# Tips for Quick Analysis

This guide will help you interact effectively with your AI agent to gain valuable insights from your company's data.

## What Can You Ask Your Agent?

Your Actian AI Analyst agent can handle a wide variety of data-related requests:

* **Data Exploration**: "What sort of analyses can you do about our shipment data? Give me some ideas."
* **Specific Visualizations**: "Create a line chart showing monthly revenue trends for 2025"
* **Lookup Information**: "What's the delivery status of order #12345?"
* **Comparative Analysis**: "Compare the total revenue across all available regions for Q1 vs Q2 2025, specifically for our premium products"

## Crafting Effective Data Questions

### What Makes a Good Data Question?

Good data questions are specific, include relevant context, and clearly state what you're trying to learn.

#### ✅ Good Examples:

* "What was our customer retention rate in the Northeast region during Q1 2023 compared to Q1 2022?"
* "Show me the conversion rate for our email campaign last month, broken down by customer segment"
* "Which products had the highest profit margin in our online stores during the holiday season?"

#### ❌ Less Effective Examples:

* "Give me data on customers" (unclear what aspect of customers you're interested in)
* "Is our business doing well?" (subjective and lacks specific metrics)
* "How did sales go in Benelux last month?" (too broad, lacks specific metrics)

### Formatting Tips:

1. **Specify metrics**: Clearly state what you want to measure (revenue, units sold, conversion rate)
2. **Include time frames**: Mention the time period you're interested in
3. **Add context**: Note any specific segments, categories, or comparisons
4. **State visualization preferences**: If you want a specific chart type, mention it

## Requesting Charts

Your agent can generate various chart types:

* **Bar Charts**: Great for comparing quantities across categories
  * *Example*: Regional sales comparison showing which territories outperform others
* **Pie Charts**: Useful for showing proportions within a whole
  * *Example*: Market share distribution across product lines
* **Line Charts**: Ideal for visualizing trends over time
  * *Example*: Monthly revenue growth highlighting seasonal patterns
* **Scatter Plots**: Excellent for identifying relationships between variables
  * *Example*: Price vs. rating correlation for your product catalog

*Coming soon: funnel charts & geo maps.*

## Follow-up Strategies

Conversations with your agent can be iterative. Try these follow-up approaches:

* **Request different views**: "Can you show this data by week instead of month?"
* **Drill down**: "Show me a breakdown of this spike in June?"
* **Clarification**: "How did you calculate this?"

## Troubleshooting Tips

* If you get unexpected results, try rephrasing your question with more specificity
* For complex analyses, break down your request into smaller, related questions
* Remember that your agent works best with the data it has access to; some questions may require data your organization hasn't connected

By following these guidelines, you can leverage your custom Actian AI Analyst agent to gain meaningful insights and make informed data-driven decisions.