Metrics... Just because they’re easy to measure doesn’t mean they matter. When I visit a new client or when I do some investigation for a prospective client, I often see something that looks like a useful metric but isn't. It happens because they often appear in easy, round numbers and are easily compared to other round numbers. Facebook "Likes" is one I see often. But when you start to think about it, how does monitoring the number of "Likes" grow your business? A more important question to ask is if your investing someone's time or spending money to increase your "Likes". 

I'm a data scientist. I love numbers - especially when they are the RIGHT numbers. As an outside consultant to many businesses, I am dedicated to ensuring that the numbers you monitor help build your business. Additionally, by giving you meaningful numbers to compare, you can evaluate my performance. From my perspective, this is critical for 2 reasons: First, you can see the improvements I provide to your business. Second, by showing you the value that I'm bringing, I position myself as a valuable asset to your business, not an expense. (If you can do this in your business, you should as well) But, here's how to get started with measuring the right things: 

First, understand that there are not hundreds of metrics that really "move the needle" in your business and it's important to find those things that make a difference and measure those first. A good example is incoming sales calls. Many businesses measure how much time a salesperson spends on a call with a prospect without measuring the efficacy of those calls. More time does not equal more sales. My research has shown that most high-performing salespeople spend LESS time on calls with prospects before they convert to clients. A better metric would be "time-to-conversion" or the amount of time that it takes before a prospect is converted. Additionally, you would want to measure the number of incoming and outgoing calls by the salespeople. Many of the best performers I've seen knock out 80 to 100 outbound calls per day.

Lacklustre performers don't. They focus on sending emails, going for coffee, looking for brochures and other time-wasting activities. In a service business, you might measure the time it takes for a customer placing an order to the time they receive their order. I've watched the drive-through window servers from inside Starbucks and their goal is under 2 minutes per car. The timer for each order is green up to 1:45 when it turns yellow and at 2:00 it turns red reinforcing to staff that they've not hit the standard. I can guarantee you the manager gets a report every day and bases her staffing picks based on that data.

If you're measuring and you're thinking the items measured aren't correct, don't stop.  Chances are, your staff are people who say they care about measurement, all you need to do is give them useful numbers to measure instead. Doing so reinforces the behaviour they are already doing AND you can use this better, more appropriate data to make better decisions and grow the business. 

Many businesses do not measure performance. No rule says they need to do so BUT... If an aggressive competitor entered the market and by using metrics they're able to outperform your business, it won't be long before your business begins to suffer.  

Elaunchers can help you get started, All you need to do is schedule an appointment with Parthiv HERE.