4 Tips for Data Driven IIoT Storytelling Success

Data driven IIoT storytelling for the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) ecosystem relentlessly focuses on customer success for customer retention.

IIoT stories and business cases have a lot of meat on them. They differ from status quo infographics or legacy marketing communications collateral.

Consider how your organization delivers business value to both internal and external customers. Data driven IIoT storytelling (industrial Internet of Things) leverages insights from predictive analytics to state your business case to data driven decision makers.

First, these stories derive insights from quantitative, predictive analytics. Next, these stories marry up with qualitative, Voice of the Customer insights. Finally, IIoT storytelling focuses on how your organization’s ecosystem of people, processes, software and equipment creates enduring line of business value for clients.

Consider incorporating these 4 Tips for embarking on a data driven IIoT storytelling journey for 2017.

1. Think strategy first,  before you dive in and try to execute a meaningless data driven project.

   Look before you leap into data driven IIoT storytelling. Without foresight and proper planning, creating data driven projects represents nothing more than busy work yielding meaningless results. However, by asking data scientists and other cross-functional resources to assist you, the pilot project becomes aligned with organizational strategy. Always connect the data dots and analytics insights to line of business value.

2. Work collaboratively and cross functionally to understand the data.

   Perhaps you currently do not interact with data scientists in your organization. If so, you are long overdue to make them your new best friends. They are well-suited to help you overcome big data analytics anxiety. Not only are these professionals great teachers, but also they are inquisitive and curious. Data scientists have just as many questions to ask you as you will ask them. That scenario represents a fertile playground for big data and predictive analytics collaboration!

3. Liberate and mine the gold found in historical, retrospective data.

   Review what has already happened. This tack is one of the best ways to get everyone’s feet wet working strategically and collaboratively. Consider whether overlooked variables now contribute to insights about present-day strategic initiatives. Ponder the organizational data backstory. Why do these data continue to lie dormant or hidden within incompatible data bases? Evaluate lost opportunity for value creation. Why does information still reside in data kingdoms within fiercely guarded departmental silos? Does this scenario represent your big data and predictive analytics status quo? If so, how much good is the data doing anyone? Isn’t it about time that you Free the Data!?

4. Data and insights are meaningless without context. Define project scope for IIoT storytelling. Create provocative questions to ask of big data. Consider how data driven insights will be used within the context of each line of business unit. Anticipate specific terminology of end users of data driven IIoT storytelling. Translate across professional disciplines. Increase cross functional understanding.

How are you planning on incorporating data driven IIoT storytelling into your customer acquisition, customer success and customer retention strategies in 2017?

Take the next steps.

1. Subscribe to the Sales Aerobics for Engineers® Blog via the red Never Miss An Article box . Receive new posts on customer retention, tech workforce hiring strategy and team collaboration.
2. Download free resources, including White Papers, Study Guides, and Interviews to catalyze your organization’s strategy for retaining customers.
3. Are you an Owner, CEO, VP, decision maker or manager? Book a brief consultation with Babette at info@salesaerobicsforengineers.com . What are you waiting for?

Babette Ten Haken is a storyteller, management consultant, strategist, speaker and coach focused on customer success for customer retention in the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) ecosystem. She traverses the interface between human capital strategy for hiring and developing collaborative technical and non-technical teams. She serves manufacturing, IT and engineering intensive companies. Babette’s playbook of technical / non-technical collaboration hacks, Do YOU Mean Business? is available on Amazon. Visit the Free Resources section of her website for more tools.

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