List Of Out-Of-The-Box Reports, Dashboards And Kpis: Fill & Download for Free

Yes, check out our Google Data Studio Template | Loop54……Many of today's e-commerce organisations are following their revenue streams using emailed reports and dashboards. But, while internal site-search is regarded as a very important feature on the site, it is rarely included and evaluated in these reports. On-site product search reports provide in-depth analysis into search results, sessions, exits and revenue. Using tailored visualisation reports, organisations can filter site-search data by traffic source and device, generating actionable insights and driving sales.What Should I Track on a Site-Search Performance Report?What do you want to accomplish with your site-search and what KPIs are important to act upon? The most important question for any e-commerce business is normally whether or not the search results are helping the online purchases. Therefore, you should begin with setting up revenue related KPIs, segmented site-search status (sessions with or without search). We recommend looking at revenue, conversion rate and average order, or else use the revenue KPIs that you are already following in other reports. In addition, we also suggest segmenting them on device category (mobile/tablet/desktop) or incoming channel, as this provides useful platform insights.What Can My Search Data Tell Me About My Buyers?The conversion rate for users who are searching is typically higher than for other users, since a search indicates higher purchase intent in the user and a deeper stage of the buyer's journey. Now, look at your KPIs – is the conversion rate of users who are using the search function roughly double that of non-searchers, or is it lower? If it's lower, then it's time to ply your UX team with a lot of strong coffee and send them off to talk to users and figure out how to improve the search user experience – are the results not good enough, are the facets hidden or does the autocomplete lead them to empty result pages? Perhaps there is an opportunity for an A/B test on the search box?Another way of seeing if the user is satisfied with the site-search is analysing search exit rates – that is, how many users perform a search but then leave the site. These search metrics are as important to search performance as bounce rate is for landing pages. Do you have a high search exit rate, or is there a negative trend considering the last time period? Understanding intent and long-tail keywords is vital to on-site search.To answer these questions, you need to dive into your list of keywords with the highest exit rates and the list of keywords with no resulting hits.If your users are searching on an attribute (such as age or size) that is not currently searchable, make it searchable.If they expect you sell products outside your current range, increase your product range.If your prices are set too high compared to competitors, set up price matching.And if they are searching for a yearly trend (such as "easter feathers") that is not available yet, pluck those hens fast.You need to see if you can identify any buyer expectations that are not yet being fulfilled and begin the fulfillment process as quickly as possible.You should also have a look at the percentage rate of sessions with search, especially if you make changes on your site. The percentage of sessions with search is unlikely to be instantly affected by a change in the search results (although you might see trends over time after the returning users learn if your search results are useful or not) but might change drastically if you make UX changes to your navigation or search boxes.How Can I Measure Search Engagement?Google Analytics offers multiple search engagement metrics, such as browsing time after a search, results from page-views/search, search refinements, time after search and search depth (read more about how they are calculated here). These are all interesting to look at but somewhat ambiguous: for example, a user with a large time after search can either be contently reading about product specifications or else close to tears while trying to find the product they were looking for. These metrics might, therefore, be interesting to look at for bigger trends but will be difficult to work with otherwise.Get the Data Studio TemplateAt Loop54, we have created a site-search visualisation template using Google Data Studio. The dashboard will show you:Sessions with/without searchRevenue with/without searchTop terms searchedPercentage of search exitsTop terms searched, with a high percentage of search exitsData filtering by traffic source and deviceEvaluate your site-search with live KPIs and metrics.

Power BI Interview Questions – General Questions1). What are the parts of Microsoft self-service business intelligence solution?Ans: Microsoft has two parts for Self-Service BIParts of Self-Service BIExcel BI ToolkitIt allows users to create an interactive report by importing data from different sources and model data according to report requirement.Power BIIt is the online solution that enables you to share the interactive reports and queries that you have created using the Excel BI Toolkit.2). What is self-service business intelligence?Ans: Self-Service Business Intelligence (SSBI)SSBI is an approach to data analytics that enables business users to filter, segment, and, analyze their data, without the in-depth technical knowledge in statistical analysis, business intelligence (BI).SSBI has made it easier for end users to access their data and create various visuals to get better business insights.Anybody who has a basic understanding of the data can create reports to build intuitive and shareable dashboards.3). What is Power BI?Ans: Power BI is a cloud-based data sharing environment. Once you have developed reports using Power Query, Power Pivot and Power View, you can share your insights with your colleagues. This is where Power BI enters the equation. Power BI, which technically is an aspect of SharePoint online, lets you load Excel workbooks into the cloud and share them with a chosen group of co-workers. Not only that, but your colleagues can interact with your reports to apply filters and slicers to highlight data. They are completed by Power BI, a simple way of sharing your analysis and insights from the Microsoft cloud.Power BI features allow you to:Share presentations and queries with your colleagues.Update your Excel file from data sources that can be on-site or in the cloud.Display the output on multiple devices. This includes PCs, tablets, and HTML 5-enabled mobile devices that use the Power BI app.Query your data using natural language processing (or Q&A, as it is known).4). What is Power BI Desktop?Ans: Power BI Desktop is a free desktop application that can be installed right on your own computer. Power BI Desktop works cohesively with the Power BI service by providing advanced data exploration, shaping, modeling, and creating report with highly interactive visualizations. You can save your work to a file or publish your data and reports right to your Power BI site to share with others.5). What data sources can Power BI connect to?Ans: The list of data sources for Power BI is extensive, but it can be grouped into the following:Files: Data can be imported from Excel (.xlsx, xlxm), Power BI Desktop files (.pbix) and Comma Separated Value (.csv).Content Packs: It is a collection of related documents or files that are stored as a group. In Power BI, there are two types of content packs, firstly those from services providers like Google Analytics, Marketo or Salesforce and secondly those created and shared by other users in your organization.Connectors to databases and other datasets such as Azure SQL, Databaseand SQL, Server Analysis Services tabular data, etc.6). What are Building Blocks in Power BI?Ans: The following are the Building Blocks (or) key components of Power BI:Visualizations: Visualization is a visual representation of data.Example: Pie Chart, Line Graph, Side by Side Bar Charts, Graphical Presentation of the source data on top of Geographical Map, Tree Map, etc.Datasets: Dataset is a collection of data that Power BI uses to create its visualizations.Example: Excel sheets, Oracle or SQL server tables.Reports: Report is a collection of visualizations that appear together on one or more pages.Example: Sales by Country, State, City Report, Logistic Performance report, Profit by Products report etc.Dashboards: Dashboard is single layer presentation of multiple visualizations, i.e we can integrate one or more visualizations into one page layer.Example: Sales dashboard can have pie charts, geographical maps and bar charts.Tiles: Tile is a single visualization in a report or on a dashboard.Example: Pie Chart in Dashboard or Report.7). What are the different types of filters in Power BI Reports?Ans: Power BI provides variety of option to filter report, data and visualization. The following are the list of Filter types.Visual-level Filters: These filters work on only an individual visualization, reducing the amount of data that the visualization can see. Moreover, visual-level filters can filter both data and calculations.Page-level Filters: These filters work at the report-page level. Different pages in the same report can have different page-level filters.Report-level Filters: There filters work on the entire report, filtering all pages and visualizations included in the report.We know that Power BI visual have interactions feature, which makes filtering a report a breeze. Visual interactions are useful, but they come with some limitations:The filter is not saved as part of the report. Whenever you open a report, you can begin to play with visual filters but there is no way to store the filter in the saved report.The filter is always visible. Sometimes you want a filter for the entire report, but you do not want any visual indication of the filter being applied.8). What are content packs in Power BI?Ans: Content packs for services are pre-built solutions for popular services as part of the Power BI experience. A subscriber to a supported service, can quickly connect to their account from Power BI to see their data through live dashboards and interactive reports that have been pre-built for them. Microsoft has released content packs for popular services such as Salesforce.com: The Customer Success Platform To Grow Your Business, Marketo, Adobe Analytics, Azure Mobile Engagement, CircuitID, comScore Digital Analytix, Quickbooks Online, SQL Sentry and tyGraph.Organizational content packs provide users, BI professionals, and system integrator the tools to build their own content packs to share purpose-built dashboards, reports, and datasets within their organization.Power BI Interview Questions – DAX9). What is DAX?Ans: To do basic calculation and data analysis on data in power pivot, we use Data Analysis Expression (DAX). It is formula language used to compute calculated column and calculated field.DAX works on column values.DAX can not modify or insert data.We can create calculated column and measures with DAX but we can not calculate rows using DAX.Sample DAX formula syntax:For the measure named Total Sales, calculate (=) the SUM of values in the [SalesAmount] column in the Sales table.A- Measure NameB- = – indicate beginning of formulaC- DAX FunctionD- Parenthesis for Sum FunctionE- Referenced TableF- Referenced column name10). What are the most common DAX Functions used?Ans: Below are some of the most commonly used DAX function:SUM, MIN, MAX, AVG, COUNTROWS, DISTINCTCOUNTIF, AND, OR, SWITCHISBLANK, ISFILTERED, ISCROSSFILTEREDVALUES, ALL, FILTER, CALCULATE,UNION, INTERSECT, EXCEPT, NATURALINNERJOIN, NATURALLEFTEROUTERJOIN,SUMMARIZECOLUMNS, ISEMPTY,VAR (Variables)GEOMEAN, MEDIAN, DATEDIFF11). How is the FILTER function used?Ans: The FILTER function returns a table with a filter condition applied for each of its source table rows. The FILTER function is rarely used in isolation, it’s generally used as a parameter to other functions such as CALCULATE.FILTER is an iterator and thus can negatively impact performance over large source tables.Complex filtering logic can be applied such as referencing a measure in a filter expression.FILTER(MyTable,[SalesMetric] > 500)12). What is special or unique about the CALCULATE and CALCULATETABLE functions?Ans: These are the only functions that allow you modify filter context of measures or tables.Microsoft Power BI TrainingInstructor-led SessionsReal-life Case StudiesAssessmentsLifetime AccessExplore CurriculumAdd to existing filter context of queries.Override filter context from queries.Remove existing filter context from queries.Limitations:Filter parameters can only operate on a single column at a time.Filter parameters cannot reference a metric.13). What is the common table function for grouping data?Ans: SUMMARIZE()Main groupby function in SSAS.Recommended practice is to specify table and group by columns but not metrics.You can use ADDCOLUMNS function.SUMMARIZECOLUMNSNew group by function for SSAS and Power BI Desktop; more efficient.Specify group by columns, table, and expressions.14). What are some benefits of using Variables in DAX ?Ans: Below are some of the benefits:By declaring and evaluating a variable, the variable can be reused multiple times in a DAX expression, thus avoiding additional queries of the source database.Variables can make DAX expressions more intuitive/logical to interpret.Variables are only scoped to their measure or query, they cannot be shared among measures, queries or be defined at the model level.15). How would you create trailing X month metrics via DAX against a non-standard calendar?Ans: The solution will involve:CALCULATE function to control (take over) filter context of measures.ALL to remove existing filters on the date dimension.FILTER to identify which rows of the date dimension to use.Alternatively, CONTAINS may be used:CALCULATE(FILTER(ALL(‘DATE’),…….))16). What are the different Excel BI add-in?Ans: Below are the most important BI add-in to Excel:Power Query: It helps in finding, editing and loading external data.Power Pivot: Its mainly used for data modeling and analysis.Power View: It is used to design visual and interactively reports.Power Map: It helps to display insights on 3D Map.Power BI Interview Questions – Power Pivot17). What is Power Pivot?Ans: Power Pivot is an add-in for Microsoft Excel 2010 that enables you to import millions of rows of data from multiple data sources into a single Excel workbook. It lets you create relationships between heterogeneous data, create calculated columns and measures using formulas, build PivotTables and PivotCharts. You can then further analyze the data so that you can make timely business decisions without requiring IT assistance.18). What is Power Pivot Data Model?Ans: It is a model that is made up of data types, tables, columns, and table relations. These data tables are typically constructed for holding data for a business entity.19). What is xVelocity in-memory analytics engine used in Power Pivot?Ans: The main engine behind power pivot is the xVelocity in-memory analytics engine. It can handle large amount of data because it stores data in columnar databases, and in memory analytics which results in faster processing of data as it loads all data to RAM memory.21). What are some of differences in data modeling between Power BI Desktop and Power Pivot for Excel?Ans: Here are some of the differences:Power BI Desktop supports bi-directional cross filtering relationships, security, calculated tables, and Direct Query options.Power Pivot for Excel has single direction (one to many) relationships, calculated columns only, and supports import mode only. Security roles cannot be defined in Power Pivot for Excel.22). Can we have more than one active relationship between two tables in data model of power pivot?Ans: No, we cannot have more than one active relationship between two tables. However, can have more than one relationship between two tables but there will be only one active relationship and many inactive relationship. The dotted lines are inactive and continuous line are active.Power BI Interview Questions – Power Query23). What is Power Query?Ans: Power query is a ETL Tool used to shape, clean and transform data using intuitive interfaces without having to use coding. It helps the user to:Import Data from wide range of sources from files, databases, big data, social media data, etc.Join and append data from multiple data sources. Shape data as per requirement by removing and adding data.24). What are the data destinations for Power Queries?Ans: There are two destinations for output we get from power query:Load to a table in a worksheet.Load to the Excel Data Model.25). What is query folding in Power Query?Ans: Query folding is when steps defined in Power Query/Query Editor are translated into SQL and executed by the source database rather than the client machine. It’s important for processing performance and scalability, given limited resources on the client machine.26). What are some common Power Query/Editor Transforms?Ans: Changing Data Types, Filtering Rows, Choosing/Removing Columns, Grouping, Splitting a column into multiple columns, Adding new Columns ,etc.27). Can SQL and Power Query/Query Editor be used together?Ans: Yes, a SQL statement can be defined as the source of a Power Query/M function for additional processing/logic. This would be a good practice to ensure that an efficient database query is passed to the source and avoid unnecessary processing and complexityby the client machine and M function.28). What are query parameters and Power BI templates?Ans:Query parameters can be used to provide users of a local Power BI Desktop report with a prompt, to specify the values they’re interested in.The parameter selection can then be used by the query and calculations.PBIX files can be exported as Templates (PBIT files).Templates contain everything in the PBIX except the data itself.Parameters and templates can make it possible to share/email smaller template files and limit the amount of data loaded into the local PBIX files, improving processing time and experience .29). Which language is used in Power Query?Ans: A new programming language is used in power query called M-Code. It is easy to use and similar to other languages. M-code is case sensitive language.30). Why do we need Power Query when Power Pivot can import data from mostly used sources?Ans: Power Query is a self-service ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) tool which runs as an Excel add-in. It allows users to pull data from various sources, manipulate said data into a form that suits their needs and load it into Excel. It is most optimum to use Power Query over Power Pivot as it lets you not only load the data but also manipulate it as per the users needs while loading.Power BI Interview Questions – Power Map31). What is Power Map?Ans: Power Map is an Excel add-in that provides you with a powerful set of tools to help you visualize and gain insight into large sets of data that have a geo-coded component. It can help you produce 3D visualizations by plotting upto a million data points in the form of column, heat, and bubble maps on top of a Bing map. If the data is time stamped, it can also produce interactive views that display, how the data changes over space and time.32). What are the primary requirement for a table to be used in Power Map?Ans: For a data to be consumed in power map there should be location data like:Latitude/Longitude pairStreet, City, Country/Region, Zip Code/Postal Code, and State/Province, which can be geolocated by BingThe primary requirement for the table is that it contains unique rows. It must also contain location data, which can be in the form of a Latitude/Longitude pair, although this is not a requirement. You can use address fields instead, such as Street, City, Country/Region, Zip Code/Postal Code, and State/Province, which can be geolocated by Bing.33). What are the data sources for Power Map?Ans: The data can either be present in Excel or could be present externally. To prepare your data, make sure all of the data is in Excel table format, where each row represents a unique record. Your column headings or row headings should contain text instead of actual data, so that Power Map will interpret it correctly when it plots the geographic coordinates. Using meaningful labels also makes value and category fields available to you when you design your tour in the Power Map Tour Editor pane.To use a table structure which more accurately represents time and geography inside Power Map, include all of the data in the table rows and use descriptive text labels in the column headings, like this:BI and Visualization TrainingTABLEAU TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONTableau Training and CertificationReviews5(29591)MICROSOFT POWER BI TRAININGMicrosoft Power BI TrainingReviews5(13668)ADVANCED MS EXCEL 2016 CERTIFICATION TRAININGAdvanced MS Excel 2016 Certification TrainingReviews5(8192)MICROSOFT BI CERTIFICATION TRAININGMicrosoft BI Certification TrainingReviews5(12569)MICROSOFT EXCEL VBA CERTIFICATION TRAININGMicrosoft Excel VBA Certification TrainingReviews5(6721)QLIKVIEW CERTIFICATION TRAININGQlikView Certification TrainingReviews5(9728)PENTAHO BI CERTIFICATION TRAININGPentaho BI Certification TrainingReviews4(3551)MICROSTRATEGY 10 CERTIFICATION TRAININGMicroStrategy 10 Certification TrainingReviews5(1870)NextIn case you wish to load your data from an external source:In Excel, click Data > the connection you want in the Get External Data group.Follow the steps in the wizard that starts.On the last step of the wizard, make sure Add this data to the Data Model is checked.Power BI Interview Questions – Additional Questions34). What is Power View?Ans: Power View is a data visualization technology that lets you create interactive charts, graphs, maps, and other visuals which bring your data to life. Power View is available in Excel, SharePoint, SQL Server, and Power BI.The following pages provide details about different visualizations available in Power View:ChartsLine chartsPie chartsMapsTilesCardsImagesTablesPower ViewMultiples VisualizationsBubble and scatter chartsKey performance indicators (KPIs)35). What is Power BI Designer?Ans: It is a stand alone application where we can make Power BI reports and then upload it to Data Visualization | Microsoft Power BI, it does not require Excel. Actually, it is a combination of Power Query, Power Pivot, and Power View.36). Can we refresh our Power BI reports once uploaded to cloud (Share point or http://Powebi.com)?Ans: Yes we can refresh our reports through Data Management gateway(for sharepoint), and Power BI Personal gateway(for Data Visualization | Microsoft Power BI)37). What are the different types of refreshing data for our published reports?Ans: There are four main types of refresh in Power BI. Package refresh, model or data refresh, tile refresh and visual container refresh.Package refreshThis synchronizes your Power BI Desktop, or Excel, file between the Power BI service and OneDrive, or SharePoint Online. However, this does not pull data from the original data source. The dataset in Power BI will only be updated with what is in the file within OneDrive, or SharePoint Online.Model/data refreshIt referrs to refreshing the dataset, within the Power BI service, with data from the original data source. This is done by either using scheduled refresh, or refresh now. This requires a gateway for on-premises data sources.Tile refreshTile refresh updates the cache for tile visuals, on the dashboard, once data changes. This happens about every fifteen minutes. You can also force a tile refresh by selecting the ellipsis (…) in the upper right of a dashboard and selecting Refresh dashboard tiles.Visual container refreshRefreshing the visual container updates the cached report visuals, within a report, once the data changes.To know more about data refresh and understand how to implement data refresh, you can check the following link.38). Is Power BI available on-premises?Ans: No, Power BI is not available as a private, internal cloud service. However, with Power BI and Power BI Desktop, you can securely connect to your own on-premises data sources. With the On-premises Data Gateway, you can connect live to your on-premises SQL Server Analysis Services, and other data sources. You can also scheduled refresh with a centralized gateway. If a gateway is not available, you can refresh data from on-premises data sources using the Power BI Gateway – Personal.39). What is data management gateway and Power BI personal gateway?Ans: Gateway acts a bridge between on-premises data sources and Azure cloud services.Personal Gateway:Import Only, Power BI Service Only, No central monitoring/managing.Can only be used by one person (personal); can’t allow others to use this gateway.On-Premises Gateway:Import and Direct Query supported.Multiple users of the gateway for developing content.Central monitoring and control.40). What is Power BI Q&A?Ans: Power BI Q&A is a natural language tool which helps in querying your data and get the results you need from it. You do this by typing into a dialog box on your Dashboard, which the engine instantaneously generates an answer similar to Power View. Q&A interprets your questions and shows you a restated query of what it is looking from your data. Q&A was developed by Server and Tools, Microsoft Research and the Bing teams to give you a complete feeling of truly exploring your data.41). What are some ways that Excel experience can be leveraged with Power BI?Ans: Below are some of the ways through which we can leverage Power BI:The Power BI Publisher for Excel:Can be used to pin Excel items (charts, ranges, pivot tables) to Power BI Service.Can be used to connect to datasets and reports stored in Power BI Service.Excel workbooks can be uploaded to Power BI and viewed in the browser like Excel Services.Excel reports in the Power BI service can be shared via Content Packs like other reports.Excel workbooks (model and tables) can be exported to service for PBI report creation.Excel workbook Power Pivot models can be imported to Power BI Desktop models.42). What is a calculated column in Power BI and why would you use them?Ans: Calculated Columns are DAX expressions that are computed during the model’s processing/refresh process for each row of the given column and can be used like any other column in the model.Calculated columns are not compressed and thus consume more memory and result in reduced query performance. They can also reduce processing/refresh performance if applied on large fact tables and can make a model more difficult to maintain/support giventhat the calculated column is not present in the source system.43). How is data security implemented in Power BI ?Ans: Power BI can apply Row Level Security roles to models.A DAX expression is applied on a table filtering its rows at query time.Dynamic security involves the use of USERNAME functions in security role definitions.Typically a table is created in the model that relates users to specific dimensions and a role.44). What are many-to-many relationships and how can they be addressed in Power BI ?Ans: Many to Many relationships involve a bridge or junction table reflecting the combinations of two dimensions (e.g. doctors and patients). Either all possible combinations or those combinations that have occurred.Bi-Directional Crossfiltering relationships can be used in PBIX.CROSSFILTER function can be used in Power Pivot for Excel.DAX can be used per metric to check and optionally modify the filter context.45). Why might you have a table in the model without any relationships to other tables?Ans: There are mainly 2 reasons why we would have tables without relations in our model:A disconnected table might be used to present the user with parameter values to be exposed and selected in slicers (e.g. growth assumption.)DAX metrics could retrieve this selection and use it with other calculations/metrics.A disconnected table may also be used as a placeholder for metrics in the user http://interface.It may not contain any rows of data and its columns could be hidden but all metrics are visible.46). What is the Power BI Publisher for Excel?Ans: You can use Power BI publisher for Excel to pin ranges, pivot tables and charts to Power BI.The user can manage the tiles – refresh them, remove them, in Excel.Pinned items must be removed from the dashboard in the service (removing in Excel only deletes the connection).The Power BI Publisher for Excel can also be used to connect from Excel to datasets that are hosted in the Power BI Service.An Excel pivot table is generated with a connection (ODC file) to the data in Azure.The Publisher installs all necessary drivers on local machine to establish connectivity .47). What are the differences between a Power BI Dataset, a Report, and a Dashboard?Ans: Dataset: The source used to create reports and visuals/tiles.A data model (local to PBIX or XLSX) or model in an Analysis Services ServerData could be inside of model (imported) or a Direct Query connection to a source.Report: An individual Power BI Desktop file (PBIX) containing one or more report pages.Built for deep, interactive analysis experience for a given dataset (filters, formatting).Each Report is connected to atleast one datasetEach page containing one or more visuals or tiles.Dashboard: a collection of visuals or tiles from different reports and, optionally, a pinned.Built to aggregate primary visuals and metrics from multiple datasets.48) What are the three Edit Interactions options of a visual tile in Power BI Desktop?Ans: The 3 edit interaction options are Filter, Highlight, and None.Filter: It completely filter a visual/tile based on the filter selection of another visual/tile.Highlight: It highlight only the related elements on the visual/tile, gray out the non-related items.Microsoft Power BI TrainingWeekday / Weekend BatchesSee Batch DetailsNone: It ignore the filter selection from another tile/visual.49). What are some of the differences in report authoring capabilities between using a live or direct query connection such as to an Analysis Services model, relative to working with a data model local to the Power BI Desktop file?Ans: With a data model local to the PBIX file (or Power Pivot workbook), the author has full control over the queries, the modeling/relationships, the metadata and the metrics.With a live connection to an Analysis Services database (cube) the user cannot create new metrics, import new data, change the formatting of the metrics, etc – the user can only use the visualization, analytics, and formatting available on the report canvas.With a direct query model in Power BI to SQL Server, for example, the author has access to the same features (and limitations) available to SSAS Direct Query mode.Only one data source (one database on one server) may be used, certain DAX functions are not optimized, and the user cannot use Query Editor functions that cannot be translated into SQL statements.50). How does SSRS integrate with Power BI?Ans: Below are some of the way through which SSRS can be integrated with Power BI:Certain SSRS Report items such as charts can be pinned to Power BI dashboards.Clicking the tile in Power BI dashboards will bring the user to the SSRS report.A subscription is created to keep the dashboard tile refreshed.Power BI reports will soon be able to be published to SSRS portal

Let’s take a look at the three main types of CRM software -- operational, analytical, and collaborative -- and which kinds of teams they’re best suited for.Operational CRMOperational CRMs are designed with one primary goal: to streamline customer service and customer-facing roles. Think of them as integrating all of your data and activities -- from phone calls and emails to online purchases -- into one organized platform.With an operational CRM, you can automate many of these activities, including email campaigns, SMS messages, live chat, and sales demos.Operational CRMs help you keep generate leads, close sales, and maintain customer satisfaction throughout the process. At the same time, you can also use the software to manage your team and keep track of their performance.Anyone on your team can use the software to get up to speed on a customer’s purchase history, help tickets, and any other interactions they had with your company, making it easy for them to pick up where another team member left off.FeaturesWe can break up the features of an operational CRM into three main functions:Marketing automationSales automationService automationMarketing automation begins as soon as a potential customer comes to your website and subscribes to your email list or engages with an online campaign.An organizational CRM compiles their information into a customer profile that your sales team can use to respond. You can automate email campaigns and SMS messages, and even schedule follow-up phone calls weeks in advance.A CRM can keep track of multiple channels of communication, so there’s no confusion if a customer contacts you by phone one week and by email the next.You can use lead scoring to rank prospective customers by their likelihood of making a purchase, and move them to the next stage in the sales funnel.Sales automation is typically more personalized than marketing automation. Instead of reaching out to contacts in bulk, you can follow up with them one-on-one, using the data you gathered in the marketing stage to focus on the best leads.Customers can also use built-in tools to schedule their own meetings with a sales rep for a product demo or sales call.As you scale up your team, you can set up a sales pipeline that your sales reps can use to streamline the process by exchanging leads, delegating tasks, and more.Finally, service automation is one of the areas in which an effective CRM can stand to benefit you most. This is the part of customer relationship management that can lead to repeat sales and help you grow a loyal customer base.What’s so effective about service automation? For one, it compiles all of a customer’s purchase history and support tickets in one place, making it easier for a support rep to solve their problem without having to start the process over each time.Second, automated chat options and access to a knowledge base can eliminate the need for live support altogether, saving your reps time to focus on other tasks.A CRM can help you track missing orders, create customer satisfaction surveys, and monitor the quality of the service they received.With all of these features on hand, it’s no surprise that organizational CRMs are the backbone of many sales teams and customer support departments.Who Is It Good For?How do you know if an organizational CRM is right for you? One sign that you might be in need of an organizational CRM is if you have repeat sales and a short sales cycle.This kind of CRM is all about efficiency, so e-commerce and SaaS businesses are good candidates for an organizational CRM.But the size and type of your company isn’t necessarily a factor in whether you should use an organizational CRM. It’s all about whether you have a linear workflow that can benefit from automation and a more streamlined sales process.ExamplesOnCourse is an organizational CRM with a primary focus on sales automation. Some of its features include email marketing campaigns, a phone dialer, and SMS sequencing.OnCourse is best for SaaS businesses, and for managing distribution and logistics. It also integrates with other tools, like Gmail and Google Calendar, for an all-in-one task management platform.OnCourse offers a free trial, and you can contact them by phone or webform to request a sales demo and ask for a quote.Analytical CRMAn analytical CRM can also help boost sales and improve customer satisfaction, but its primary focus is on data acquisition and analytics.Analytical CRMs may use data mining, pattern recognition, and artificial intelligence to better understand customer behavior and drive the sales process.From basic demographic data, like age, gender, and marital status, to more advanced metrics like marketing and sales data, an analytical CRM uses information to help you upsell, cross-sell, develop new products, and more.You can see how effective a marketing campaign has been, track customer complaints and satisfaction, and anticipate the need for future products and services.FeaturesThere are three main components that go into a successful analytical CRM:Data warehousingData miningOLAP (online analytical processing)To start with, an analytical CRM serves as a data warehouse, which is a repository of all of your customer data -- both historical and current. By incorporating all of this info into a single database, you can eliminate redundancies and improve data quality.Having access to all of this data is all well and good, but it won’t be any use unless you can figure out what it all means! That’s where data mining comes in.An analytical CRM uses powerful tools to extract information from the data warehouse and look for patterns. You can use data mining to:Analyze customer behaviorUnderstand the customer lifecycleGroup buyers into segmented listsAssess employee performanceAnd plenty more!It’s also useful for upselling and cross-selling, because you can analyze your customers’ purchase histories to find out who is most likely to buy another product.You can also use sales attribution techniques to discover which touchpoints -- such as ads or website views -- are most effective at converting customers.Finally, an analytical CRM also uses OLAP, or online analytical processing, to predict the future. That may sound too good to be true, but that’s essentially what it does!OLAP uses your existing data sets to run “what if” scenarios that can help you with sales forecasting, budgeting, product development, and more.As business intelligence tools incorporate artificial intelligence into their products, you can expect even more robust analytical software in the years to come.Who Is It Good For?An analytical CRM is only as good as your data, and a small company that doesn’t have a lot of data sources won’t benefit as much from an analytical CRM. This kind of CRM is best for larger companies in competitive markets that sell high-value products.If your sales model depends on proprietary data analysis to outfox your competition, then an analytical CRM may be for you.Still, a small company with data-minded employees could benefit from it too. You’ll learn more about your customers’ buying habits and the effectiveness of your marketing tools, and be able to make more data-informed decisions about your sales process.ExamplesZoho Analytics is one of the leading analytical CRMs, with an interface that everyone at your team can understand, from sales reps to your top executives.You can export reports as spreadsheets, pie charts, heat maps, and more -- or drop them directly into a Slack channel.Zoho also offers customizable dashboards and widgets, so you can incorporate data into every stage of the sales process and keep track of your KPIs.Collaborative CRMThe third type of CRM is the collaborative CRM, which is designed to help your business share data between departments -- or even between companies.Also known as Strategic CRM, this kind of tool can help you integrate data from internal and external teams to form a more cohesive sales strategy.While the other types of CRM can also be used for collaboration, this one is specifically designed to incorporate data from multiple parties. It may also include tools for Partner Relationship Management to coordinate with vendors, suppliers, and distributors.A collaborative CRM helps you break out of data silos and work together more efficiently to improve customer satisfaction and marketing strategies.FeaturesA collaborative CRM has two main parts:Interaction managementChannel managementInteraction management refers to the log that a CRM keeps of every interaction a sales rep or customer service rep has with a customer.There’s nothing worse than calling up a company only to find out that the support team doesn’t have access to the same information you shared with the sales department.A collaborative CRM solves this problem by storing all of the relevant data in one place, including any notes that a representative takes about a particular customer or issue.A sales rep that is aware of a customer’s past concerns is more likely to persuade them to give the company another shot or try a different product.Your tech team can also have access to this data to find out if an issue is unique to the customer or is a recurring bug.The other component of collaborative CRMs is channel management, or using the form of communication that each customer prefers.For example, if you know that a particular customer doesn’t have a smartphone, you can prioritize reaching them by email or phone rather than sending them SMS links.Or, you can allow customers to open support tickets via Twitter or Facebook, rather than requiring them to fill out a webform.By enabling multiple channels of communication, you can ensure that your messages reach customers where they’re at, via their preferred channel.Who Is It Good For?Collaborative CRMs are especially useful for companies with multiple locations, or at which the majority of interactions with customers take place online.But they can be useful for any company that wants to improve collaboration between departments and break down information silos.On the other hand, they’re not a good fit for companies with a lot of confidential data that can’t be shared between departments. Since chat logs and other data can be accessed by reps at all levels of your company, it’s not suitable for handling sensitive details.ExamplesCopper is a collaborative CRM that’s designed to be integrated with Google Suite. Tasks can be delegated to remote employees, who can respond to tickets from their inbox.Copper automatically gathers contact details and keeps a record of every interaction, so that every member of your team has access to it when they need it.Copper offers a 14-day free trial, with pricing based on the size of your sales team.Find the CRM That Works Best For Your BusinessWhile each type of CRM has its uses, at the end of the day, they all serve the same goal: to help you make more sales and improve customer satisfaction.But a CRM is only as effective as the effort that you put into it. An analytical CRM won’t make accurate forecasts if you don’t supply it with enough data, and a collaborative CRM can’t break down data silos if your teams aren’t willing to work together.Some companies make the mistake of thinking that a CRM will solve their problems right out of the box. But in reality, you’ll need to think carefully about your goals and what kind of CRM will work best for your team.Do you have employees who are willing to put in the time and effort into learning a new system? Can you afford to pay a representative for a complete onboarding process?Fortunately, OnCourse makes it easy by offering a data migration service, and can be integrated with Google Suite and other tools you’re already using.While OnCourse is designed to be an operational CRM, it also contains elements of an analytical CRM, with automated insights and activity tracking built in. Plus, it features a linear history of each account, and multi-channel communication tools, making it ideal for collaborative teams as well.