The Magic of a Pivot Table: Your 8 clicks Easy-pass to Your Business Insights
- Cristina Zappullo
- Mar 3
- 3 min read
Your business numbers are row data.
You will have to work on them a bit before they can tell you anything.
Mastering the pivot table will save you a great deal of time.
A pivot table is a table that summarises numbers to give you information.
For example, instead of having to deal with the purchase list as an Excel file, with a pivot table you will have one of the worksheets that clearly shows you how much each client spends on your products or services.
Much better knowledge, isn't it?
It is unfortunate that, as with all data-related topics, there are many misconceptions about the ease of implementation.
We received feedback on the difficulties encountered making the Pivot Table after the post focusing on finding the best customer.
So now we are having an issue focused on this.
Right, let's get to it!
It's Really Difficult to Do, isn't it?
It is not. It only takes a few clicks.
Most people don't do these few clicks.
They don't know about Pivot Tables.
They think it's difficult.
They don't see how it could help.
Follow this step-by-step guide and you'll find it easy and useful to learn something about your company.
Chris, our friendly neighbourhood course creator, is going to show us which of her clients are her best.
Step # 1: Load your file in Google Sheets.
We need to open and work on an Excel-like file.
Given that every company I know uses Google Suite and has access to Drive, I'm going to show you how to create a pivot table on Google Sheets.
This is not to say that this option is superior to others, nor that it should be the only one used. Once you've mastered one way to make pivot tables, you'll find that all software has a similar process.
Chris downloaded her clients' purchase list from the platform where she sells her products and opened it in Google Sheets.
In Excel/Google Sheets/whatever other software, the horizontal line is called "entry", the vertical one is "column", "variable", "feature" and so on. We will use the term 'variable'. It defines the values we will have per entry.
Step 2: Create the Pivot Table
We need to tell Google Sheet that you want to create a Pivot Table with specific data and location in another Tab.
Chris believes a pivot table in the next tab will help keep things tidy.
Click Insert > Pivot Table > Check "New Sheet" is selected > Select "Data Range"
Click on "Ok" > click on "Create"Step 3: Select the Columns you Want to Extract Information From
Finally, tell Google Sheets which information you want to see on this table.
The pivot table will be in its own tab.
On the right, you will see four boxes where you can drag and drop your variables or use the suggested options. Use them to build your pivot table.
Chris will check the amount of purchase per client. She needs to visualise each client and the sum of their purchases.
She confidently drags and drops the "Client" variable in the vertical box and "Amount" in the value box.
There you have it!
Done.
Now, for Your Insights
Insights come from information when you decide what's a good value and what's a cause for concern.
They come from your judgement.
Once you have the pivot table, you can enhance the information further by using filters or colour - see previous issue for that.
Any issues?
It's normal to have issues the second time you try. We are here to help. Comment with any doubts or ask us at one of our events.
By commenting, you'll also help other readers who have the same question.
If you ask us during one of our events, which are mostly workshops meet Q&A sessions, you will get help with actually doing it and you can ask further questions.
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