BT hails data analytics roll out for £2m in cost savings

Fresh evidence has emerged of the benefits of rolling out data analytics tools to the entire workforce, rather than keeping it under lock and key in the data department, with BT claiming to have secured £2m in cost savings by handing over tools to 1,200 staff in its consumer division.

Previously, the telecoms giant had relied on Excel for data analysis, using just 5% of the data from its 30 million customers for decision-making. However, having implemented the Qlik platform, employees have been able to answer any business question in six clicks or less, something that would have previously taken a data analyst weeks to access.

BT acting director of data and decision science Claire Ellison explained: “The concept for BT’s analytics ecosystem was born out of a need to increase the volume of data we were using to take more informed actions. Our goal was to ensure that data is relevant, accessible, easy to consume, and critically, able to answer customer questions in a timely manner.”

The Qlik Sense dashboards work across BT, EE and Plusnet and this view of customer touchpoints has also sped up the roll-out of the fibre to the premise (FTTP) programme.

BT staff are able to drill down into postcodes that are filtered by FTTP eligibility to identify customer acquisition opportunities and tailor customer communications.

Ellison added: “We want strong relationships with our customers, so it is important that we use a consistent tone of voice whether they browse our websites, call our contact centres, visit our stores, or any combination of these.

“We want our customers to feel that every interaction is personal and consistent. It’s personalisation at scale.”

BT’s Consumer unit has also implemented a training programme using the Qlik Continuous Classroom, a digital resource for “self-paced” data literacy skills training.

Ellison continued: “The support that Qlik provided in helping us to grow the data literacy skills of our workforce demonstrated to us that it is a true partner to BT, not just a software provider. We want to equip teams with the skills to not just source data about customers but be able to analyse that data and tell a powerful story with it.

“Qlik has provided us with a platform to move from analytics infancy to maturity. The continued implementation support and engagement has helped us make data storytelling a priority for our team and further entrench a culture of informed action at BT.”