Optimizing Your Key Metrics for Growth
There’s an ongoing challenge in the world of business and it’s to do with measurement. Everyone says they’re doing it, but the application of the word to ascertain whether desired outcomes are achieved is so inconsistent, the reporting of it so varied, and the opaqueness of processes that are involved in it are so great that it’s a wonder that there is so much unquestioning fervor over it.
Measurement of progress, of course, is critical in the world of business. But even when presented with measured results, curious minds will usually go quickly to questions about the processes and the data underpinning the measurement. If the measurement of the result is unclear or completely missing, the credibility of the results themselves will be called into question. This is because the capital that drives business expects to see a return on investment and the kind of results that can be measurably supported before the information will be trusted.
Measurement, therefore, needs to be seen as an instrument of precision, as a way to produce credible and reliable information that can help guide requirements for additional decision-making by business leaders and for sustaining the faith of investors. In this chapter, we will focus on understanding why precise measurement matters to the realization of strategy and how, as Customer Success (CS) professionals, we can establish an effective framework for measurement through a set of key metrics that we will refer to as objectives and key results (OKRs) and key performance indicators (KPIs). By the end of this chapter, you will understand how to support an overarching strategy through the implementation of a system of measurement that focuses on the metrics that matter for CS and the customers it guides and serves.
In this chapter, you will learn about the following topics:
- Understanding the S.M.A.R.T. approach to metrics goals
- Aligning CS with business goals
- Individual versus team goals in CS metrics
- Customer engagement metrics
- Customer lifetime value
