How Scoop’s Sankey Diagrams Give You Access to the Power of Data Flows

Whether you’re in revenue ops, marketing ops, sales ops, finance ops, or customer ops—understanding how your processes flow is critical. It's not enough to know where you started or where you ended up; you need to understand the journey. This is where Sankey diagrams in Scoop become a game-changer. These intuitive, dynamic visuals allow you to track the movement of items—like leads, deals, or support tickets—through stages and identify where things accelerate, slow down, or stop altogether.

Let’s explore how Scoop’s Sankey diagrams empower you to analyze data flows, make informed decisions, and improve your business processes. By the end of this guide, you’ll not only understand the power of Sankey diagrams but also know how to use them in Scoop with confidence.

What Are Sankey Diagrams?

A Sankey diagram visualizes the flow of items through multiple stages in a process. Each flow is represented by proportional arrows, making it easy to see how items transition and where they end up. Scoop enhances this basic functionality by making Sankey diagrams:

• Interactive: Drill into specific data points and filter by attributes.
• Dynamic: Visualize flows over time or by specific steps.
• Customizable: Adjust the number of steps and other parameters to suit your needs.

Sankey diagrams aren’t just about pretty visuals—they’re practical tools for diagnosing bottlenecks, improving conversion rates, and optimizing processes across departments.

How to Use Scoop’s Sankey Diagrams: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Prepare Your Data

Before creating a Sankey diagram in Scoop, ensure your data is ready for analysis. Scoop simplifies this process with built-in data preparation tools:

1. Connect Your Data Sources: Scoop integrates with applications like Salesforce, HubSpot, and Google Sheets, allowing you to pull data directly into the platform.
2. Use Instant Recipes: Start with pre-built use cases tailored to specific datasets, such as sales forecasting or marketing cost analysis.
3. Snapshot Your Data: Scoop automatically captures snapshots of your data over time, creating a historical record that’s essential for process analysis.

For example, if you’re analyzing a sales funnel, connect your CRM and upload historical sales data to capture changes in deal stages over time.

Step 2: Access the Process Analysis Tool

Once your data is prepared, navigate to the Process Analysis section within Scoop. Here’s how:

1. Open your workspace and select the dataset you want to analyze.
2. Click on the "Insights" tab and choose Process Analysis.
3. Select the analysis type: Sankey Diagram or Process Diagram. For this guide, we’ll focus on Sankey diagrams.

Step 3: Configure Your Sankey Diagram

To build your Sankey diagram, follow these steps:

1. Choose the Metric to Analyze: Decide what you want to track—e.g., sales opportunities, lead statuses, or support tickets.
   
   • Example: For a sales funnel, select “Sales Stage” as your metric.

2. Define the Desired Outcome: Highlight the end goal of the process, such as “Closed Won” for deals or “Resolved” for support tickets.
3. Set the Number of Steps: Adjust the diagram to display all transitions or focus on a specific number of steps. This flexibility ensures clarity and avoids unnecessary clutter.
4. Toggle Between Time-Based and Step-Based Analysis:
   
   • Time-Based: Analyze how items move through stages over a defined time period.
   • Step-Based: Focus solely on transitions between stages, regardless of time.

Pro Tip: Use filters to focus on specific attributes like region, product type, or sales reps. For example, if you’re in customer ops, filter by ticket type to see which support issues take the longest to resolve.

Step 4: Analyze the Results

Once your Sankey diagram is configured, Scoop automatically generates a visual representation of your process flow. Here’s how to interpret it:

• Widths of Arrows: These represent the proportion of items transitioning between stages. Wider arrows indicate higher volumes.
• Highlighted Paths: Trace specific paths to understand how items reach the desired outcome.
• Bottleneck Identification: Look for stages where flows thin out significantly, signaling a potential slowdown or issue.

For example, a marketing ops professional might use the diagram to identify where leads drop off in the funnel and adjust campaigns to improve engagement.

Step 5: Share and Collaborate

Scoop’s Sankey diagrams aren’t just for analysis—they’re built for storytelling. Here’s how to share your findings:

1. Create a Canvas: Combine your Sankey diagram with other visualizations, narratives, and data tables to build a compelling story.
2. Customize Presentation Elements: Use Scoop’s styling tools to adjust colors, fonts, and themes for an executive-ready presentation.
3. Share Securely: Scoop allows you to share canvases privately or publicly, with filters to ensure each stakeholder sees only the data relevant to them.

For example, a revenue ops leader might present a Sankey diagram during a QBR to highlight how deal velocity has improved due to recent process changes.

Real-World Applications of Sankey Diagrams in Scoop

1. Sales Pipeline Management

Track how deals move through your pipeline, identify bottlenecks, and optimize conversion rates. For instance:

• Key Insight: A Sankey diagram might reveal that deals stall between the “Proof of Concept” and “Negotiation” stages, prompting the team to streamline approval processes.

2. Marketing Campaign Analysis

Visualize how leads progress through a campaign funnel, from initial engagement to conversion.

• Key Insight: Identify which channels drive the most conversions and allocate resources accordingly.

3. Customer Support Workflow

Monitor the progression of support tickets and improve resolution times.

• Key Insight: A Sankey diagram could show that tickets from a particular product line take longer to resolve, leading to targeted training for support agents.

Practical Tips for Maximizing Scoop’s Sankey Diagrams

1. Use Snapshots to Track Changes: Regular snapshots provide a historical context, helping you see trends and improvements over time.
2. Leverage Pre-Built Recipes: Scoop’s instant recipes save time by automatically mapping your data to common use cases.
3. Combine with Other Visualizations: Pair Sankey diagrams with KPIs, process diagrams, and tables to provide a comprehensive view of your data.
4. Filter for Granular Insights: Drill down into specific attributes like geography, product category, or team performance for targeted analysis.

Reflection: The Value of Scoop’s Sankey Diagrams

As Brad Peters, Scoop’s co-founder, explained, “Most analytics tools are like the odometer on your car—they tell you how far you’ve gone. Scoop is the speedometer, showing you how fast you’re moving and where you need to accelerate or slow down.” Sankey diagrams embody this philosophy, offering a clear, actionable view of your data flows.

By visualizing processes with Scoop’s Sankey diagrams, you’re not just tracking data—you’re uncovering the stories behind it. Whether you’re optimizing a sales funnel, improving customer support, or refining operational workflows, these diagrams provide the clarity and insight needed to drive meaningful change.

Summary of Key Steps

1. Prepare Your Data: Connect data sources, use recipes, and capture snapshots.
2. Access Process Analysis: Navigate to the Insights tab and select Sankey diagrams.
3. Configure Your Diagram: Choose metrics, set outcomes, and customize analysis parameters.
4. Analyze and Share: Interpret flows, identify bottlenecks, and present findings through interactive canvases.

Ready to bring clarity to your processes and transform your data into actionable insights? With Scoop’s Sankey diagrams, the power is in your hands.

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