Business intelligence: how do you know you’re winning if you don’t know the score

Have you ever watched a game of football, netball, tennis or any sport without there being a scoreboard? Imagine how confusing it would be not knowing which team or player was winning and by what margin. Not only is a scoreboard important but so are the vast range of vital statistics available on how the game is progressing. Depending on the sport, these statistics will include critical information such as the number of unforced errors, the ratio of goals to inside 50s, or the number of off-sides resulting in free passes to the opposition. Without this information being available in real-time throughout the game, the team coach would have no objective insight into what team adjustments he or she needs to make to remain competitive. Because this information is so important for the team’s success, professional sporting clubs invest heavily in statistical data as they know that without these insights their competitors would have a significant advantage.

Similar to professional sporting clubs, business metrics need to capture the firm’s real-time results across a range of performance measures that ultimately lead to achieving improved growth, profitability and sustainability. Important metrics for law firms include utilisation, realisation, WIP, new clients and matters, referrals, matter profitability, lawyer satisfaction rates and turnover, client promoter scores and the list goes on. However, only the best firms have invested the time and resources into accurately capturing and then extracting this data into meaningful information that can provide powerful insights at the touch of a button. Just as importantly, sophisticated firms have ensured that there is trust in the information available to them. They have invested wisely to ensure the firm’s data is cleansed and business systems have been configured effectively so they too can make important decisions.

If you would like help with accessing your firm’s real-time information to improve your business insights and competitive advantage, get in touch.

​

Robert Wagner, Managing Partner, Harriss Wagner Consultants & Advisers