In Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, author Michael Lewis details how Oakland A’s general manager, Billy Beane, used statistical data to create a winning team on a small payroll.

In 2007, NetSuite invited Billy Beane onto their board of directors, and have improved their sales process by using his data analysis techniques. In the GigaOM blog, Carleen Hawn outlines their five tips for “managing by the numbers.”

1. Just start measuring it.
2. Reduce the number of systems you use.
3. No such thing as a wrong metric.
4. Consistency is king.
5. Trust your data.