Metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPI's) are a frequent topic of conversation for many, and even more so in the world of Sales, Marketing and Customer Service. Launched at the start of a new financial year with vigour and approached in a similar fashion to our New Year goals, although hopefully on a more consistent basis than our 'new year new me vibes'!
Many businesses use KPIs as a metric to chart success across the organization, often then further breaking these down to location and then on an individual level. The benefit of establishing metrics from the outset is two-fold according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) – ‘Metrics allow an organisation or line manager to track performance to ascertain who is performing well and who perhaps requires some additional training.’ (FSB Online, 2020).
It is fair to say that most metrics including KPIs are used in this way, which whilst a fair use, in my mind creates a culture based on results rather than behaviour-based activity, which can – in my experience – be a more beneficial outlook for both individual and organisation. Driving purely results-based activity in our sales teams has been for many, the only metric used in time gone by, yet now as the world around us changes and customer experience becomes an ever-increasing metric, is it time for us to reassess?
When entering a new role or company, one thing I think we can all agree on is the need for a clear outline on expectations, again be that organisationally and individually. Metrics are just that, but perhaps it’s the terminology that is the blocker for most and therefore the area we need to address. Speaking to several sales individuals, all metrics seem to fall under direct sales activities from volume, level of appointments and conversations to timeframes and overall sales generated. My hesitance in taking this approach alone is the behaviours it can lead to with numbers being ruled more important than customer delivery and a transactional view being taken month on month.
It is often said that should the right behaviours in line with company values be displayed, the results will follow and that is true. However, we believe in incorporating a blend of the two. Sales as a profession is still regarded very differently in the UK to our European and US counterparts and as such our ambition to professionalise the industry through creating entry level criteria remains valid. One way to support and evolve this is in the way we manage and monitor our salespeople. To remove the focus on transactional month end targets and drive longer term business growth focusing on retention, market share and customer lifetime value will ultimately generate better results and more confident staff.
Establishing KPIs should be done in line with your organisations objectives but should cover a much wider remit than simply sales achieved. They should be simple to understand and whilst stretching – they should be achievable within the economic climate. Implementing these and then managing the delivery should be part of your overall organisation’s training and development plan with regular one to ones and reviews. Consider an element of this to incorporate anonymous customer feedback, internal 360 and evidence of values-based behaviour along with an ESG plan. Our business philosophy is centered around Linda Moir’s famous Virgin statement – ‘Brilliant Basics, Magic Touches’ which focuses on getting the basics right whilst adding value at every customer interaction.
Establishing and managing metrics is perhaps one of the most challenging aspects of the sales industry but one we should take the time to review frequently and take a more multi-faceted approach to in 2022.
