The Power of Connection in Business Analysis
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect the perspectives of IIBA.
Have you ever wondered why certain companies are extremely good at sales and anything they advertise feels perfectly made for you? Don’t worry, we’ve all been there at least once.
Backed by science, sales employ various methodologies and techniques to generate leads and convert them into customers. The techniques used will vary depending on the industry, target sales demographic, and product/service.
In this article, I’ll discuss how you can incorporate successful sales practices into your business analysis toolkit.
The Emotional Side of Sales on Customers
In general, sales can make consumers feel a variety of different ways. They can evoke feelings of excitement, satisfaction, or accomplishment. But they can also evoke anxiety, regret, dissatisfaction, anger, worry, or resentment.Feelings can drive our actions and determine how willing we are to share information, engage with others, and spend money. This information is essential to consider when engaging with your business partners as a business analysis professional.
To put the sales concept into perspective, I’ll explore two sales use cases, each with a business analysis comparison.
Use Case 1: The Car Salesman
In the United States, before online car buying and before buyers could exit their vehicles to look around, car salesmen were at the window, ready to sell. While this behaviour might have seemed proactive and helpful, it could also overwhelm and scare potential customers away. If the customer decided to get out of their car, the car salesman would immediately bombard them with questions.So, let’s think about why this approach isn’t desirable.
For one thing, it has the potential to make the salesman appear dishonest and manipulative. It also doesn’t allow the customer to explore and think about the many car options available. Preventing the customer from thinking may lead to negative feelings, resulting in lost sales leads and poor reviews for the business.
This negative situation can be easily avoided by using a more personal sales approach.
Business Analysis Comparison
The same rules apply in the world of business analysis.
Imagine that you’re a new, junior business analyst on an initiative. You’re about to have your first interaction with a very influential stakeholder. The lead business analyst advises you to use active listening and take your time getting to know the stakeholder first.
New to the organization and eager to prove yourself on your first initiative, you completely disregard this advice. You rush right in and start asking tons of questions about the stakeholders' needs without allowing them to speak. Afterward, you believe the meeting was a success. Then, your manager informs you that the stakeholder wants to work with a different business analyst.
What happened?
The stakeholder felt pushed, rushed, unheard, frustrated, and not valued (like the customer in the first use case). This negative situation could have easily been avoided by taking the time to understand the stakeholders and performing a stakeholder analysis.
Use Case 2: The Concierge Doctor
Some communities embrace the idea of a concierge doctor. These are doctors who make house calls and are available around the clock.
It’s common that concierge doctors only accept cash, don’t accept medical insurance, lack a physical office, and don’t advertise their services. Clients generally are referred to concierge doctors by word of mouth.
How does this work?
Concierge doctors are effective because they take the time to get to know their clients inside and out. Taking the time to connect with their clients, while also finding personal commonalities and interests, helps build trust.
The concierge doctor also supports and champions their clients’ progress and healthy habits. This resonates with clients and makes the interactions with the doctor feel less transactional.
Lastly, concierge doctors support their clients around the clock—when a client calls, they’re available. This personalized approach to medicine makes clients feel satisfied with paying completely out of pocket for their medical service. With high satisfaction, clients proudly share their results and experiences, generating leads for the concierge doctor.
Business Analysis Comparison
Taking a personalized approach to business analysis is equally valuable. To illustrate this, let’s examine a hypothetical scenario.
A business analysis professional is assigned a new team as part of a large technology initiative within a professional hockey organization. The initiative sponsor informs them that the organization has just experienced a significant amount of change. Knowing how this might impact individuals within the organization, the business analysis professional decides on a more personalized engagement approach.
Meetings are scheduled with key stakeholders individually, in non-traditional meeting locations around their campus. This approach creates and encourages a more relaxed atmosphere. With reduced anxiety, stakeholders and the assigned business analysis professional can get to know each other better.
These introductory meetings are extremely casual and focus on the interests of both parties. This approach was selected to build trust and help the free flow of information sharing without resistance. After the stakeholders feel more comfortable, formal meetings are set up for requirements gathering sessions, which are extremely productive.
After gathering most of the requirements, the business analysis professional presents progress to the stakeholders. The stakeholders are so happy with the progress that they start sharing positive feedback on the process with other business areas. As a result, other areas begin requesting technology enhancements for their internal hockey apps involving the same business analysis professional.
What happened?
The business analysis professional invested time in getting to know the stakeholders personally, listening to their needs and concerns. This helped the organization recognize the progress being made. In return, stakeholders shared this progress through word of mouth.
The Power of Connection
We can learn a lot from both use cases. As business analysis professionals, it’s always worth remembering that we’re providing a service. Consider your audience when selecting how you will engage with stakeholders so that you don’t appear overbearing or pushy.
Take the time to listen to your stakeholders’ needs. Get to know and connect with them and allow them to get to know you as well. Be their champion and help them see their progress!
All initiatives have some level of change, which always impacts the people involved. With change comes emotion, and we should understand how to navigate these challenges as business analysis professionals.
Remember to be available when your stakeholders need you. Being available will help keep your stakeholders engaged and reduce the anxiety that often accompanies change initiatives.
As your initiative progresses, your stakeholders will speak highly of the progress you make together. And the feedback you receive will help you grow and evolve as a business analysis professional.
About the Author
Alicia is a seasoned technology leader, business analyst, and 40 Under 40 awardee, with a proven track record for successfully leading, managing, and delivering large technology, engineering, and creative initiatives in a variety of different industries for global organizations. Alicia has received numerous awards and honours for her unwavering dedication and commitment to giving back to the community. She actively volunteers and serves on the board of directors with organizations in North Carolina and Florida, including the IIBA Tampa Bay Chapter Board of Directors.
