Mortgage

You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure

Why Proper Business Intelligence and Benchmarking are Non-Negotiable in 2025 

In business intelligence, one truth remains constant: “What gets measured gets managed.” If your organization isn’t actively tracking key metrics, you can’t truly oversee performance or guide strategic decisions. While this might sound obvious, many enterprises—even those in data-rich industries like mortgage banking—still treat business intelligence (BI) tools and benchmarking as afterthoughts. In today’s data-saturated environment, that mindset is no longer just outdated—it’s dangerous. 

In their years working with mortgage lenders to optimize their data and benchmarking strategies, experts from Richey May have gleaned a wealth of insights into why so many have struggled to do so effectively. From clunky manual workflows to poorly informed leadership decisions, the cost of neglected BI infrastructure is steep. At the root of these challenges is one undeniable truth: what you don’t know will hurt you. 
 

Measurement Matters in Executive Decision-Making 

Today, executives are under pressure to justify every major decision with data. Whether it’s deciding when to launch a new initiative or how to structure compensation packages, leaders must understand their position—both in relation to internal performance and external benchmarks. 

The clearer the picture that leaders can discern, the less likely they are to make mistakes, misalign teams, drift away from strategic goals, or invest operational resources inefficiently. Just as important, when said leaders have deep-rooted data at their disposal, they can provide added clarity in situations where mistakes do occur. For senior leadership, BI is more than a planning tool. It’s a system of accountability, offering critical insight into both future direction and past performance. 

Measurement Fuels Collaboration 

While executive use cases may grab the headlines, some of the clearest wins with benchmarking show up across departments. In today’s interconnected business environment, what one team does inevitably impacts others. Marketing influences sales, sales affects finance, and finance shapes operations. 

This interdependency means that faulty or incomplete data in one department creates ripple effects throughout the entire organization. When teams operate on conflicting or inaccurate information, collaboration suffers—and so does performance. High-quality BI ensures that everyone is working from a shared, reliable foundation, enabling better communication and enabling better communication, faster problem-solving, increased turn times, and better loan production. 

Choosing What to Measure: BI as Business Purpose 

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. But, data is both denser and more plentiful than ever before, so if you measure everything, you’re bound to be overwhelmed. After all, you can’t manage if you’re drowning in measurements, either! 

For many lenders, this feels like the insurmountable challenge of effective business intelligence: figuring out what to actually measure. Not all business intelligence tools make answering this question easy. In fact, by advertising their sheer scope and versatility, many of these solutions convince companies they should just measure everything and then make sense of it all afterwards. Spoiler alert: this rarely goes well. 

One of the biggest takeaways from our use-case analysis was that benchmarking should never be treated like a basic IT initiative. It’s a business imperative. Companies that treat it as a one-off project or focus only on the quantity of data they collect miss the bigger picture: strategic relevance. 

The reason we believe that the most important lenses through which to view the measuring and managing of business intelligence data are executive decision-making and inter-departmental collaboration is because these are where organizations will ultimately find their purpose for measuring in the first place. Effective BI starts with aligning metrics to business goals. Organizations must understand the “why” behind each KPI, focusing on data that directly supports their priorities. With this alignment, BI becomes not just a technical system—but a strategic advantage. 

RM Analyze Puts the Intelligence in BI 

When choosing the best business intelligence solution for your enterprise, you’re not just looking for the biggest receptacle into which you can vacuum up the most data, but for a tool designed to fit the contours or your organization, and the decisions you need to make—today and tomorrow. 

RM Analyze is designed to do just that. Built by industry experts who understand the challenges of data saturation, it offers unmatched flexibility, real-time insights, and cross-functional integration. From streamlining collaboration to eliminating manual reporting, RM Analyze delivers measurable value across your entire organization. 

This isn’t just about working smarter—it’s about working better. 

Learn more about what RM Analyze can do for you!