Only what is Measured will Improve
Yes, you probably manage your sales numbers, margins, NPS, and other top-level KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). But there are always sub-metrics that DRIVE any top-level KPI. I call them supportive KPI’s, and your job as a CEO is to identify them and get measurement reporting in place for them. It’s easy, and once you have done it, you will immediately improve almost any aspect of your business.
For example, in customer satisfaction a top-level KPI you should be using is Net Promoter Score (NPS). But if you go and tell your team to “go improve NPS” they will surely implement things but you will have to wait a long time to find out if those things really worked. Often times, they won’t, and you just wasted a ton of time. What you want to do is identify Supportive KPI’s that can be measured daily/weekly and that are visible to all team members working on it. Some of these I have identified that you should consider — daily/weekly customer satisfaction ratings, the # of positive reviews received as a percentage of support tickets handed, and # of customer referrals received. If you see the Supportive KPI’s improve on a daily/weekly basis, then you can be confident that the top-level KPI will improve and so can your team.
Apply this top-level/Supportive KPI framework to every department and your business, and your business will start rocking. Once you truly identify and measure everything that really matters and you will immediately know whether every department is headed in the right or wrong direction.
Only what is measured will improve.
About the Author Nick Friend
Nick Friend is an Entrepreneur, Investor, Husband, Father of 3 daughters. Built businesses from scratch to 8 figures, and has been nominated for several Entrepreneurship awards. Nick enjoys helping other entrepreneurs, particularly those fighting the struggle from $0-10 million.