![]() Are you profitable? That is the question. For most leaders, at a basic level profit means that there revenue covers their expenses with some dollars left over. Pretty basic. The idea of creating metrics based on profit is not as basic. When we dig into profitability, some questions deserve exploring.
Digging into these questions will undoubtedly create additional assessments. To truly understand profitability, you will need to dig into your current COGS calculation. There is no reason to tie metrics to gross profit if you aren’t sure that your COGS is accurate. While you may be thinking, “we better know that” there are reasons why your COGS may not be correct. Ultimately it may come from:
If you are pretty confident that your COGS and operating costs are accurate and allocated adequately, then you can use Gross Profit or even Operating Profit as a critical metric. However, most of us need to dive into the above bullet points to create metrics that drive true profitability. This digging is where the rubber meets the road. Let’s look at four leadership discussion points that you may be able to use to create meaningful KPI’s (that drive profitability).
There’s no doubt that building metrics and, or KPI’s based on driving profitability benefits everyone in an organization. However, starting or finding time for these problematic leadership conversations can be a monumental task. Having an outside professional drive the discussions can take off the internal pressure. Ready to start the conversations? Get in touch today at doug.hershey@thoughtiq.com.
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![]() As a business owner/operator, you do your best to please your customers, satisfy their needs, and take steps to keep them loyal to your brand. However, how can you be sure that your efforts bring desired results? What are you doing to interact with them to gain the information you need to make intelligent decisions? Your clients experience with your brand and organization isn't something you should be guessing. Their opinions about the experience of your brand are invaluable. This information can help you to analyze and adjust your business practices. Don't leave customer feedback out of the equation. There are a multitude of ways to leverage customer feedback, but first, let's explore how to collect that feedback and how to utilize the information once it's in your hands. Having reliable customer satisfaction data is a crucial component in being able to address customer retention, evaluate your team's customer service efforts, improve products and services, and review other vital areas. Let's see how we can understand your customers journey through interacting with your products, services, and relationship management processes.What is customer feedback? Top performing companies understand the role customer feedback plays in their business and strategies. So, what exactly is customer feedback? It's information regarding clients satisfaction or dissatisfaction with your products, services, and overall experience they have had with your company. Their feedback is data for improving customer experience and adjusting your planning and ultimate actions to their needs. This information is collected using surveys or direct communications (prompted feedback). You can also find opinions and reviews that your clients post online, utilize internet monitoring tools to understand user activity. (unprompted feedback) A combination of these and other methods are essential components in seeing the big picture of how your clients perceive your brand. Let's break it down a bit and focus in on some core reasons why you should be getting feedback from your customers:
After that initial launch, needs and expectations will evolve with time. You can have the best widget in the industry, but this expertise will never be more valuable than customer insights. Keeping your eye on your customer's experience will serve you.
There is a direct correlation between customer satisfaction and business performance. If you want to know you need to ask! A simple survey can reap many benefits! An accurate method to measure, manage, and improve customer satisfaction is determining your NPS (Net Promoter Score). This metric includes a straightforward question - "How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?" A good time to ask this is after they purchase or when they contact customer service. To do this effectively, you need a Net Promoter Score questionnaire or process and a scoring scale. If you are using a scale of 1-10, then those that respond with a 9 or 10 are promoters, a 7-8 are passives, and a 0-6 are detractors. Once you have your responses, you can add up your "promoters," "passives," and "detractors." For the NPS score – you subtract your detractors from your promoters. If 85 people responded and you had 60 promoters, 15 passives and 10 detractors, approximately 70% are promoters, 18% are passive, and 12% are detractors. When you subtract your detractors from your promoters, you get your NPS% of 58%. In this case your NPS = 58, which would be excellent. Some tools can calculate this for you – but it all starts with an excellent customer survey process.
When you include them while shaping your business, they feel more connected to your company. Listening to their feedback helps you create stronger ties with them, and they with you. This engagement is the best way to gain valuable brand ambassadors who will spread positive word-of-mouth for you, which is a priceless commodity.
According to Inc. contributing writer, Craig Bloem, Research shows (click here to check out the numbers) that "91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84 percent trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. Opinions provided by other customers who have already used a product or service carry much weight!" Do you incorporate a review system into your strategy? Putting your buyers at the core of your business model and treating their feedback as a valuable source of data for decision making should be a crucial part of your overall strategy. Their pleasure in your service is your success, so give them a voice at the table and listen carefully! For a personal evaluation of how your organization can better utilize leadership tools, such as customer feedback, contact me today. |
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March 2020
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