Recall that we start each month on The MineThatData Blog by trying to do/say something positive.
When I do database marketing reviews for different organizations, my favorite hour is spent with analysts, the folks who do the actual work.
See, I always ask the executive I'm working for to have one hour with 3-4 analysts. I get odd looks after making this request. To date, not one executive turned me down.
The analysts walk into the room with an element of trepidation. I mean, why does this consultant want to speak with this group of individuals?
Of course, I want to speak with this group of individuals because THESE FOLKS GET THINGS DONE!
The executive believes they have a targeted e-mail marketing program that leads the industry.
The analyst has to execute the program. She knows that she has to download files to her personal computer, because there isn't enough server space to store the file on the network. And if there were enough space to store the file, somebody in IT would tell her to delete a 2-gig file because it is taking up too much space.
We read about brands that employ a 1-to-1 relationship with their consumers.
Try being an analyst who has to send a file to Experian with 86 different (and highly targeted) bind-in inserts --- especially when the executive team changes their mind an adds nine new versions of the bind-in insert one day before the file is due at Experian!
It is the analyst who honestly tells you what is actually being executed, and what is really just "leadership speak".
It is the analyst who is figuring out how to better optimize a search marketing program while riding a bus because her 1992 Toyota Tercel is in the garage, being repaired.
It is the analyst who works with sub-standard hardware, so that the whole company can meet financial objectives.
It is the analyst who comes in on a Saturday afternoon to make sure that a computer program ran correctly because there is a problem connecting from homes with a DSL or dial-up connection.
It is the analyst who arrives at work at 6:30am and compiles the "morning numbers", so that the executive knows what is happening with the business when she arrives at 7:00am.
Today, we celebrate a positive view of the analyst-level individuals, the folks who execute our strategies and initiatives. Why not give a little bit of your leftover Halloween candy to your catalog, e-mail, and online marketing analysts?
Three -- no, four cheers! -- for heralding the (usually) unspoken competence of those people who actually make things happen in the database world. And when you find one who is technically competent, strategically curious AND has a management team that will give him or her some rope to chase ideas down, there's a company or division to keep an eye on.
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