played on a box on a street corner for money. Follow the queen, which company am I with, anyone can win. I feel like if I hold out the right card and say “this one” I might have a chance to win $5 dollars. Giving someone two cards does not promote two businesses. It just confuses me. Do I have to listen to two 30 second commercials and then pick which one fits my business. What about me? Do I get to give a one minute elevator speech now? I have always viewed people with two business cards from two companies at the same time as confused. I don’t usually follow up with them. Take that to heart, as I am not unique in how I handle this.

Lesson 8: I don’t know you. I don’t know if I need to know you. Let’s get pleasantries out of the way before we start with the power point.

The Used Car Salesman: I shake my head in disbelief when I see this. I don’t need your companies history, how great your products are, how many people are in your office, and all the awards you have won before I know if I need something you have. Introductions are about introducing yourself, not making a presentation. Let me figure out if I want a sales presentation before you make one. If you are new to networking , you get a pass on this, but all the more reason I ask new networkers to read my posts on networking first.
Learning to introduce yourself can be hard. Introductions take some planning and some courage to introduce yourself to someone you have never met. I hope you understand that while funny, all of these introductions are serious gaffes that lead to zero second meetings. In all of these cases, I don’t remember the names of the gaffers and I’m pretty sure that is the whole point of networking. When in doubt go introduce yourself, try this: Shake someone’s hand, tell them your name, hand them your card, comment on the food, and see where the conversations goes. It works for me.

Would you like to learn more about how you can improve your sales process using the power of predictive analytics?

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December 12, 2011 Nate Watson Featured Posts, News 2 comments

Contemporary Analysis Job Board: Data Scientist

Contemporary Analysis (CAN) is a global data science company based in Omaha, NE that provide predictive analytics to multiple Fortune 500 companies and small businesses in the United States, Europe and Asia. CAN is focused on making analytics accessible to companies of all sizes and industries, and offers standard products and professional services.
The purpose of this position to help expand our professional services team. CAN’s professional services team is responsible for developing solutions for CAN’s largest and most unique clients including Fortune 500 and Global Fortune 50 companies. The by-products from the team’s professional services are used to create new and enhance existing CAN products.
Each Data Scientist is responsible for working with a CAN Sales Executive to understand each client’s business, define projects to help clients achieve their business objectives, use data science to develop solutions, and present results as a written report and presentation. Data Scientists must be familiar enough with statistics and computer science to develop creative solutions, and have the written and verbal skills to develop compelling reports and presentations.
The Data Scientist will be responsible for:

Working with the Sales Executive, the Data Scientist will work at all executive levels to help design solutions that will meet the needs of the client. To be able to design creative solutions that go beyond simple client feature requests will require Data Scientists to have an advanced familiarity with modeling, mathematics and statistics. Also, during the discovery phase the Data Scientist will coordinate with the COO and Sales Executive to develop project budgets.
During the implementation phase, the Data Scientist will work with other CAN Data Scientists and vendors to implement the Analytical Blueprint, and monitor client results, and adjust the Analytical Blueprint to optimize the client results and experience. Since CAN offers data science solutions as a service, implementation can last from a month to several years. This creates a unique project management scenario that requires continuous monitoring to ensure that the project does not fall behind.
The Data Scientist working with the Sales Executive will maintain a positive relationship with the client, ensure ongoing deliverables are met, and assess any future need for CAN’s services. In some cases the Data Scientist will need to record best practices from the project, or write specific business issue case studies.

Qualifications:

Minimum Education: Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution.
Able to maintain focus in highly-charged environments and manage competing priorities. This includes experience managing multiple projects simultaneously against tight deadlines
Experience solving business issues with the consultative application of advanced analytics and/or information technology
Strong presentation and client management skills – up to the highest executive level. This includes being able to explain highly detailed and technical subject matter to non-technical audience, and being able to present and sell analytical concepts to clients
Experience delivering insight to internal or external clients by building on a technical foundation that includes a conceptual understanding of modeling techniques and a basic grasp of statistics. Ability to use analytical applications to solve a practical problem, in an on the spot high-pressure situation
Experience in project management and managing a team to meet a deadline, manage client expectations, and maximize client satisfaction relative to solution profitability
Functional experience in one or more of the following areas, selling analytic services, project management, data science product development, pre-sales, technology implementation, and/or account management
Technical foundation including one or more of the following areas, Bayesian statistics, multiple regression analysis, and/or econometric modeling is preferred but not required.

If you are interested in learning more and applying contact Grant Stanley by phone at 866-963-6941 #801 or connect with him on LinkedIn. Please have your LinkedIn profile up to date before applying.

December 9, 2011 Nate Watson News 1 comment

Dashboard Design: Bullet Graph vs. Bar Chart

We invest a lot of time and energy communicating our research, because unless we can effectively communicate our findings they are useless. When the goal is to communicate the most valuable information with the least amount of ink that can be understood with the least amount of effort. For your reference, our major influences are Deirdre McCloskey on writing, Stephen Few on dashboard design, and Edward Tufte on data visualization.

Recently, CAN conducted a customer satisfaction survey for the Georgia Regional transportation Authority. In addition to developing, deploying and analyzing the customer survey, CAN went above and beyond to improve how GRTA reported the results of their annual survey. In this post, I will explain why we used a modified bullet graph instead of a bar chart to answer the business question.

The purpose of the graph is to help answer the business question of how does GRTA compare to two competitors across 17 different metrics. While GRTA needs to continually improve, for the purpose of answering the business question the exact score was not important, but instead the difference between each competitor and compared to others how does GRTA score. Comparing each company by metric was the main influence behind the design on CAN’s graph.

The Original Graph

The CAN Graph

– In the original graph, the bold vertical lines focus the viewer how each metric scored, by encouraging the eyes to go up and down. In the CAN graph, the light gray horizontal lines encourage the eyes to travel left and right to compare each companies performance. Also, we used light gray lines so that we did not dominate the graph with supporting data.
– In the original graph, there is no simple way to show the spread between the different competitors, besides comparing each line together. However, it important to know how competitive each metric is when answering the business question. When designing the CAN Graph, we darkened a length of the light gray horizontal lines to show the minimum and maximum score on the service quality index. This
– In the original graph, using four different colors made it difficult to make a memorable distinction between each company, take up an unnecessary amount of space, and impossible for color blind (10% of males) to make distinctions. Using different shades of gray CAN made it easy for everyone, including the colorblind, to distinguish between different companies. In addition to adding an additional way to differentiate between companies, using different shapes allowed for better distinction when multiple companies score close to each other.
– In the original graph, the overall low graphical quality such as broken vertical lines, faded colors and pixilated font created an unnecessary distraction, and reduce the credibility of the results. While this might seem petty, producing graphs that are crisp and well designed help develop trust with the audience. In the CAN Graph, we produced the entire graph in black and white, so that the report can easily be reproduced on either a color or black and white printer.
If you enjoyed this post, visit these other related posts from our blog:

November 29, 2011 Nate Watson News No comments yet

Dashboard Design: Teaching Strategic and Analytical Thinking

At CAN, we exist to provide our clients with leading edge methodologies that are both effective and easy to use. This requires that we constantly learn about new tools and techniques, and hone a fine edge on the ones we keep to provide to our clients.

Previously on our blog, we have discussed the application of dashboards and aspects of dashboard design that facilitate rapid perception by the human brain.  How about using dashboards as a way to teach users a way of thinking?  In this blog, we will discuss using dashboards to promote strategic thinking through guided analysis.
One of our clients approached CAN with the following predicament. Their enterprise operates nationwide with several districts responsible for operations within their unique geographic region. Every year, the strategic planning division would produce a thick binder reviewing each districts market forecasts, opportunities, and past performance. The intent was to assist the non-technical managers and business development of each district to think about trends in the market and industry to get more sales. Although very well produced and full of useful information, these binders acted mostly as a reference and did little to encourage analysis by the end-user.
Our solution was to use the same information used to build the binders and create views using Tableau.  At first, these views replicated the familiar visualizations found in binders with an added level of interaction. Then, we started to add new data sources into the existing information. We connected industry forecasts, census data, economic indicators, past performance and connected all this functionality to a dashboard where the end user is able to bring in these factors at their command. Populating the dashboard with the raw materials required for analysis, is the first stage.
The second stage is defining the business questions that the users need to answer to run their business. We interviewed the executives on the strategic planning team and in several of the district offices to define what the most important business questions they needed to answer to run their business. Instead of providing managers of each district with binders that pushed facts and figures at them, we created a work book of questions that needed to be answered and how the answers could be applied to running their district.
The third stage is doing most, not all, of the users’ work for them.  What I mean by this is producing dashboards that are 90% completed for the types of questions the user will want to answer.  Our goal is to support the user in asking questions and getting answers, not simply handing them the answers or making them build their own dashboards. So, we build pre-made views for them.  For example, one aspect of our client’s business functions was closely related to population growth.  We produced a dashboard that integrated population growth figures for the past several years with our client’s historical sales figures and billable hours.  The district manager, interested in staffing requirements, can population changes across the region with his current staffing and identify where adjustments and hiring are likely to take place.
In designing guided analysis, the bottom line is producing dashboards that solve the business question that users need to answer.  This requires that the designers understand the purpose of each dashboard, how it will be used, and what the user intends to get out of it.  If your goal is to achieve data-driven decisions from non-technical managers, you must design so that the user is on the right track with the controls, but ultimately require their interaction and thinking to reach the outcome.
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November 28, 2011 Nate Watson News No comments yet

Be First and Influence the Purchasing Process

I just got off the phone with a friend of mine in the Hotel business in Omaha. It was an interesting conversation because she had lost a sale because her wall in the event space wasn’t green. Not environmentally green, I mean she didn’t get the job because her space wasn’t the color green. She was trying to figure out why someone would choose an event space based on the color. I explained to her that someone had influenced the purchase process.

I imagine the conversation went something like this: (more…)

November 25, 2011 Nate Watson News No comments yet

Cold Calling Works Again

Cold calls used to work, then they didn’t and now they work again. I used to agree with most people, that cold calls do not work. In fact, I established my sales career on referral networking. However, I have rediscovered the power of cold calling and how to do it effectively. Networking is still important, but now I don’t have to wait around hoping for referrals.
Before the internet cold calling was effective because talking to salespeople was the most effective way for most people to learn about new products and services. As long as you had a good product, solid reputation and solid sales skills you could be successful. If someone wasn’t willing to take the time to listen to your sales pitch then they weren’t open to learning about the latest and greatest innovations that could transform their company.
However, the Internet made cold calling ineffective. It provided a more effective alternative to talking with salespeople that typically didn’t value people’s time and attention. Now, people had the ability to learn about new product and didn’t need someone to “sell it to them”.
Cold calling no longer worked because people no longer had problems to solve that they couldn’t solve using the Internet. They didn’t want a salesperson to create a problem. They certainly did not have time to listen to another sales pitch. If they had a problem they could solve it themselves, and this essentially took the power away from salespeople.
Salespeople transitioned from cold calling to networking and developing referral relationships. This worked because it established trust with prospects, and trust was something that the Internet lacked. The buyer did all the research to find possible solutions to meet their need, and then asked friends for a referral to someone they could trust to make answer a couple questions, provide a recommendation, and take the order. However, it is difficult to build a reliable sales system through networking and referrals, because you are relying on someone else to make the first move and then making sure that you are positioned in cahoots with the first person that they would ask for advice.
What cold calling and the Internet had allowed buyers to do is find products and services that they had the need, willingness and resources to purchase. The secrete is talking to the right people at the right time. With the right timing cold calling can be effective again, and sales people can once again activity take control of their pipeline.
Once we realized that timing was the secret, CAN set out on a mission to get our timing right. How could we build a system that would allow sales people to find leads when they had the need, willingness and resources to purchase? The solution is Predictive Lead Generation. Predictive Lead Generation allows you to build a detailed profile of your ideal client that identifies what factors trigger prospects to have the need, willingness and resources to purchase your product, and find leads that have the attributes of someone who is ready to purchase, and find supporting evidence you need to successful call and build trust. Instead of calling 100 people to get one person that is interested in your product, CAN is able to give you a list of 10 people. You still have to have a great product and solid sales pitch, but Predictive Lead Generation can help you focus on talking to the right people.
We have been using Predictive Lead Generation internally for four years. Before Predictive Lead Generation our sales team used to spend the entire week attending networking events hoping to snag a solid lead, and make up excuses about how sales is all about luck and can’t produce reliable results. Now, our sales team is focused on building relationships with the right people, and I am confident that my team will be able to deliver each month.
I encourage you to use Predictive Lead Generation to put cold calls back into your arsenal. If you want to try out cold calling search the Internet and find a company you decide needs, wants and has the resources to purchase what you sell, spend 10 minutes learning about the person you are calling, and then call someone who actually needs what you are selling, and will be glad you called. If that produces results, then you might be a good candidate for CAN’s Predictive Lead Generation system. While referrals may always be the easiest phone call, cold calls are now some of the most effective.

November 23, 2011 Nate Watson News No comments yet

Grant's Interview with NebraskaEntrepreneur.com

NebraskaEntrepreneur.com recently ask readers to nominate entrepreneurs and companies that they thought had a great idea or story to share. Ali Schwanke from Leadership Resources nominated Contemporary Analysis. Three Pillars Media produced this great video about CAN’s product development strategy and the difference between small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Contemporary Analysis was founded on the premise that there is always a better way. In fact, we exist to help you find better ways to work smart. We do this using a methodology called predictive analytics.
Predictive analytics involves collecting data about your business and customers, and then applying theory and math to build simple systems to help you work more effectively and efficiently.
Our systems are tailored to fit your company no matter how big or small or what industry you are in. We have built simple systems for fast-growing technology companies, Fortune 500 companies as well as small companies in a variety of industries including community colleges, insurance companies, software companies and engineering firms.

November 21, 2011 Nate Watson News 2 comments

Identifying Your Target Market

When I started my sales career, my philosophy was to let anyone who needed my product buy from me. It worked. I was one of the more successful young salespeople and I exceeded my quota month after month. My target market was “anyone and everyone”, and it seemed to be working. However, I was unknowingly limiting my future success.

After hearing from several of peers who had been in sales for years that they wish they could start over and not have the bottom 10-20% of their book of business, I conducted research on my book of business. My research showed that 75% of my time was spent on customer service issues with only 15% of my clients. Furthermore, looking at who that 15% were, the study found that 75% of those were my lowest yielding profit margin clients. In addition to my failed attempts at asking for referrals to anyone, it was obvious that I needed to invest in identifying and focusing my sales efforts on my target market. Learn how CAN helped the Admissions department at a University focus on recruiting the right students.
Once I identified my target, two things happened: I started to receive referrals when I asked for them, and I was finally able to apply a strategy to my sales efforts. I no longer felt that I had to get everyone as a client, in fact, I started turning away people who were not my target market. Low and behold, gone were the price chasers, time wasters, and no-money makers that wasted so much time.

I used the following strategy to identify my target market, so that I could start selling smart:

First, I identified the events that caused someone to buy my product.

In my case it was a major life change. Things like buying a new home, getting married, having children, and changing jobs.

Second, I identified the characteristics of the people were that were experiencing these events.

In my case it was 20-30 year olds that had graduated college, had lived in apartments for 4 to 5 years, had a job were they made $50,000 or more a year, and had met their fiancés but had yet to marry them.

Third, I identified where my target market spends time.

In my case, my target market spent time at first time home buyer classes, professional certification training classes, marriage classes, gyms, and trendy restaurants. This provided my advertising with focus, also I started to have meetings and work at coffee shops and restaurants where I could meet my target market.

Lastly, I identified the people who were around people who needed my product.

In my case, these were real estate agents, mortgage brokers, ministers, trendy restaurant owners, lawyers, and headhunters. This step allowed me to know where I needed to spend my time networking and which events I needed to attend. All of a sudden I knew where I needed to be and who I needed to meet at each event.
Now when people are outside my target market, I can recognize when they might be one of the bottom 15% of my market that would suck up 75% of my customer service time. I can weigh the cost and benefit and decide if I should bring them on as a client, or refer them to someone who might be able to serve their needs better.
Let me know if you would like help identifying your target market, or using predictive analytics to find people who fit your profile and are looking to purchase.
Learn more about how CAN helped a online university identify their target market.

October 31, 2011 Nate Watson News 6 comments

Using Business Cards

Good networkers typically collect between 3 to 5 business cards for every hour they invest at a networking event. It is important to have a system to process the business cards you collect at networking events, because while you might be able to process 3 to 5 business cards a day, anything over that requires a systematic way to keep up with connections until they become friends and clients.
Learn how we applied predictive analytics to CRM & accounting data to identify who was 60 to 80% likely to enroll at a Top 10 Online University.
Step 1: The first thing that I do is prioritize business cards based on the conversations that I have had with people. I start by throwing away the business cards of people that handed me their card, but that we failed to have a conversation. The reason that I throw those business cards out is because I don’t know anything about that person and their business, and they choose not to take the time to learn anything about me and my business. For people that I did have a conversation with I write down details about that person in my CRM (see Step 2). (more…)

October 24, 2011 Nate Watson News 2 comments

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