the difference between quantification, measure, metric, and kpi
Post on 14-Sep-2014
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DESCRIPTION
We hear so often that KPIs don't work because they are confused with metrics Metrics, measures, KPIs, raw data... another confused client that wanted to figure out the difference. Here is an article that explains: -- how the numbers appears into our life; -- how they are reinvented in a form of measures and metrics; -- and how some of them are lucky enough to become a KPI. The next time someone will tell me that "KPIs don't work for our business", I'll have a prepared detailed answer that explains what KPIs actually are and why not all metrics are KPIs.TRANSCRIPT
The difference between quantification, measure,
metric, and KPIBased on www.bscdesigner.com/quantification-measure-metric-kpi.htm
By Aleksey Savkin, bscdesigner.com
BSC DESIGNER
KPIS DON’T WORK FOR OUR BUSINESS!
KPIs don’t work for our business!
• Does this statement sound familiar to you?
KPIs don’t work for our business!
• Does this statement sound familiar to you?• In a business world there is no good
understanding of what a KPI, a metric and a measure is…
KPIs don’t work for our business!
• Does this statement sound familiar to you?• In a business world there is no good
understanding of what a KPI, a metric and a measure is…
• And what the difference is between them.
KPIs don’t work for our business!
• As a result, many executives have a long list of metrics
KPIs don’t work for our business!
• As a result, many executives have a long list of metrics
• They call them KPIs
KPIs don’t work for our business!
• As a result, many executives have a long list of metrics
• They call them KPIs• They put them of a visually appealing
dashboards
KPIs don’t work for our business!
• As a result, many executives have a long list of metrics
• They call them KPIs• They put them of a visually appealing
dashboards• But these efforts don’t provide any tangible
effect on business performance.
NOT ALL METRICS ARE KPIS!
Let’s see if we can clarify the situation.
Observation. A marketing and sales process. Mapping observations into numbers.
Metric. A derivative of measure.
Measures. An amount or degree of something.
$ 88
A total cost to gain a new customer
$ 200
$ 1300 4
11
2
17
$ 1500
The number of customers acquired
Funds invested in the marketingFunds invested in the marketing The number of customers acquired
=
Observation Quantification
Source: www.bscdesigner.com
FROM A QUANTIFICATION TO A METRIC
Observation. A marketing and sales process. Mapping observations into numbers.
Metric. A derivative of measure.
Measures. An amount or degree of something.
$ 88
A total cost to gain a new customer
$ 200
$ 1300 4
11
2
17
$ 1500
The number of customers acquired
Funds invested in the marketingFunds invested in the marketing The number of customers acquired
=
Observation Quantification
Source: www.bscdesigner.com
FROM A QUANTIFICATION TO A METRIC
Observation. A marketing and sales process. Mapping observations into numbers.
Metric. A derivative of measure.
Measures. An amount or degree of something.
$ 88
A total cost to gain a new customer
$ 200
$ 1300 4
11
2
17
$ 1500
The number of customers acquired
Funds invested in the marketingFunds invested in the marketing The number of customers acquired
=
Observation Quantification
Source: www.bscdesigner.com
FROM A QUANTIFICATION TO A METRIC
Observation. A marketing and sales process. Mapping observations into numbers.
Metric. A derivative of measure.
Measures. An amount or degree of something.
$ 88
A total cost to gain a new customer
$ 200
$ 1300 4
11
2
17
$ 1500
The number of customers acquired
Funds invested in the marketingFunds invested in the marketing The number of customers acquired
=
Observation Quantification
Source: www.bscdesigner.com
FROM A QUANTIFICATION TO A METRIC
BENCHMARKING WITH METRICS
• A metric is a standard of measurement.
BENCHMARKING WITH METRICS
• A metric is a standard of measurement.• It means that we can use it to compare our
measurements with past results.
BENCHMARKING WITH METRICS
• A metric is a standard of measurement.• It means that we can use it to compare our
measurements with past results. • Or, we can compare something that we
measured in our company with measurements of another company.
BENCHMARKING WITH METRICS
• An example: we can compare “a total cost to gain a new customer” with historic data to update company’s marketing strategy and choose a more cost-effective marketing approach.
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
• KPI is a metric (it doesn’t imply that any metric is a KPI).
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
• KPI is a metric (it doesn’t imply that any metric is a KPI).
• KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator.
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
• KPI is a metric (it doesn’t imply that any metric is a KPI).
• KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. • These three words define the function of a
KPI…
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
• Indicator. It should show the number.
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
• Indicator. It should show the number.
• For example: “How good our customers are engaged” is not really an indicator; in opposite, “Average customer engagement score according to the monthly survey” is an indicator.
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
• Performance. It should be connected to a performance.
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
• Performance. It should be connected to a performance.
• “The number of computers in an office per an employee” is a metric, but it is not really connected to the ultimate business performance. If you will double the number of computers you don’t expect your profits to be increased.
WHAT IS A KPI? WHY ISN’T ANY METRIC A KPI?
Key. It should be important for your business, department, team or whatever you current scale is.
A QUICK TEST: METRIC VS. KPI
• Ask yourself a question: would you pay a significant sum to get the value of this metrics two times higher (or lower)?
A QUICK TEST: METRIC VS. KPI
• Ask yourself a question: would you pay a significant sum to get the value of this metrics two times higher (or lower)?
• If the answer is “no,” then we are talking about a metric, not a KPI.
A QUICK TEST: METRIC VS. KPI
• An example: “a total cost to gain a new customer” might be or might not be a KPI.
A QUICK TEST: METRIC VS. KPI
• An example: “a total cost to gain a new customer” might be or might not be a KPI.
• It depends on your business strategy.
A QUICK TEST: METRIC VS. KPI
• An example: “a total cost to gain a new customer” might be or might not be a KPI.
• It depends on your business strategy. • If your currents costs to gain a new customer
are high and your team found a way to reach the same customers, but at a 10 times lower price, then it is an excellent KPI that will affect your ultimate performance significantly.
“MONTHLY WEBSITE VISITORS” IS NOT A KPI
• The number of monthly visitors is a metric, but if it is a KPI?
“MONTHLY WEBSITE VISITORS” IS NOT A KPI
• The number of monthly visitors is a metric, but if it is a KPI?
• Let’s do a “metrics vs. KPI” test: How much would you pay in US $ to double the number of your monthly visitors?
“MONTHLY WEBSITE VISITORS” IS NOT A KPI
• The number of monthly visitors is a metric, but if it is a KPI?
• Let’s do a “metrics vs. KPI” test: How much would you pay in US $ to double the number of your monthly visitors?
• Don’t rush to come up with a figure, it’s not as simple. Any experienced website owner will start asking the questions: what SEO methods will be used, who will be these new visitors, where will they come from?
FOR MOST ONLINE BUSINESSES THE NUMBER OF MONTHLY VISITORS IS AN EXCELLENT METRIC, BUT IT IS
NOT A KPI.
HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY CONVERT THIS METRIC INTO A KPI?
• Let’s have a look at the questions that I suggested an experienced website owner would ask.
HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY CONVERT THIS METRIC INTO A KPI?
• Let’s have a look at the questions that I suggested an experienced website owner would ask.
• What if we are taking about visitors that come from search engines?
HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY CONVERT THIS METRIC INTO A KPI?
• Let’s have a look at the questions that I suggested an experienced website owner would ask.
• What if we are taking about visitors that come from search engines?
• They were searching using keywords that were highly relevant to our marketing funnel.
HOW CAN WE POSSIBLY CONVERT THIS METRIC INTO A KPI?
• Let’s have a look at the questions that I suggested an experienced website owner would ask.
• What if we are taking about visitors that come from search engines?
• They were searching using keywords that were highly relevant to our marketing funnel.
• We know that these visitors will generate us qualified leads that will be successfully converted into sales.
THE NUMBER OF ORGANIC VISITORS FOR A RELEVANT KEYWORD MIGHT
BE A GOOD KPI.
WHY DO WE NEED A KPI?
• KPI is abused in a business jargon.
WHY DO WE NEED A KPI?
• KPI is abused in a business jargon. • People tend to call any numeric value a KPI.
WHY DO WE NEED A KPI?
• KPI is abused in a business jargon. • People tend to call any numeric value a KPI. • In most cases this doesn’t make sense and as a
result we hear something like “KPIs don’t work for our business.”
WHY DO WE NEED A KPI?
• KPI is abused in a business jargon. • People tend to call any numeric value a KPI. • In most cases this doesn’t make sense and as a
result we hear something like “KPIs don’t work for our business.”
• That’s because those were not KPIs, but were simple measures or metrics.
THE BENEFIT OF A REAL KPI IS THAT IT PROVIDES EXECUTIVES
WITH MEANINGFUL INFORMATION TO MAKE A BETTER DECISIONS.
LET’S TAKE “A TOTAL COST TO GAIN A NEW CUSTOMER” AS AN EXAMPLE
• It helps to come up with a better lead generation strategy.
LET’S TAKE “A TOTAL COST TO GAIN A NEW CUSTOMER” AS AN EXAMPLE
• It helps to come up with a better lead generation strategy.
• A company might start promoting a low-cost or free product as a front end, making money on the back end product.
LET’S TAKE “A TOTAL COST TO GAIN A NEW CUSTOMER” AS AN EXAMPLE
• It helps to choose of an appropriate marketing method and eliminate ones that are not cost effective.
LET’S TAKE “A TOTAL COST TO GAIN A NEW CUSTOMER” AS AN EXAMPLE
• It helps to choose of an appropriate marketing method and eliminate ones that are not cost effective.
• Once compared an efficiency of various marketing and PR methods, a company might decide to replace expensive advertisement in a magazine with targeted CPC campaign in AdWords.
LET’S TAKE “A TOTAL COST TO GAIN A NEW CUSTOMER” AS AN EXAMPLE
• It helps to define a right pricing for a product.
LET’S TAKE “A TOTAL COST TO GAIN A NEW CUSTOMER” AS AN EXAMPLE
• It helps to define a right pricing for a product. • Knowing the cost to gain a new customer a
manager can decide on the pricing of a new product or on the maximum discount that he can afford.
KPI BEST USAGE SCENARIO
KPI BEST USAGE SCENARIO
• In the best case KPI will not only tell us a story about what’s going on in the business right now…
KPI BEST USAGE SCENARIO
• In the best case KPI will not only tell us a story about what’s going on in the business right now…
• But it will give a business time to react appropriately.
KPI BEST USAGE SCENARIO
Following an example above:
• If a company tracks its positions in search engines for the keywords that are the most relevant and best converting, then KPI will work as an early warning signal, telling a management that something is going wrong.
KPI BEST USAGE SCENARIO
Following an example above:
• If a company tracks its positions in search engines for the keywords that are the most relevant and best converting, then KPI will work as an early warning signal, telling a management that something is going wrong.
• Executives won’t be surprised by a sudden sales drop, they will have a time to react respectively.
EXAMPLES OF A GOOD CANDIDATES FOR KPIS
• EBIT (Earnings before interest and taxes) $• Average shopping cart value• Lead to sales conversion rate• % of returning customers• A total cost to gain a new customer• Market Share, %
EXAMPLES OF A GOOD CANDIDATES FOR KPIS
• Bernard Marr in his article on LinkedIn suggests “The 4 KPIs Every Manager Has To Use.”
EXAMPLES OF A GOOD CANDIDATES FOR KPIS
• Bernard Marr in his article on LinkedIn suggests “The 4 KPIs Every Manager Has To Use.”
• You won’t actually find there ready-to-use KPIs.
EXAMPLES OF A GOOD CANDIDATES FOR KPIS
• Bernard Marr in his article on LinkedIn suggests “The 4 KPIs Every Manager Has To Use.”
• You won’t actually find there ready-to-use KPIs.
• For example, it’s impossible to come up with a universal KPI for “Internal Process Quality,”
EXAMPLES OF A GOOD CANDIDATES FOR KPIS
A company need to search its own KPIs in the four areas mentioned in the article:
• Customer Satisfaction, • Internal Process Quality, • Employee Satisfaction, • Financial Performance.
METRICS AND KPIS IN BSC DESIGNER
In BSC Designer with have a “KPIs” tab:
METRICS AND KPIS IN BSC DESIGNER
Some users load the software with raw data, other use metrics, good projects consist of KPIs.
METRICS AND KPIS IN BSC DESIGNER
Some users load the software with raw data, other use metrics, good projects consist of KPIs.
Hopefully, after this presentation you’ll be prepared to differentiate raw data, metrics and KPIs.
MORE ABOUT THE BALANCED SCORECARD
Find more insightful articles about the Balanced Scorecard in ”Articles” section at www.bscdesigner.com
BSC DESIGNER
THANK YOU!
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