I’ve worked in marketing for 25 years, in customer experience for 15 years. In ALL this time, I’ve heard the same motto: it’s not about the metrics!
It’s about…
what you do
what you say
what you create.
It’s about…
leads you generate
revenue you contribute to
success you drive
And yet, in ALL this time, the work I’ve done with my teams has been measured through metrics. My achievements are all tied up with metrics, and I’m willing to bet, yours are too.
Take for example the Net Promoter Score (NPS) which celebrates its 20th anniversary.
It’s been simultaneously…
loved and hated
worshipped and disparaged
praised and ridiculed.
Bit too much emotional response for a metric if you ask me. But like all metrics, it’s often misunderstood. Yet there’s no doubt it changed the face of customer experience as a discipline.
So is it about metrics after all?
It is for me. If you’re judged on it and your initiatives depend on it, then metrics should be front and centre of everything you do.
Here’s why metrics matter!
1. Metrics point the way
But only if you choose them right. So don’t listen to those who say “just pick one”. (And I’ve heard many say this, even from leadership.) The right metric is the one that correlates to the right outcome.
So the outcome comes first, always. An isolated metric is useless. It has to point to what you’re trying to achieve as a business.
We all have a tendency to call a metric core just because it’s interesting and relevant. And the truth is, some of them are worth looking into to see how they correlate to the key metric and the overall outcome. But don’t get lost in them and don’t report on them.
Example: Customer retention is a KPI that the Board is usually fixated on (if they’re not, they should be!). Find the CX metric that best correlate to increases in customer retention and stick with it! We talked about NPS before, and it’s often a great indicator if you follow its economics carefully (see this blog for more info). If you’re aiming for a 3% increase in customer retention (and what that means in $ value), you can then figure out how increases in NPS correlate to higher retention. Keep yourself and your team focused on this link, and you’ll build credibility in your CX programme year on year.
2. Metrics drive action
Let’s face it, we can all be busy. Marketing and CX professionals are particularly good at doing stuff. We’re often passionate about what we do, so we do more of it. But doing stuff and doing the right stuff are two very different things. And at the core of this difference are metrics.
All activities need to go back to core metrics you’re measured on. The ones that correlate to the overall business outcome, remember.
Let the metrics drive what you do, and measure the success of any activity through their lens. Tirelessly. Consistently.
Example: Marketing activities are often measured in terms of leads they generate. A worthy goal for sure, especially with a “proper” metric like MQL or SQL with stringent qualifiers that are aligned with Sales. By ensuring all leads and opportunities can be tracked back to key activities along the buying cycle, you can refine your marketing plan so it focuses on the campaigns that really work, those that create new business, those that make customers more loyal.
3. Metrics show results
Obvious, right? How can you prove the worth of your programme without metrics? This is also when you find out if you’ve chosen the right metrics. The ones that link your efforts to your company’s bottom line. The business world isn’t short on metrics but the ability to trace a direct line between operational measurements and corporate KPIs is much harder to find.
Now metrics can’t drive businesses forward all on their own. You need to bring them to life through easy-to-read, role-specific dashboards that tell the story and show you the way.
Example: Let’s go back to the Net Promoter Score we mentioned earlier. As a number, it doesn’t do much really. Its power as a metric comes from the story it tells: trend lines of Promoters and Detractors over time, or how it correlates to customer churn. Playing with the key drivers that influence NPS is a great way to make the metric work for you, by keeping you focused on results.
That’s why metrics matter. They give you direction, they tell you which actions to prioritise, and they measure success. Now metrics don’t move themselves, and you can get into analysis paralysis by staring at KPIs all day. But too often they can be a side thought in the race for operational efficiency and commercial success.
The right metrics link what you do to how it helps the business. So start with them. Make sure you pick the ones that fits your industry and your corporate goals. And set up your activities so that you can measure them against these metrics from scratch. It’s much harder to make the link afterwards.
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