KPI Basics
What Are KPIs for Sales (and What Does KPI Stand for in Marketing)? Everything You Need to Know
Dashboards are packed with numbers, but not all numbers are KPIs. If you’ve been asking yourself “What is KPI in sales and marketing?“, here’s what it means – and why copying a list of KPIs from the internet might not get you the results you’re looking for. Sales and marketing teams love numbers. They fill…
What is the difference between a strategic objective and a mission statement?
There is a bit of a blurry line between mission statements and strategic objectives. Often clues to the strategic objectives are contained within a mission statement. Here are some notable vision/mission statements from history. Example: A grim mission statement General Motors: ‘GM is a multinational corporation engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide. It is dedicated…
How Apple use ‘Observable Consequences’
Figuring out how vulnerable your software is to malicious attack has got to be right up there on the ‘hard to measure stuff’ league table. Why? Because anyone who knows how to hack your software probably isn’t going to tell you that they can. The most valuable exploits are the ones that no-one knows about.…
How to Measure Just About Anything
How can we use the wisdom and experience gained by the makers of Sesame Street, the chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria and Blue Whale researchers help us measure just about anything? To find out the answers to these questions (and learn how a Nobel prize wining physicist used piano tuners to improve the…
How to get started with KPIs, even if you have been putting it off for years
A confession I know how hard it can be to get started with KPIs. Here’s my confession. As a small business specialising in KPIs I measured shockingly little for the first few years. Having stalled but then later realised the the benefits of my own approach, I think I have insight into some of the…
KPI Cheat Sheet – Making KPIs and Measures Easy to Understand
Most KPIs are really badly documented, if they are documented at all No matter which industry, I find three things are consistently true of KPIs KPIs and measures are not fully understood by all of those using them KPIs and measures are poorly documented The documentation that does exist is almost unreadable Performance measurement and…
Defining KPIs: How the wrong KPI shut schools
Defining KPIs clearly is crucial. Badly defined KPIs have unfortunate side effects. The cobra effect is one of my favourites. Most people agree that going to school is good for children. This means that there is a government focus on truancy as a measure. Sometimes there are legitimate reasons why children cannot get to school. One such reason is snow. A singular focus on truancy…
Strategy Checklist: Is your strategy ready to support meaningful measures and KPIs?
Why is a strategy checklist important? Imagine a friend saying to you “Can you pop out to the hardware store and buy a tool for me?”. Obviously, your first question would be “What kind of tool are you looking for?” Deciding on your measures and KPIs without having a clear strategy is exactly like going…
30 Second Tip: Seek out pain
Measure things that are not in control. Organisations tend to shy away from this, as the message initially looks grim. If you are trying to improve things then it’s essential to measure the things that are not working properly.