How do you approach things when your data tells you something the business doesn't want to hear?

Undeniable simple visualization 

Three things: 1) for known push-back items, collect the evidence before approaching business representatives and 2) more importantly, ask influencers in the business teams for their opinion on what the data tells you and to get their support before going to CxO level and 3) repeat, repeat, repeat -- it will eventually stick. Business decisions are still made by people so how you show the data / tell the story is just as important as what the data tells people. 

If something is not going well, we have to point it out. At the end of the day, we have to call a spade a spade, however use prescriptive versus descriptive analytics with your phrasing. When you address unpreferable data results with CXOs, go to them with a solution rather than a problem and try not to leave them with a problem. When you approach them it’s better to say “here is a solution that you can gain more from” versus “this is not right.”