Best Practices for Data-Driven Decision Making

It’s time to stop thinking like it’s 2005. Correlation may flatter your GTM story, but only causation proves impact. More than 80% of companies missed their sales forecast in at least one quarter over the last two years (Gong, 2024). In H1 2024, 49% of companies missed their revenue goals (GTM Partners Benchmark Report, 2024). At the same time, executives keep putting faith in attribution models that only tell a sliver of the story. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: too often, data is interpreted in ways that confirm existing assumptions rather than test them. Harvard Business Review found that sales leaders are frequently blindsided by overinflated forecasts driven by “all-too-human behavior” (Harvard Business Review, 2019). GTM Partners research shows that poor data quality can cost companies up to 25% of annual revenue, yet 60% don’t even measure these costs. That’s value leakage every CFO cares about. It’s time to fix this. Here are 5 ways to make GTM decisions actually data-driven: 1. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘀: Harvard Business Review notes that “consistently accurate sales forecasts are rare because many companies fail to align their sales and marketing departments.” Assume your campaign 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 work—then try to prove yourself wrong.     2. 𝗥𝘂𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀: Compare your marketing results to a control group to see the actual lift your efforts create. MIT Sloan warns that confirmation bias leads us to “interpret ambiguous facts in light of preexisting attitudes.” Stop crediting natural growth to your LinkedIn ads.     3. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗮𝗷𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: MIT Sloan recommends bringing together “different perspectives on the same issue” because organizational biases cloud interpretation. Create space for contrarians—the risks of blind spots are too expensive to ignore.     4. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀: Research shows the average B2B buyer has ~31 touchpoints with a brand before deciding (Dreamdata, 2024). Your last-touch attribution is missing most of the story.     5. 𝗣𝗿𝗲-𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Record in advance your testing methodology and success criteria. This prevents “analysis after the fact” bias and ensures accountability when results don’t fit expectations. 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: If your data never challenges you, it’s not science; it’s storytelling. The companies that break through are the ones willing to let the data argue back. What’s the most obvious confirmation bias you’ve seen in GTM? #GTM #MarketingLeadership #causalinference  

Last week, I posted about data strategies’ tendency to focus on the data itself, overlooking the (data-driven) decisioning process itself. All it not lost. First, it is appropriate that the majority of the focus remains on the supply of high-quality #data relative to the perceived demand for it through the lenses of specific use cases. But there is an opportunity to complement this by addressing the decisioning process itself. 7 initiatives you can consider: 1) Create a structured decision-making framework that integrates data into the strategic decision-making process. This is a reusable framework that can be used to explain in a variety of scenarios how decisions can be made. Intuition is not immediately a bad thing, but the framework raises awareness about its limitations, and the role of data to overcome them. 2) Equip leaders with the skills to interpret and use data effectively in strategic contexts. This can include offering training programs focusing on data literacy, decision-making biases, hypothesis development, and data #analytics techniques tailored for strategic planning. A light version could be an on-demand training. 3) Improve your #MI systems and dashboards to provide real-time, relevant, and easily interpretable data for strategic decision-makers. If data is to play a supporting role to intuition in a number of important scenarios, then at least that data should be available and reliable. 4) Encourage a #dataculture, including in the top executive tier. This is the most important and all-encompassing recommendation, but at the same time the least tactical and tangible. Promote the use of data in strategic discussions, celebrate data-driven successes, and create forums for sharing best practices. 5) Integrate #datascientists within strategic planning teams. Explore options to assign them to work directly with executives on strategic initiatives, providing data analysis, modeling, and interpretation services as part of the decision-making process. 6) Make decisioning a formal pillar of your #datastrategy alongside common existing ones like data architecture, data quality, and metadata management. Develop initiatives and goals focused on improving decision-making processes, including training, tools, and metrics. 7) Conduct strategic data reviews to evaluate how effectively data was used. Avoid being overly critical of the decision-makers; the goal is to refine the process, not question the decisions themselves. Consider what data could have been sought at the time to validate or challenge the decision. Both data and intuition have roles to play in strategic decision-making. No leap in data or #AI will change that. The goal is to balance the two, which requires investment in the decision-making process to complement the existing focus on the data itself. Full POV ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e3F-R6V7

Using Data to Drive Strategy: To lead with confidence and achieve sustainable growth, businesses must lean into data-driven decision-making. When harnessed correctly, data illuminates what’s working, uncovers untapped opportunities, and de-risks strategic choices. But using data to drive strategy isn’t about collecting every data point — it’s about asking the right questions and translating insights into action. Here’s how to make informed decisions using data as your strategic compass. 1. Start with Strategic Questions, Not Just Data: Too many teams gather data without a clear purpose. Flip the script. Begin with your business goals: What are we trying to achieve? What’s blocking growth? What do we need to understand to move forward? Align your data efforts around key decisions, not the other way around. 2. Define the Right KPIs: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should reflect both your objectives and your customer's journey. Well-defined KPIs serve as the dashboard for strategic navigation, ensuring you're not just busy but moving in the right direction. 3. Bring Together the Right Data Sources Strategic insights often live at the intersection of multiple data sets: Website analytics reveal user behavior. CRM data shows pipeline health and customer trends. Social listening exposes brand sentiment. Financial data validates profitability and ROI. Connecting these sources creates a full-funnel view that supports smarter, cross-functional decision-making. 4. Use Data to Pressure-Test Assumptions Even seasoned leaders can fall into the trap of confirmation bias. Let data challenge your assumptions. Think a campaign is performing? Dive into attribution metrics. Believe one channel drives more qualified leads? A/B test it. Feel your product positioning is clear? Review bounce rates and session times. Letting data “speak truth to power” leads to more objective, resilient strategies. 5. Visualize and Socialize Insights Data only becomes powerful when it drives alignment. Use dashboards, heatmaps, and story-driven visuals to communicate insights clearly and inspire action. Make data accessible across departments so strategy becomes a shared mission, not a siloed exercise. 6. Balance Data with Human Judgment Data informs. Leaders decide. While metrics provide clarity, real-world experience, context, and intuition still matter. Use data to sharpen instincts, not replace them. The best strategic decisions blend insight with empathy, analytics with agility. 7. Build a Culture of Curiosity Making data-driven decisions isn’t a one-time event — it’s a mindset. Encourage teams to ask questions, test hypotheses, and treat failure as learning. When curiosity is rewarded and insight is valued, strategy becomes dynamic and future-forward. Informed decisions aren't just more accurate — they’re more powerful. By embedding data into the fabric of your strategy, you empower your organization to move faster, think smarter, and grow with greater confidence.