How to Measure Business Strategy Metrics

Over the years, folks have reached out and asked me about what I measure regularly. I measure a lot regularly, but there are a few key metrics, meetings, and frameworks that I have historically looked at to keep me informed on where we are. Here's what I am consistently looking at: – NRR - Net Revenue Retention – GRR - Gross Renewal Rate – NPS - Net Promotor Score – TTFV - Time To First Value – CSAT - Customer Satisfaction – DSO – Pipeline – New sales closed – New sales forecasted Also, other things I find helpful: – Churn forecast one year out reviewed heavily on a monthly cadence and bi-weekly At-Risk meetings with my CS Leadership. – Monthly: Red, Yellow, and Green meetings with the entire CS team where I get downloaded on the current state of the portfolio. – EBRs - How many executive business reviews have we completed, what's in the hopper, what are we missing? – OKRs - Objectives Key Results - How are we progressing on our projects and/or things we need to achieve for the quarter, and how are those feeding into the things we need to accomplish for the next year (or so). – Health Score that includes the following (but not limited to): usage health, NPS, an adoption scorecard which consists of the current product investment (more purchased, more points), have they completed case studies and so on, customer tenure, engagement with their CSM, manual sentiment set by CSM. – Customer Goals - The customer achieves their goals, realizes ROI, and actively participates in setting new goals. Other things that should be looked at/implemented: – Doing SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunities, threats) for top strategic accounts on a regular cadence. – Having a solid customer maturity model across the entire portfolio. Less is always more, but these things are sure to give you a strong understanding of what’s going on in your customer portfolio.

"You can’t manage what you don’t measure." Yet, when it comes to change management, most leaders focus on what was implemented rather than what actually changed. Early in my career, I rolled out a company-wide process improvement initiative. On paper, everything looked great - we met deadlines, trained employees, and ticked every box. But six months later, nothing had actually changed. The old ways crept back, employees reverted to previous habits, and leadership questioned why results didn’t match expectations. The problem? We measured completion, not adoption. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻: Many organizations struggle to gauge whether change efforts truly make an impact because they rely on surface-level indicators: → Completion rates instead of adoption rates → Project timelines instead of performance improvements → Implementation checklists instead of employee sentiment This approach creates a dangerous illusion of progress while real behaviors remain unchanged. 𝗖𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲: Why does this happen? Because leaders focus on execution instead of outcomes. Common pitfalls include: → Lack of accountability – No one tracks whether new processes are being followed. → Insufficient feedback loops – Employees don’t have a voice in measuring what works. → Over-reliance on compliance – Just because something is mandatory doesn’t mean it’s effective. If we want real, measurable change, we need to rethink what success looks like. 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲: The solution? Focus on three key change management success metrics: → 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲 – How many employees are actively using the new system or process? → 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 – How has efficiency, quality, or productivity changed? → 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 – Do employees feel the change has made their work easier or harder? By shifting from "Did we implement the change?" to "Is the change delivering results?", we turn short-term projects into long-term transformation. 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀: Organizations that measure change effectively see: → Higher engagement – Employees feel heard, leading to stronger buy-in. → Stronger accountability – Leaders track impact, not just completion. → Sustained improvement – Change becomes embedded in the culture, not just a temporary initiative. "Change isn’t a box to check—it’s a shift to sustain. Measure adoption, not just action, and you’ll see the impact last." How does your organization measure the success of change initiatives? If you’ve used adoption rate, performance impact, or user satisfaction, which one made the biggest difference for you? Wishing you a productive, insightful, and rewarding Tuesday! Chris Clevenger #ChangeManagement #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement #Innovation #Accountability

I lost $2.3M because I was drowning in metrics. Most entrepreneurs (including my former self) fall into one of two dangerous traps when it comes to measuring business performance. Let me share what I discovered after the expensive way... Trap #1: The "Gut-Feel" Brigade These are the entrepreneurs running their entire operation on intuition. "I know my business," they say. "I can feel when things are working," they insist. I get it. But here's the truth: You can't improve what you don't measure. Trap #2: The "Data Hoarders" Then there's the opposite extreme (this was me): • 47 different KPIs • Multiple dashboards • Daily metric reviews • Endless spreadsheets What did I get? → Analysis paralysis → Decision freezes → Constant strategy shifts → Bleeding cash like a hemophiliac in a tub of razors Here's what changed everything for me: The One Metric That Matters (OMTM) Framework Instead of tracking everything or nothing, identify the ONE metric that's currently blocking your growth. Examples from my consulting work: • E-commerce client stuck at $2M/year OMTM: Cart abandonment rate Result: Added $3M in profit • Services business launching in new geo OMTM: New meetings booked Result: $1M in new business in 8 months The magic happens because: 1. Clear focus 2. Aligned teams 3. Faster decisions 4. Better results How to Find Your OMTM: 1. Identify your current #1 business goal 2. List all metrics that influence it 3. Ask: "If I could only improve ONE of these, which would have the biggest impact?" That's your OMTM. But remember: It's not static. Your OMTM will change.  Focus on your One Metric That Matters. Everything else is just noise. P.S. - if you want to know how to scale without voodoo and gurus, I write and make videos about using the scientific method in business.

STOP! Don’t Change Your Metrics Until You Read This This post is in response to the many questions I got after the video I shared with Dr. Eli Goldratt sharing his insights on how to align financial and operational measurements with a company’s goal. The question I got ... How can we evaluate whether we have good or bad measurements? Here’s my 3 Criteria framework to evaluate any measurement or measurement system — and a recommended metric that meets all 3 criteria. The Three Criteria of a Good Measurement System 1. Accurately Measures System STATUS (Ok/Not?) and TREND (Improving/Not?) Does your metrics accurately show whether the current status/trend is “OK” or “Not” . With accurate status and trend, you know WHEN to act…and WHEN NOT. Mistakes: • Type 1: Reporting system status is “OK” when its NOT • Type 2: Reporting system status is “Not OK” when it is OK. 2. Accurately Predicts Likely CAUSE(S) Does your Metrics accurately diagnose the “why” behind the status? With accurate CAUSE, you know WHAT TO CHANGE … and WHAT NOT. Mistakes: • Type 1: Reporting or Misidentifying a non-issue as a major cause.  • Type 2: Not Reporting or Overlooking a major cause 3. Drives Desired / Discourages Undesired Behaviors  Does your metrics positively influence behavior – to ensures parts do what is best, not for the part, but for the system? Good metrics guide each part on HOW to act…and HOW NOT to act. Mistakes: • Type 1: Incentivizing actions that harm overall performance (local optima). • Type 2: Failing to encourage beneficial behaviors. Example of a Good Measurement: The Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) A CFD plots cumulative orders received (demand) against cumulative shipments made (supply) over time. It offers a simple, powerful visual to assess balance vs. imbalance: Criteria 1: Accurate Status & Trend  • Parallel lines indicate a balanced system (“OK”) • Diverging or converging lines signal an imbalanced system (“NOT OK”) Criteria 2: Accurate Cause of Status & Trend  • Diverging Lines: Demand exceeds supply → Supply constraint • Converging Lines: Supply exceeds Demand  → Demand constraint Criteria 3: Incentivize Desired Behavior of Parts Its visual clarity makes it easy to understand and it can to be tied to incentives: • When lines diverge, focus on identifying and reducing excessive demand, and increasing capacity through better constraint exploitation or elevation. • When lines converge, shift your focus to securing more demand, and reducing capacity without compromising service time or quality. The CFD metric can be applied across the organization—from the company level to department level and even down to specific products or services, using either monetary value or unit counts for vertical axis. Remember FEWER measurements is BETTER! What measurements do you use that meet ALL 3 CRITERIA? or More fun… What is the worst measurement in your company that compromise 2 or all 3 criteria? Comments/Questions #goldratt #measurement

Most Businesses Don’t Know How to Measure Their Own Performance. They think they do. They track revenue. They look at ad spend. But they don’t have a structured way to evaluate why they’re winning—or losing. I use a three-part growth cycle with all my eCommerce clients. And one of the most game-changing phases? EVALUATE. I do this monthly, quarterly, and yearly. It's the second part my the growth cycle. Since it’s a new month, here’s exactly how I run my monthly evaluation process: Step 1: Audit 🔍 Before we analyze anything, we collect information. Here’s what matters: 📊 Sales Performance: Gross Sales, Top & Bottom SKUs by Revenue & Volume 📈 Paid Performance: Total Ad Spend, Blended CPA & ROAS 🎯 Customer Behavior: Conversion Rate, AOV, Return Rate, UPT, New Emails Collected 📬 Marketing Impact: % of Revenue by Channel, Discounts Used, Discount Rate Key rule: No opinions. No overthinking. Just information. Step 2: Analyze 📉 Now, we turn numbers into insights: ✅ Did we hit our forecast? Where did we fall short? 📆 How do we compare to the same time last year? 📩 What was the best and worst-performing email content? 📢 What paid ads crushed it? What completely flopped? This is where we face reality. No wishful thinking. No excuses. Just truth. Step 3: Ask the Hard Questions 🤔 Information is useless without decisive action. 🔹 What needs to change in the next 30 days? 🔹 What processes are slowing us down? 🔹 What will we test next month given what we now know? 🔹 What marketing insights need immediate action? 🔹 Who on the team needs to level up? 🔹 What needs to be adjusted in the yearly forecast? The best businesses don’t just look at the numbers. They act on them. Many skip this process. The best live by it. Want to learn more about my 3 step growth cycle that I use year over year? Go Here: https://lnkd.in/gdZgCZQD