Measure What Matters
In golf, many of us take advantage of technology and utilize a GPS watch to measure how far each shot is to the hole. Based on the distance we decide which club we will use to get the ball the in the hole. It makes a significant difference in guiding us around the golf course.
In sales, it’s also very important to measure what matters. We live in a data-driven world where everything is measured. Have you taken the time to review how you spent your time during the day? How do you measure your performance? Did you achieve or exceed your expected outcomes? If you are falling short, what tools are you using to improve your performance? It’s critical to your success to review the data available to you. We can become distracted during the day through activities that steal time from us and prohibit our business from moving forward, and it costs you money!
It’s important to dedicate your time measuring the right activity needed to exceed your goals. All of us can look at our day with honesty and discover that we spend hours each day with non-producing functions. We may feel accomplished because we answered all our emails and organized our desk prior to going home, but now is the time to get focused on measuring what matters to your business. Yes, you can block out time during your day to answer emails and phone calls, but most of your day needs to be measured by how you moved your business forward.
What should we focus on measuring? You will need to identify what your desired outcome is and base the right activities around it, then start measuring your performance. So, what are the most impactful things you can measure?
• Measure your attitude. You are in control of your energy and how you approach your day, your co-workers and your current and new clients. Be energized that you are in control vs. the day controlling you.
• Measure what matters to your customer. You need to discuss how your service and product will be measured. What’s important to them needs to be your number one priority.
• Measure the number of new business meetings you set each week.
• Measure the number of presentations it will take to create a new customer.
• Measure the time you spend with key customers to nurture your relationship to grow and retain them.
We often measure whether our call was a success, but did we earn the business, another meeting or an introduction from a satisfied client? By making everything measurable we can generate reliable feedback and make intelligent decisions on how to proceed. By evaluating our work in measurable terms, we remain in control of our progress, our time and our resources. We can identify what we did well and duplicate that process! We can also realize where to make adjustments, and where to focus our energy.
Most importantly, by making everything measurable, we can make smarter decisions about our business.