An important step in preparation is spending time understanding your customer better. Unless this happens, you will be delivering a standard project and nothing more.

Every company has a different way of functioning. Since businesses are extremely dynamic; lots of companies keep adapting themselves. A consultant must be aware of how a particular industry functions.

Let’s take an example. If your client is from an insurance industry, it's important to know how the insurance industry is performing and what direction it is taking. Are there any announcements which are going to change the dynamics? Is there any new government order in pipeline that may alter the functioning? A consultant must be aware of all this.

Though analytics spread across various functions, companies will start with areas which are important to them. Taking the preceding example, if there is a new regulatory compliance which needs to be adhered to, the energy of the company will be focused on implementing that. If the compliance requires certain data to be sent across to the regulatory body, the company will try to get that information set to be made available in the dashboard first.

Try to understand all these factors so that you are better prepared and can relate to the client requirements. This also helps to build the initial trust the client has in you, and the business users in the organization then become comfortable discussing their requirements.