How to get the Data Visualization buy-in from your boss
Getting your boss to buy into a data visualization investment plan can be tough if they only see cost. Even the most progressive and deep-pocketed companies face this problem. Here are some insights into how to frame the conversation with your boss so they can see past the upfront costs and see the business benefits of the investment.
Leadership buy-in for data visualization typically has two components:
1. A clear and well-articulated value proposition
2. Education on what data visualization is, and what it can do not only in the short-term but for the big picture business strategy.
Learn from your marketing department
Using marketing terminology, a value proposition is a summary of why someone should buy a product or service that is different from similar products or services offered by other companies. It is the hook that makes people choose to purchase from company A over company B. In this use case, the value proposition of data visualization is entirely unique to your company and its main objectives. Perhaps for your business, investing in data visualization will:
• Contribute to the company’s competitive advantage
• Retire manual processes
• Create efficient processes, bringing products to market faster and with more accuracy
• Enable smarter and more precise decisions to be made
• Offer deeper and more detailed insights into product development
If you find yourself struggling to decide what makes a data visualization program different from other potential investments, think of how marketing teams list out a product’s value propositions in preparation to market a product to consumers.
Once you list out what the core differentiators of data visualization you would like to see at your company, summarize them into a few short succinct sentences to form a value proposition statement. This statement should explain the relevancy, quantified value, and unique differentiators of data visualization. Make sure none of the differentiators in your statement are offered by your competitors. If they are, they are not considered a differentiator and should be removed from the list.