Business Tip 7
Create Ready-Made and Customizable Analyses

Sure ... automated charts and graphs, but what about automated, customized analyses? (Now, THAT would be a neat trick.)

Turn-key analyses and presentations save a lot of time and raise the quality bar because you are able to communicate your message to your partners, management, or customers in a consistent, accurate manner. However, it's also important that the end-result be customized to the intended audience - you want a standard presentation, not a canned one.

The idea is to get the best of both worlds: to present a cohesive view of your business, yet build in enough functionality than an analysis or presentation can be tweaked for each unique situation. Some advantages of the ready-made and customizable approach:

Deliver a consistent message

Standards allow everyone to view the business or category to reflect the way your company manages it. For example, if a particular product line or segment is being emphasized, a standard presentation helps to ensure that the product or initiative receives the attention and focus necessary to meet support, distribution, and promotional goals.

Increase time spent on meaningful tasks

Turn-key analyses allow personnel to spend more time focusing on improving the business and less on analyzing it. For example, manufacturer calls could be more productive if a standard "pre-call" presentation were developed and automatically populated. This would help the manufacturer become better informed on the brand and category performance and make quality recommendations that improve the customer's business. Productivity gains are also realized since the same presentation or presentation slides could be leveraged across many customers and categories.

Increase ability to act on the results

Standard presentations that can be "personalized" for each customer can lead to improved action steps and course corrections. Gone are the days when a Total US or even a regional level of data would be sufficient for managing a key retailer's business. The ability to examine retailer- and market-specific performance addresses the three basics of Category Management analyses:

The data, products and accounts depicted in this example are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual data, products or accounts is purely coincidental.