Many businesses limit tracked metrics to the standards, such as sales revenue, yearly growth, and profit and loss. However, these aren’t the only ways to measure success for your company.
Smart leaders aren’t afraid to think outside the box and look at other data points that can provide useful insights. That’s why we asked members of Tampa Bay Business Journal Leadership Trust to share the unusual and unique metrics they track in their businesses and why that information is helpful.
1. Cancellations.
I look at cancellations probably more than anyone. My motto is, “Treat every client like they are the only one.” I dive into each cancellation to determine what we could have done better. I want to dig deep, learn more and do better for each client. If you manage that metric, you will always be moving in the right direction. — Amber Duncan , Jackie
2. Audience engagement.
We measure engagement. Is our audience reacting to our information, marketing, services, etc., in the way we want them to? We track how our audience behaviorally responds to our communication and where they spend time on our website as well as through social media. If our audience is not behaving the way we hope, we tweak our strategies to communicate in a way that better resonates with them. — Merrill Stewart , Marketing & Business Solutions LLC
3. Leads-to-sales ratio.
Tracking my sales force’s leads-to-sales ratios is key to ensuring they are presenting the materials properly. We know our historical conversion rates. If they are way off — either better or worse — I need to dig in and find out why. What are they doing differently that accounts for the variance? We are always learning, so new and different ideas, approaches or techniques are key to improvement. — Adam Boudreaux , Traction in Florida
4. Participant happiness.
We have pre- and post-class questionnaires for our learners. One of the questions is to gauge how happy they are at the beginning and at the end of the class. “Are you happy right now? Do you strongly disagree, disagree, agree, or strongly agree?” The desired result is that they are equally happy or happier at the end of the workshop. — Zora Carrier , Florida Museum of Photographic Arts
5. Perceived client benefits.
“What would be the benefits you’d tell a referral about working with us?” We include this as a top question in our service feedback survey with clients and colleagues. It helps give us a clearer understanding of our brand and what people see as our expertise. We’ve recently instituted this process but have already seen emerging themes. We will soon be turning it into a dropdown menu with an “other” option to continue to assess both client satisfaction and value proposition. — Liz Wooten-Reschke , Connect For More
6. Open and closed files.
As the owner of a law firm, I track the number of open and closed files each month. Tracking cases this way helps me ensure we are delivering results to our clients promptly and efficiently. It also helps me ensure new cases are continually coming in. The combination of these two things helps me predict revenue and gauge how well our business is doing. — Donna Stockham , Stockham Law Group, P.A.
7. Seasonal rate fluctuation.
We find it important to track the rate per night based on the season in our Tampa Bay market. When the snowbirds fly down to Florida, the rates across the board go higher. When the weather begins to heat up and hurricane season is upon us, they go down. Events like the Super Bowl, the Republican National Convention and spring training really affect our rates due to supply and demand. — Dominique Cagle , Nika Corporate Housing