The release of Full Funnel Analytics for InsideView Apex gives us a chance to step back and think about the value companies need to get out of analytics tools.
B2B businesses have been forever thirsty for a better understanding of what is driving pipeline and revenue, and there are lots of options. CRM systems have some analytics capabilities out of the box. There are also Business Intelligence (BI) tools that have an indefinite number of customizable charts and graphs, allowing for deeper analysis on any variable imaginable.
The truth is, all of these solutions have a place. However companies don’t have unlimited time and money to deploy every possible analytics tool. Even worse, unlimited access to these tools could create “analysis paralysis” that comes from having too many signals, and without the right context, teams would be pulled in all different directions.
What companies value is a practical tool that can show value right away.
Analytics needs to be simple to deploy and easy to get started with. This is a criticism of many BI tools. They are a blank slate, meaning they don’t come with any data on their own and often require lots of work and hand holding to get the right reports set up before any value can be realized. CRM tools are a bit better, since they are native to the CRM, making them easier to understand and get value from faster. Analytics from InsideView Apex is a hybrid. It is preconfigured so set up is minimal, and supplements data drawn directly from your CRM.
It also needs to display the information in a way that makes sense to the people looking at it. If the area of interest is full funnel analytics, that’s marketers and salespeople. Having charts that surface insights into average deal size, conversion rates, and win rates are all well understood concepts that provide immediate value. You’ll also need easy access into the details behind those insights to uncover trends or outliers. For example, Insideview Apex allows you to set a target date range to look at pipeline trends on any timeline, and you can then “dig in” and expose individual sales stages to uncover information about the shape of the funnel.
Finally, analytics needs to display the information with context. This is a criticism of out-of-the-box CRM analytics. While it is interesting to see a change in pipeline over time, it does not capture the “why” of any changes in the data. Let’s say you set up an account-based marketing initiative (initiatives like these can be defined in context as “Market Segments” within InsideView Apex) where fewer companies are targeted, meaning fewer opportunities and a smaller pipeline, but win rates are expected to be higher to compensate. The context is the critical element that drives the analysis. Without it, teams could come to a false conclusion and make changes that hurt, rather than help, the business.
InsideView Apex endeavors to give the best of both worlds: out-of-the-box tools with little set up and chock full of relevant information. It digs down into the data deep enough that real insights can be gleaned, and most importantly, is set up to measure your sales funnel with context so you can get to real, actionable insights. You can see a guided demo of InsideView Apex by emailing salesteam@insideview.com.
You can view our press release here.