Improve your business with KPI and Metric Reporting
Partner with us to quickly gain visibility into your organization's performance to simplify, save time, and make data-driven decisions.
How do you grow your company and still provide meaningful solutions to your customers, without sacrificing quality? For organizations that are trying to go from $1M+ to $10M in revenue, this is literally The 10 Million Dollar Question. And what is it that $10M companies have, that smaller companies do not?
As a small business owner, you've likely encountered many obstacles in pursuit of sustainable $10M revenue growth. It can be quite demoralizing... you work hard, you put in the extra hours outside of the office, and yet somehow (to this point), you haven't been able to reach this milestone.
First, let's acknowledge that this is not an easy feat. In fact, less than 1% of businesses surpass the $10M mark. Do not despair, there's a silver lining here... If your business is generating at least $1M per year, you've already beaten out 95% of all businesses in the US. That's right, $1M in annual revenue puts your company in the top 5%.
This means you're not trying to climb a long steep hill from the bottom to reach the top 1%. In reality, you're not all that far from the summit. We're talking about edging out only 4 more measly percentage points to get into the top 1% from where you are. Sound doable? That's because it is! KPI and Metric Reporting is a crucial step that must be taken to get you to $10M!
“Most people use statistics the way a drunkard uses a lamp post, more for support than illumination.”
-Mark Twain
About this Service
We've all experienced that feeling of anxiety, uncertainty, and doubt when it comes to our business. KPIs and Metric Reporting are the cornerstone to removing those feelings. With just a handful of meaningful numbers, you will be able to keep a pulse on how your company is performing (without delays, guesswork, or wasteful scrambling for answers).
Our KPI and Metric Reporting services are designed to discover and track the key data within your unique organization. We'll help you leverage this information to reach your business goals, identify strengths, weaknesses, and trends. You and your team will have visibility into your value stream activities like never before, allowing you to keep things on track, make improvements when needed, and even predict the future.
Implementing KPI and Metric Reporting is another facet of our Combined Energy Approach™. Without measurements, there can be no improvement. Once measurement is possible, it can be used to hold people accountable.
Teams will have visibility into each others' productivity (or lack thereof). Adjustments can be made and resources can be allocated to help teammates succeed. People will get the support they need in many cases before they even know to ask for help. Expectations will be clear and recognizing when celebration and recognition of employees is warranted will be a synch.
Coaching can be based on data rather than subjectivity or emotion. Employee engagement and retention should increase, and the people that are not the right fit for your organization will be exposed. KPI and Metric Reporting is a very effective tool for motivating people and giving them something to shoot for.
What our KPI and Metric Reporting services entail:
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Interviews and meeting facilitation to determine high-level KPIs
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Interviews and process analysis to determine departmental KPIs
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Interviews and function analysis to determine individual KPIs
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Customized KPI Dashboard for the unique weekly activities that reflect your business' health and performance
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Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for weekly Dashboard
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Training session for KPI and Metric Reporting (weekly Dashboard) for a Primary, Alternative, and up to 2 more Contingency personnel
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Groundwork for Quarterly and Annual Employee Performance Reviews
*Normally, we prefer to conduct our services In-person rather than Virtually, however, KPI and Metric Reporting is one of the few offerings where the advantages between Virtual and In-person services are negligible. If you do prefer In-person, please review our other offerings to determine which others would benefit your organization. If we're going to be onsite, why not combine some services to take advantage of some cost savings?
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FAQs
How do you grow your company and still provide meaningful solutions to your customers, without sacrificing quality?
Partner with Doxazo to implement KPI and Metric Reporting within your organization. You and your leadership team will gain visibility into the performance of your business' most important functions. Among other things, this will allow you to quickly identify when things are going off-track so you can take action. Waiting for monthly or quarterly reports and analyzing them in hindsight is no longer your only option. You must have the ability to address issues as they develop, before they become significant. For more information on KPI and Metric Reporting, see About KPI and Metric Reporting below.
...even if you have a busy schedule?
There's no better time to implement KPI and Metric Reporting than now. Otherwise, you are essentially flying blind. It doesn't matter if you have a full schedule or perhaps you're in the midst of your "busy season". If you think about it, you will always feel busy or have a full schedule (if your company is growing and succeeding the way you want it to). Implementing KPI and Metric Reporting will help simplify, save time, and make data-driven decision. This means fewer mistakes and rework. The amount of time you'll save by delegating responsibilities while maintaining a pulse on the company's health will reduce that feeling of overwhelm and "being busy". It doesn't make sense to put off the implementation of this powerful solution that will allow you to improve your organization's performance and your stakeholders' experience.
...even if there doesn't seem to be any money in the budget?
The savings and rewards of KPI and Metric Reporting will far outweigh the costs. The transformation of your organization by using just handful of the right numbers will be like night and day. There isn't really a cap to how much you will benefit by implementing KPI and Metric Reporting, because what gets measured can be improved upon. When the organization becomes more efficient, the amount of waste will be reduced. Reducing waste and having clear goals and expectations is lays the groundwork for sending your organization into the stratosphere. Make no mistake, this is a premium service, but we offer it for a reasonable price, and rest assured this investment will have easily paid for itself many times over within the first year.
...even if your company is unique from all other companies?
KPI and Metric Reporting is not a "one-size-fits-all" solution. Sure, there are some metrics that should be measured at all companies regardless of industry (ie. weekly revenue, cash balance, etc). With that said, no two companies will have identical KPI Dashboards. We take the time to gain insight into your company's vision, objectives, and processes. We combine best practices with custom tailored KPIs for each organization no matter how unique.
...even if you have tried in the past and were unsuccessful?
Doxazo's KPI and Metric Reporting service includes training designed to bridge the gap between simply producing reports, and having the capability to choose the right metrics to track. Choosing the wrong metrics will not get the results you seek. For us, it's not enough to give you a Dashboard and show you how to maintain it. We want to guide you through the process of understanding, to gain confidence, become disciplined, and generate excitement so you're able to continue innovating after we walk out the door.
...even if you don't think it's possible?
If you're not already tracking and reviewing KPIs on a weekly basis, you should start because you could be scaling your organization rapidly while reducing your business-related frustrations. If you’re choosing not to measure performance, it’s only a matter of time before you are left behind by your competition. If your company is stagnant or you’re dealing with a lot of operational “fires”, it’s time to start quantifying and moving towards some goals. If you have a gut feeling your company is not meeting your expectations, KPI and Metric Reporting will reveal what's what. If you're simply not where you want to be (or you're not getting there fast enough), this solution will allow you to "right the ship" if you choose to act.
...even if you think it would be better suited for down the road?
There's no better time to implement KPI and Metric Reporting than now. Otherwise, you are essentially flying blind. It doesn't matter if you have a full schedule or perhaps you're in the midst of your "busy season". If you think about it, you will always feel busy or have a full schedule (if your company is growing and succeeding the way you want it to). Implementing KPI and Metric Reporting will help simplify, save time, and make data-driven decision. This means fewer mistakes and rework. The amount of time you'll save by delegating responsibilities while maintaining a pulse on the company's health will reduce that feeling of overwhelm and "being busy". It doesn't make sense to put off the implementation of this powerful solution that will allow you to improve your organization's performance and your stakeholders' experience.
Why Doxazo
Like many other firms, we utilize best practices for KPI and Metric Reporting. This involves creating a Scorecard, Flash Report, or as we call it, a Dashboard. The result is having visibility into the organization's performance at all levels. Everyone from the top-down and bottom-up will know what it means to be successful.
With that said, not all KPI and Metric Reporting processes are created equal. While we utilize similar practices as the competition, we must emphasize that we are not all cut from the same cloth. We believe in "striking while the iron is hot". If you're interested in pulling the trigger, you shouldn't have to wait. We're committed to getting you rolling within 2 weeks of initial contact (if you so desire).
Most firms are focused on delivering to you a Dashboard and showing you how to use it. While that's part of what we do, our true goal is to impart the knowledge and practices that will allow you take ownership of KPI generation in the future so you can create meaningful KPIs and operate without external assistance.
That's right, we include training designed to bridge the gap between simply producing reports, and having the capability to choose the right metrics to track. Choosing the wrong metrics will not get the results you seek. For us, it's not enough to give you a Dashboard and show you how to maintain it. We want to guide you through the process of understanding, to gain confidence, become disciplined, and generate excitement so you're able to continue innovating after we walk out the door. At Doxazo, we care about delivering positive results. If you're not happy, we're not happy.
It doesn’t cost you anything if you don’t feel value was received. Our guarantee states: “If when the work is done, the client does not feel that the full value was received, then the client decides how much it was worth and how much to pay (if anything).” That is how confident we are that we can deliver positive results.
About KPI and Metric Reporting
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF):
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Measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is not enough when it comes to achieving your business goals, you must be setting and monitoring the "right" KPIs to ensure everything and everyone in the organization is on track.
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The gut instinct serves its purpose in business, but there's a different level of comfort that comes with making decisions based on factual data.
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When you're able to identify (almost) in real-time: strengths, weaknesses, and trends, you no longer need to operate under assumptions, by subjective opinions, or react emotionally.
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Part of making the process beneficial and time-saving means the numbers have to be easy to obtain on a weekly basis.
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Not sure how to get started? We can help! Contact us today to get more visibility into your organization's performance and start simplifying your life!
In This Article
What are KPIs?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics that help you understand how well your business is doing and whether or not it needs to be adjusted. They can apply both internally and externally.
These metrics can be operational, financial or both. KPIs help make decisions about how to grow and improve your business, as well as ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to company goals.
KPIs are often implemented in situations where a business has a problem. They can help companies:
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identify what processes need to be changed
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which products or services need improvement
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how customers can be better satisfied
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how employee performance can be improved
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track customer retention
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identify efficacy of marketing strategies
KPIs can be used to compare your organization against your competitors and see how you stack up in terms of key business metrics such as revenue, number of customers, or number of employees. If you want data that has real impact on your organization's success, then KPIs are a great solution.
Why are KPIs Important?
If a business doesn't know its KPIs, it's like driving at night with no headlights. You can only get so far before you hit something and crash. You need to know what your key performance indicators are in order to understand how your business is performing.
Having a handful of meaningful metrics allows you to let go of all the minutia while still maintaining a pulse on the health of your business. Think of all the time you'll save, time you can then devote to what really matters to you most.
Many companies make the mistake of reviewing performance retroactively. They wait until the period closes, and review how everything went. The trouble with this method is that it doesn’t allow for rapid course correction as things begin to deviate.
In fact, many small businesses struggle to close their accounting periods within a reasonable time each month which means these organizations may go down the wrong path for several months before discovering there’s a problem. This makes it much more difficult to right the ship.
KPIs don’t have to be limited to the corporate level either, as a matter of fact, they should cascade down throughout the entire organization. Each employee should have a metric they are responsible for. The metric should be the one number that can communicate whether or not they’re performing their function well, or if improvement is needed.
Having KPIs allows leadership to identify when things are going off the rails. Decisions can become data-driven instead of subjective. Come review time, it makes it much easier to promote and terminate employees based on performance.
Who Needs KPIs?
KPIs are a tool for management, marketing, finance, HR, product development and engineering. Basically, KPIs can and should be used by everyone across an organization. For example:
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KPIs help marketing departments to measure the performance of their campaigns by tracking metrics like clicks or impressions.
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Finance teams use KPIs to track key financial indicators such as revenue growth over time or cost-cutting measures (such as the number of employees).
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HR uses metrics to measure employee satisfaction in terms of engagement levels or turnover rates among other things.
Companies that desire to implement continuous improvement techniques need KPIs. Without tracking metrics on each of your core processes, it’s almost impossible to improve them consistently in any meaningful way.
When is it Time to Implement KPIs?
Many business owners pride themselves on their ability to “trust their gut”. They often make critical decisions based on feeling and speculation. Of course, this type of decisiveness has its place in business, but making so many decisions without factual data can feel quite uncomfortable. If this sounds familiar, you need KPIs, and the sooner, the better.
This is especially the case when it comes to making decisions that affect people’s lives. If you’re someone who doesn’t particularly look forward to conversations about increasing compensation or perhaps even termination, KPIs will change your life.
Implementing and tracking KPIs for each of your team members makes things more black and white when it comes to those difficult conversations about performance. Data-driven decisions can be made based on real metrics, without people taking a bad review personally.
Furthermore, if someone thinks they deserve a promotion, you are able to justify it (or not) by the numbers. You can even create a career path for each of your team members by creating stretch goals for them to pursue.
If you aren’t currently reviewing meaningful KPIs within your organization, it’s something you should consider as soon as possible. It’s important, however, not to just start collecting data without purpose; rather you should have a clear idea of what metrics will help you achieve the goals of your business before beginning this process.
The more data you have, the better. But there’s a difference between having a lot of data and having useful data. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, then your data will be useless.
That is why it is important to set clear goals during your Strategic Planning session before collecting any kind of data; this way you can use your KPIs (in addition to OKRs) as benchmarks to measure against.
Where are KPIs Kept?
You should have one central location where all of your KPIs are stored. This can be either a physical location (like a filing cabinet) or an online platform that is accessible by everyone (although we highly recommend the latter). Additionally, we recommend storing your KPIs in a digital format that’s easy for non-data experts to access and use.
Ideally, company KPIs, department KPIs, and individual KPIs should be organized into a dashboard. A KPI dashboard is an internal tool that makes it much easier to see what’s happening in the company at a glance. From there, you just have to share access for others to be able to view the dashboard.
This is important because it means all information is available to anyone who needs it and can be easily updated, which will make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to what's happening in the company.
How to Implement KPIs
At first glance, it may seem like a daunting task. If you’re someone who has a full schedule, it may make sense to connect with one of our experts to assist your team through the process. Doxazo can determine the handful of numbers you will need to track on a weekly basis to give you a pulse on the health of your business.
Once the categories are determined, we’ll work with the owners of each function to set appropriate benchmark goals. The next step will be making sure that everyone in the company knows what their KPI is and how it relates to their role. This will help them understand why it's important for them personally to have access to this information.
Having established KPIs is great, but it’s only as effective as the person who pulls the data. This means having people accountable for accurately pulling the data necessary for each KPI on a weekly basis and adding it to the dashboard for review.
This can be challenging in itself when dealing with people, absences, and time management issues. If you can, automate your KPI reports to the extent possible so the action of generating the data doesn’t become cumbersome.
How Often to Measure KPIs
The ideal frequency for reviewing KPIs is weekly. It's also a good idea to keep several weeks' history to determine if you’re trending in the right direction. This gives you insight into how well you're performing over time.
If a KPI isn't meeting its target or if it's falling behind, then it's important to identify why so that you can correct any issues as soon as possible.
Conclusion
If you're looking to improve your business, implementing KPIs will go a long way. It's important to remember that it's not just about having the right metrics but also about understanding how these tools can help you achieve your goals. After all, what's the point of measuring something if it doesn't provide any useful insight or actionable information?
Implementation of a Company Scorecard and assigning KPIs to each individual will give you more insight into what's going on than ever before, while at the same time making your life more simple. If this sounds attractive to you, you're not alone.
Doxazo Consulting will help get you set up to make this dream a reality. We have a good idea of which KPIs will be useful to you and your team, but we don't just deliver a cookie-cutter solution.
Part of making the process beneficial and time-saving means the numbers have to be easy to obtain on a weekly basis. We take the time to understand deeply what metrics would impact your organization positively without bogging you down with tedious and wasteful report compilation.
Contact us today to get more visibility into your organization's performance and start simplifying your life!