Data Driven Evidence Based Business Support

Thursday 5th November 2009Neil Geoghegan – BLNW Corporate Resource Director

Ged Mirfin – BLNW Chief Data OfficerLandes Land – Lead Data Warehouse Developer

Presentation to ISBE - 32nd Annual Conference

Business Link NorthWest

• Free to use business advice service• Three key offerings:

– Phone System – Light Touch– Web – Self Help– Appointment – one to one support with specialist

advisor• Interact with 130k businesses per year• Intensively assist 10k businesses per year

employing 90k people and with turnover of £11bn

• Deliver more than £500m of GVA in 09/10

Agenda

• Contextual Relevance & Demand-Pull Marketing

• Growing our way out of recession: the Search for High-Growth Businesses

• The importance of shared knowledge and experience

Push-Marketing – Historical Problem

Public Sector - delivery methods take precedence over customer demand and some brands carry “baggage”.

Concept of Market Failure. Build It and They Will Come! End-users lack understanding of Public Sector Service Offerings. Gap between Public Sector Brand Awareness and Understanding. Poor customer intelligence led to:

No holistic overview Marketing efforts were Supply-Push Generic Marketing Campaigns Nationally Driven Campaigns lacked Impact and affected

Brand Awareness Operational Efficiency Suffered

It is difficult “Pushing” a Proposition that Nobody Understands and is perceived to be of Poor quality!

Demand-Pull Marketing (DPM) – Public Sector

• DPM is about adapting to local demand

• Tailored messages delivered to known end-users

• DPM “pulls” the customer towards the proposition

• Contextually relevant messages encourage “engagement”

• Avoid generic product push messaging

Contextual RelevanceCustomer Need

Recognise Needs Product Appeal

Contextually Relevant Marketing is highly Localised and Personal

This style of marketing is not possible without Exceptional Levels of Customer Insight.

Ultimately this is about understanding your audience

Truism No. 1: Good Decisions Are

Impossible To Make Without Intelligent

Data

What is the BPI• Nationally Recognised “Business Objects” data

base covering businesses in the North West.• An evidence based data warehouse.• Used to inform decision makers about planning

interventions or policies.• Compliant with Data Protection legislation • Is the central repository for Business Link data

and Management Information• A system that can map commercial business

classification systems to the language used in Local Government and Business Support

• The first B2B profile driven database in the public sector

History of the BPI

We incorporated Business Link universe and Experian’s National Business Database into the BPI

Consolidates North West Business

Universe

406k

111k

Section of database unique to Business Link – Lifestyle and

Grey economy businesses

Section of database unique to Business Link – Lifestyle and

Grey economy businesses

We incorporated Business Link universe and Experian’s National Business Database into the BPI

19k

Consolidates North West Business

Universe

406k

111k

We incorporated Business Link universe and Experian’s National Business Database into the BPI

19k

Of 150,000 Penetration Impacts Added to CRM over last 18 Months, 120,000 were part of

Experian Prospect Universe (80%)

The best decisions are made using a combination of quality data and experience

Aim: Change from Anecdotal &

Judgmental to Evidence-basedDecision making

Experience-influenced

Evidence-based

Opinion-based

Data -influenced

Exp

erie

nce

Evidence / Information

How it Works in Practice:

Growing our way out of Recession – the Search for High Growth Businesses

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

220

240

Year 0 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

Per

cen

tag

e UK Average

Gazelle Low

Gazelle High

Which companies will lead us out of recession?

Which Companies Will Lead Us Out Of The Recession?

• Some Economists believe that 50% of new jobs will be from less than 1% of a regions company base.

• High Growth companies (Gazelles) will increase Turnover by between 25% and 30% in the next 4 years.*

• Although Employee Growth will lag behind it is likely to be in the region of 20% per annum.*

• Can Public Sector agencies stimulate growth and ensure that Gazelle Companies fulfil their maximum potential?

• Can Public Sector support agencies engage effectively with these companies and should we try?

*NESTA – “Measuring Business Growth: High-Growth Firms and Their Contribution to employment in the UK” – Oct 09

Which business groups could be potentially high growth?

Independentbusinesses

Scientists, technologists and/or academicsNiche activities or

specialised product offerings within

older or traditional industries

High technology knowledge –based

businesses

Advanced manufacturing using precision

technology

Entrepreneurial & Non

Bureaucratic

Based on specialist industrial parks and technology centres Newer

businesses do not have SIC

codes

Scalable with flexible delivery models

North West Actively Trading Business Locations (428,963)

MOSAIC Gazelles (69,297)

Age Over Three Years (18,874)

Turnover Above £400k (1,474)

Employing 10+ (445)

company that is potentially high growth?

By using a commercial classification system or…

our experience from activity on the ground?

…that is mature…

…with a reasonable turnover…

…employing 10+ people?

The Power of the BPI: Identifying Potential High Growth Companies

-Business Link has intensively assisted 10.8% of these companies

- 

What do these look like?

How do you Identify a…

Risk Profile Percentage Using Experian Commercial Risk Scores

16.14%

42.06%

31.59%

2.50%7.73%

Suppressed Low Risk Average Risk High Risk Very High Risk

The power of the BPI: are these companies healthy?

NB: The standard Very High Risk commercial profile across the North West as a whole is

20.44%

The power of the BPI: in which sector are these companies?

RES Sector Profile Percentage Using BPI

10.23%1.82%

23.18%

15.00%3.64%4.09%

42.05%

Advanced Engineering and Materials BiomedicalBusiness and Professional Services Digital and CreativeEnergy and Environmental Technology Services Food and DrinkNon RES

The power of the BPI: where are these companies?

The power of the BPI: where are these companies?

The power of the BPI: identifying potential high growth companies

The size of the prize – economic impact

Estimate Estimate

11,125 £445m

Current Headcount Current TurnoverEstimate Estimate

120% 100%

3 Year Headcount Growth 3 Year Turnover Growth

25 £1.0m

Average Headcount Average Turnover

445

High Growth Companies

Estimate Estimate

13,350 £445m

New Jobs New Turnover

• Gazelles require complex kinds of support placing much higher levels of demand on Public Sector Agencies

• Gazelles are “Elite Businesses”.

• Supporting them is resource intensive requiring prioritisation at the expense of existing Business Sectors!

• Should We Be Doing This?

Issues

Truism No. 2:

If Segmentation and Context = Relevance

But Beware: Unless we can deliver support that growth companies find valuable they will not

stay engaged !

then by definition

Relevance = Engagement