Case Study: Bellomy & Tech-Forward Reporting

WHO ARE BELLOMY?

Founded in Winston-Salem in 1976, Bellomy is a tech-driven, full-service qualitative and quantitative consumer insights agency specialising in understanding markets, uncovering new opportunities and fueling momentum for brands. 

THE ISSUE

Bellomy recognised that the needs of their clients had changed over the years. As Bellomy Vice President, Research Operations, Carla Jordan, told us “For us, it really starts with our clients and their evolving needs. We found that the traditional methods we were using to produce our reports were not doing us any favours. We encountered challenges due to the manual nature of the process, resulting in accuracy issues, extensive time required for data population, and substantial quality assurance needs due to human involvement at every data point.”

The pressure from Bellomy’s clients ratcheted up and this translated into higher expectations for Bellomy’s reporting. “We’re expected to provide more insightful, more beautiful deliverables, but we don’t have time. In fact, the timelines are getting shorter. At the same time these deliverables are crucially important for our clients to be able to complete in their respective markets.”

There had to be a better way, there was – E-Tabs Enterprise.

E-Tabs Enterprise

When you think about automated reporting, you probably think, ‘Oh the chart automatically updates with new data, right?’ But Enterprise does so much more than that. After exploring multiple solutions, Carla tells us she discovered that “Enterprise goes far beyond automated charting. Really your imagination is the only limit.”  

Carla shared her 3 favourite features:

1) “The fact that objects dynamically update; which means your chart or table will automatically adjust to the amount of data that you’re adding to it.”

2) “You can add your own decision based rules that really mimic what a human is needing to do with data slides. In other words, you can add colour and arrows and even verbiage to start to bring your story to life before one of your team members ever touches the page.”

3) “Through customisation, you can leverage one project to meet many needs as long as they’re largely or partially similar. So you can handle some complex customisation with your projects.“

“E-TABS ENTERPRISE GOES FAR BEYOND AUTOMATED CHARTING. YOUR IMAGINATION IS YOUR ONLY LIMIT.“

Carla Jordan,
VP, Research Operations, Bellomy

Implementation

Bellomy primarily uses E-Tabs Enterprise for their tracking studies, but they also implement it for repetitive programs like concept testing. In this case study, we will explore three examples of how E-Tabs Enterprise helps Bellomy report on their CSAT, NPS, and VOC tracking programs.

Case Study 1

The first example is a monthly report for a Customer Satisfaction study for an electric utility company.

Bellomy integrates 28 Excel files into 2 PowerPoint templates through E-Tabs Enterprise. They produce 6 decks with a total of 170 slides. Thanks to E-Tabs Enterprise, the reporting takes less than an hour to do on a monthly basis.

Carla tells us that “on this project alone, we’re able to save 40% of the time we used to spend on this report, equating to 300 hours/ year for one program. It’s very powerful.”

And to illustrate the magic of E-Tabs Enterprise, below is a blank slide from the template and the populated version.

Not only does the bar chart populate, but the bar for the highest data point is coloured purple, the axis automatically adjusts to the data, and if there was a low base size, that would automatically be flagged.

Carla’s colleague shared how E-Tabs Enterprise has optimised their reporting process. “We are able to deliver an even stronger end-product to our client at a quicker pace than we thought possible. It saves me a lot of time (and stress) every month.”

“ON THIS PROJECT ALONE, WE’RE ABLE TO SAVE 40% OF THE TIME WE USED TO SPEND ON THIS REPORT, EQUATING TO 300 HOURS PER YEAR. IT’S VERY POWERFUL.“

Carla Jordan,
VP, Research Operations, Bellomy

Case Study 2

The second example is an NPS tracking study for an insurance company. Bellomy produces 7 separate lines of business decks totaling 112 slides. This report is built from 3 PowerPoint templates with data sourced from 12 Excel files.

Carla tells us that the team dedicated to this project particularly appreciate the accuracy it has added to their reporting process. “E–Tabs makes us more accurate by taking out the element of human error.”

This example shows a blank table to a table that automatically adjusts the number of rows and adds coloured shading for highs and lows.

Case Study 3

The third example is a VOC quarterly tracker program for a retail client. This report has 1 main deck and another deck with divisional chapters. Each deck has its own template with data sourced from 13 Excel spreadsheets.

This slide example shows a line chart table being populated with stat arrows conditionally formatted to indicate significant ups and downs.

With tighter deadlines and a greater demand for insights, using E-Tabs Enterprise, Bellomy have now reclaimed time to focus on storytelling. “Populating this report in minutes instead of days means we can just start focusing on the story right away. And that is so important to really deliver value to our clients.” 

The Impact

Carla concludes that, “By resolving pain points of the manual reporting process, we’re able to tell better stories and have a better team morale, as well as reduce costs and improve accuracy.”

“Tech forward reporting” not only empowers Bellomy to meet their clients’ growing demands, but it’s also in line with their core values as a company. “Continuous improvement, a healthy workplace, and, ultimately, client success is our success.“

“BY RESOLVING PAIN POINTS OF THE MANUAL REPORTING PROCESS, WE’RE ABLE TO TELL BETTER STORIES AND HAVE A BETTER TEAM MORALE, AS WELL AS REDUCE COSTS AND IMPROVE ACCURACY.”

Carla Jordan,
VP, Research Operations, Bellomy

Automate even the most detailed of PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Google Slides, Sheets or PDF reports quickly and with 100% accuracy. E-Tabs Enterprise can automate any ‘repetitive’ type project – whether a one-time multi-market or multi-category study, continuous tracker, KPI scorecard, concept-test or ad-test, with even the most demanding of requirements.

Watch Carla Jordan share her experience of using the E-Tabs Enterprise at Quirk’s Chicago 2024!