Be Diligent, Get Militant: Apply Metrics to Move Goals to Objectives

What are you measuring in your business?

I’ve found one of the biggest perils for small business, second stage businesses and even sales professionals is a lack of measurement and metrics that quantify their results. It’s an interesting mix of denial and flat out lack of application. “I don’t have the time” or “I don’t want to know the results” or “I already know what the outcome is” are what I commonly hear.

But when you walk through the exercises, the numbers will most always dispel the justification for not doing the math.

• If you don’t have a specific objective, you won’t hit it
• If you don’t measure it, you cannot improve it – much less manage it or control it

Saying “my goal is to bring in new business this quarter” is the same goal as “I’m going to bring in 3 new clients and generate $25,000 in new business this quarter” but the measurement of both the potential and the outcome is what gives it legs and moves it from a “goal” to an “objective.”

Military missions don’t revolve around goals. They operate around achieving highly specific, measurable and targeted objectives. Think of how specific longitude and latitude coordinates are or look at the amazing accomplishments of military engineering companies. The planning, movements, resources and outcomes are incredibly detailed and specific.

3 Things You'll Accomplish When You Measure the Results Against the Objective

1. You can allocate and direct defined quantities of resources to specific applications of your strategy (time, dollars, technology)
2. You can clearly discern if you met the objective or did NOT meet the objective (measuring ROI or acquisition costs)
3. You know if you under or over shot the objective and by how much and can build a strategy around closing the gap – again, specifically allocate a defined amount of resources (controlling costs and investments)

You can build an actionable strategy around closing 3 new clients if you know how much marketing, networking and outbound selling you need to generate to close 3 new clients.

What Measurements and Metrics Can You Apply to Your Objectives?

What should your objective be for advertising investments?

• How many people walk into your store after you run a radio campaign?
• Of those campaign customers, how many make purchases?
• What is the average sale for campaign customers?
• What is the return on investment for the campaign?

What are your expected results from attending a sales conference?

• If you attend an expo or conference, how many contacts did you make?
• How many 2^nd conversations did you generate?
• How many of those contacts did you convert to new clients?
• What is the return on investment of that event?

Can you decrease the acquisition cost of new customers?

• How many leads does each marketing/sales program generate?
• What is the conversion rate for these leads?
• Add up all the chamber dues, advertising, website expense, collateral materials, referral fees, etc— can you decrease those costs?

What is your target number of clients/patients to serve in one day/week/month?

• Can you increase your practice profitability without working more hours?
• How much time do you spend with each client/patient?
• What is the average payment from clients/patients?
• What amount of time does your staff allocate to each client/patient?
• Are there processes you can automate or improve to reduce this time and increase number of clients/patients served? (Online registration/pre-fill forms, etc.)

What can You Measure that Will Make Your Efforts More Meaningful?

Do the math. Measure and make it specific. Think strategically about how quantitative analysis can power your business objectives. Ready to put numbers behind your growth initiatives? Let's talk!