Data democratization is the clarifying tool that’s critically required to truly tap into the power of an organization’s suite of North Star Metrics. Plenty of technology is available at an organization’s disposal to sharpen and bring into focus what’s happening beyond the corporate walls. However, with big data comes big problems, especially when teams fail to leverage and act on the high-level insights to unlock viable growth and retention opportunities far beyond the next quarter.

1. Unlocking Growth and Retention
Opportunities Through Data Democratization
Conduct Customer
Research
Unpack
Channels and
Experiences
Conduct Team
Interviews
Gain
Organizational
Buy-In
Collaborate Closely with
Leadership on
Outcomes and Goals
Train the Team on
the New Elements
Alignment
of the Two
Why's

2. What is Data Democratization?
Democratizing data is the process of delivering critical insights about growth,
trajectory and performance across all departments regardless of their position,
background or data science knowledge. This process has the opportunity to
build employee retention while delivering more sublime customer
experiences because teams are better equipped to see the value in the work
they deliver to the organization as a whole.
Wherever teams are on the growth journey, one thing is true — there are
distinct challenges when navigating today’s complex commerce ecosystem.

3. Data Democratization is Critical Today
Organizations are facing paralysis as to
where to allocate their available cash.
Meanwhile, teams face more scrutiny,
larger budget cuts and leaner operations
as manpower gets reduced.
Look at Southwest Airlines as an example
of what can happen when you ignore
problems until it's too late. Red flags
could’ve been avoided had the
organization listened to the employee's
feedback, gathered internal qualitative
data, and democratized it.
In
The carrier led U.S.
flight cancellations
during the Christmas
and New Year holiday
period.
Southwest Airlines
Flight Cancellations
Southwest Airlines
Co (LUV) Price
Percentage Change
17,000
Canceled Flights
1 Billion
Dollars in Lost Revenue
2 Million
Passengers Impacted
Southwest
Cancellations
Cancellations from
Other Carriers

4. The Domino Effect From a Lack of Insights
In
Sales Team Feedback Loop
Marketing Team Feedback
IT Team Lack of Product-Market Fit
Sales Team Leaves
Marketing Team
Company Valuation
● Problem logging in
● Poor UX/UI
● Antiquated process & system
structure
● Competitor insights
● Voice of customer data
Ignored team feedback
Lack of investment to make
improvements
Irrelevant features
Outdated code
Lack of pulse on market
demands
● Loss of top talent to the competition
● Steep decline in sales
● CAC increases
● LTV decreases
● Stock prices decrease
● Valuation declines

5. Misalignment #1: Looking at the Wrong Data
Not all data is created equally. When it
comes to democratizing data and
disseminating it across the organization
to drive alignment, it’s crucial that
everyone is looking at the right data sets.
Often, revenues aren’t the one North Star
Metric that matters. Going deeper and
democratizing data across all areas of the
organization can help teams spot
anomalies and use those to dig below the
surface to drive growth.
In
Source: OpenView 2021 SaaS pricing survey
Weight Watchers Nutrisystem
Percentage of Total U.S. Direct-to-Consumer Sales from
New Customer for Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem
2021 2022
A lesser tapped
opportunity to continue to
grow the base by tapping
into consumers wanting to
maintain weight during
the holiday season.
Where the bulk of weight
loss firms focus their
marketing efforts.

6. Misalignment #2: Silo-Based Perspectives
Sales chase a different target than
marketing. Marketing chases a different
target than the product. Vendors, resellers,
and other third parties that interface with
the company chase another target well
outside the organization’s scope and why.
With a broader perspective that extends
outside of their silo-based thinking, teams
can better connect the dots of what’s
actually happening in the market.
VENDORS
RESELLER
3RD PARTIES
Emotional Triggers
(Past, Present, Future)
Logical Triggers
(Past, Present, Future)
Emotional Trigger
(Past, Present, Future)
Business Model
Experience
Channels
Products and Services
The 3 Ps
The Business Story
Brand
Experience
Framework
(Internal Vesting)
Customer
Experience
Framework
(Path-to-Purchase)
DEMOCRATIZATION DATA INTERNALLY & EXTERNALLY

7. Misalignment #3: Points Over People
Data is emotional and sentiment based. Analyzing data is emotional in nature
because it’s directly tied to behavioral psychology.
CHANNELS
DATA Brand
Experience
Framework
(Internal Vesting)
Emotional Triggers
(Past, Present, Future)
Logical Triggers
(Past, Present, Future)
Emotional Trigger
(Past, Present, Future)
Experience
Channels
Products and Services
The 3 Ps
The Business Story
Business Model
Customer Experience
Framework
(Path-to-Purchase)
Your Brand
Your Brand

8. A Framework for Data Democratization
StoryVesting is the framework we use for everything we do at RocketSource. It’s
the lens through which we approach new strategies, form new plans, and
create new marketing plans for our clients.
Emotional Triggers
(Past, Present,
Future)
Logical Triggers
(Past, Present,
Future)
Emotional Trigger
(Past, Present,
Future)
Experience
Channels
Products and Services
The 3 Ps
The Business Story
Business Model
Stimulus
Personalized Emotional
trigger
Feelings Feelings
Logical Decision Making
Excitement
Hope
Confidence
Relevancy
Expectations
Time vs. Effort
Cost vs. Value
Experience

9. Everything Starts With the Employee Experience
In
Teams must clearly understand why the
company exists and the business model
that fuels that purpose to democratize the
team’s approach.
Without having teams fully vested in the
core why, they’ll struggle to understand
how their work influences the greater goal
of moving towards improving the North
Star Metric. A few of the questions we like
to focus on around the business model
are:
● Who are your customers?
● What do your customers
think of your brand?
● How do you reach your
customers?
● How does your organization
make money?
● Why is this company in
business?
● How does each brand within
the organization make
money?

10. Everything Starts With the Employee Experience
● Who are your customers?
● What do your customers think
of your brand?
● How do you reach your
customers?
● How does your organization
make money?
● Why is this company in
business?
● How does each brand within
the organization make money?
In
Teams must clearly understand why the
company exists and the business model
that fuels that purpose to democratize the
team’s approach.
Without having teams fully vested in the
core why, they’ll struggle to understand
how their work influences the greater goal
of moving towards improving the North
Star Metric. A few of the questions we like
to focus on around the business model
are:

11. Democratizing EX Data to Gain CX Insights
We always start with retention in mind. Keeping current customers happy lets
us understand what the market needs, what will drive bigger long-term growth,
and how to reach our current buyers.
Bow Tie Funnel
Customer Retention Optimization
(“CRO”)
Customer
Experience
Framework
(Path-to-Purchase)
CUSTOMER
EMPLOYEE
Emotional Triggers
(Past, Present, Future)
Logical Triggers
(Past, Present,
Future)
Emotional Trigger
(Past, Present, Future)
BRAND
AMBASSADOR
ADVOCATE
LOYALIST
ADOPTER

12. Gathering Data When It’s Hard to Come By
Gone are the days when businesses use
analytics to move customers through the
pre-purchase and post-purchase funnels
like cogs in a system. Today’s analytics are
far more robust.
Knowing how to properly and adequately
look at the many pathways involved inside
a customer’s journey from awareness
around a product to the level of brand
ambassadorship that spurs
word-of-mouth growth, is tricky and
requires a Customer Insights Map.

13. Data Collection is Becoming Increasingly Difficult
Right to Be Forgotten
Consumers can say that they want
companies to forget them by erasing their
personal data. Organizations are
responsible for removing personal data
upon request within a reasonable
timeframe.
Without knowing who to target and who’s
arriving on your website, it becomes very
difficult to build firmographic data and a
database for an audience.
Move to Google Analytics 4
Rather than storing user data on their
analytics profile, large organizations will
need to transition to cloud data warehouses
like BigQuery.
Without being able to keep data consistent
year over year or across experiences, it’s
impossible to build predictive models to
understand how well the organization is
moving towards the North Star Metric.

14. Data Democratization to Settle Attribution Issues
Attribution gives credit to specific
departments on your team for making the
sale. When the customer journey isn’t
properly visualized, teams have difficulty
knowing where the buck stopped. When
that happens, the internal finger-pointing
begins, and a whole host of other
unproductive issues rise to the surface.
Sharing attribution across all channels
allows teams to avoid cannibalizing each
other and start working together in sync.
In
Source: Gamestop
Online 59%
Retail 41%
December 2020
Share of Sales
2019 2020 2021
GameStop’s net loss in the second quarter widened by
more than 75% from a year ago to $108.7 million. Sales, at
roughly $1.1 billion, fell slightly from last year.
*Indexed to week of Jan 7, 2019 total sales (=100)
Online vs Retail Weekly Indexed Sales

15. Data Democratization to Settle Attribution Issues
“When our board began turning over early last year,
GameStop was saddled with significant debt, decaying
systems, limited employee depth and a host of other issues.
The upshot is we now have a more diversified product
catalog, strengthened fulfillment network, improved tech
stack and e-commerce presence, and fortified corporate
infrastructure.
- Matt Furlong, CEO of Gamestop
”

16. Nothing is Ever in Isolation
Businesses can no longer go as usual and
offer stability in such a disruptive market.
It takes manpower, time, attention, and of
course, data. It requires innovation.
Without standardization, everyone on the
team will do things differently, which can
cause operations to run inefficiently and
haphazardly. Breaking that information
out of silos allows teams a more accessible
way to get the insights needed to
collectively move toward that North Star
Metric.
Source: McKinsey & Company, Accenture, Salesforce

17. Nothing is Ever in Isolation
Businesses can no longer go as usual and offer stability in such a disruptive market.
It takes manpower, time, attention, and of course, data. It requires innovation.
An accelerator can help insurers that need to pursue more significant
product innovations and other ‘step-out’ opportunities
Typical innovation operating models; choices depend on innovation strategy
Potential impact
Insurers need at least three development pathways to
manage the delivery of their innovation portfolios
Project Archetypes
Upper bound ERR, 1 $millions
Source: McKinsey & Company, Accenture, Salesforce
1ERR = economic rate of return.
Rapid ramp-up of
opportunities
Strategic
imperative to
innovate
Evolve capabilities
and options over
time
Incremental or
close to core
Degree of change
from current
business
Disruptive or far
from core business
Development
pathways required
Accelerating
Derisking and accelerating
Derisking
Advanced analytics
Automation/Robotics
Emerging technologies
Digital engagement
Business model innovation
Disrupt
Breakout
Growth
Core

18. Nothing is Ever in Isolation
Without standardization, everyone on the
team will do things differently, which can
cause operations to run inefficiently and
haphazardly. Breaking that information
out of silos allows teams a more accessible
way to get the insights needed to
collectively move toward that North Star
Metric.
Source: McKinsey & Company, Accenture, Salesforce
of consumers are ready to
switch to brands that offer
online product advisory and an
“everywhere commerce”
experience where transactions
take place seamlessly across
digital channels
of customers said they
prefer opening a new
account or product on
their computer
said they prefer to use a
mobile app
of business buyers said
they used more than one
device to complete a
single transaction
said they expect
connected experiences
across channels and
departments when they
interact with vendors

19. Enriching the Customer Experience
Emotional Triggers
(Past, Present, Future)
Logical Triggers
(Past, Present, Future)
Emotional Trigger
(Past, Present, Future)
Experience
Channels
Products and Services
The 3 Ps
The Business Story
Business Model
Stimulus
Personalized Emotional trigger
Feelings Feelings
Logical Decision Making
Excitement
Hope
Confidence
Relevancy
Expectations
Time vs. Effort
Cost vs. Value
Experience
Employee Interviews to
Uncover:
● Why are you in the
business that you’re in?
● Who are your customers?
● What do your customers
think of you?
● How does your business
make money?
● Can you describe your
business model on the
back of a napkin?
● What are the various
brands within your
company?
● What feedback have you
received directly from the
customers?
● What are your marketing
channels?
Customer Data to Analyze:
● What are the customer’s
emotional triggers?
● What is the customer’s
why?
● What does the customer
need to feel connected
with that why?
● What are the logical
triggers?
● How does the customer
experience reconcile both
the emotional and logical
triggers?

20. Enriching the Customer Experience
Feelings

21. Data Democratization for Effective UX/UI
Before we design any page or write any
copy, our team works to understand what
the data tell us by looking at qualitative
data. We then unpack the emotional and
logical triggers on the customer’s side of
the framework and leverage them to
design the pages the way we do. It’s that
approach that allows us to map the
project then more strategically.
Conduct Customer
Research
Unpack
Channels
and
Experiences
Conduct Team
Interviews
Gain
Organizational
Buy-In
Collaborate Closely with
Leadership on
Outcomes and Goals
Train the Team on
the New Elements
Alignment
of the Two
Why's

22. Data Democratization Stems From the Why
The StoryVesting framework helps teams
stay aligned around the organization’s
core purpose for being in existence.
By rethinking how you approach
platforms, you can build thought
leadership, brand personality and
something of value. However, if you
operate from a black hole by posting for
the sake of posting, it can make it nearly
impossible to gather the feedback you
need to keep moving forward.

23. Using Data Democratization to Build Retention
In focusing on the company’s why, organizations improve retention
rates and build more loyalty among their team. Data democratization
efforts help keep the company focused on how well the team’s work is
moving the needle toward those big-picture goals, thus improving
retention efforts.
Source: US Chamber
Felt disrespected at work
Feeling burnt out
Top Reasons Why U. S. Workers Left a Job In 2021
Data democratization allows team members to see the value they bring to the team, feel
relevant to the team’s big-picture goals, and avoid burnout from taking on too much.
40%
57%

24. It’s Up to Leaders to Align Teams
Alignment is perhaps the most important
ingredient for bringing teams out of their
silo-based perspectives, operating with
empathy and focusing on the data points
that make a difference to the end goal.
The 3 Ps are a critical area to look at
because this is how you bring your hard
work behind the scenes to the forefront for
customers.
Data democratization allows team members to see the value they bring to the team, feel
relevant to the team’s big-picture goals, and avoid burnout from taking on too much.

25. People
Data democratization allows the
employees inside the organization to align
behind the same vital signs. Without this
data to steer conversations and
decision-making, the human tendency is
to look for reasons to be upset. This
human behavior steeped in emotion
rather than data causes finger-pointing
and blaming, which can lead to other
problems mentioned above.

26. People
Data democratization allows the
employees inside the organization to align
behind the same vital signs. Without this
data to steer conversations and
decision-making, the human tendency is
to look for reasons to be upset. This
human behavior steeped in emotion
rather than data causes finger-pointing
and blaming, which can lead to other
problems mentioned above.

27. Platforms
Data is personal. There’s a motive behind
every data point. And every data point is
tied to a sentiment.
Without having access to data points
because of the sunsetting of various
platforms or the shift in how platforms
track customer behavior, the
conversations around relevancy and
what’s ahead will shift.

28. Processes
There is not one right or wrong process. It’s
about bringing a variety of data sources
together, democratizing them across the
organization, and then looking for where
things line up.
In structuring your processes to fuse this
data, you inherently reduce the barriers,
silos and channels so that teams can
better understand what’s happening in
the marketplace.

29. Processes
There is not one right or wrong process. It’s
about bringing a variety of data sources
together, democratizing them across the
organization, and then looking for where
things line up.
In structuring your processes to fuse this
data, you inherently reduce the barriers,
silos and channels so that teams can
better understand what’s happening in
the marketplace.

30. Using Data Democratization for Growth
We’re at an inflection point
in the market, and nearly
every organization we talk to
faces some growth
challenge going into
uncertain territory.
One highly requested way to
start the democratization
process and get the insights
needed is through our
proprietary Customer
Insights Map.
Qualitative & Quantitative
Data from Each Department

31. Aligning Data With Behavioral Traits
We use various tools to get behind-the-scenes and between customers'
ears to gather data, even as data collection becomes harder. Tools like
these let us get deeper into the trenches without breaking privacy laws.
Account-Based
Software
UTM Tags 12-Month Sales
Cycles
UX/UI Research
Software
Data Connectivity
Software
Google Analytics 4
Integrations

32. Leveraging Democratized Data for
Revenue Acceleration
While this process sounds good in writing, it’s undoubtedly a long journey.
Having a guide who has walked through this process and navigated the
new and emerging technologies around democratizing data and data
collection is critical.

33. Insulate your business
from disruption.
Learn more at
RocketSource.com/blog/Data-Democratization