KPIs or key performance indicators are very confusing. Many sales managers get them wrong by choosing too many lag indicators and are commended to have lead indicators.
Some have no idea what we’re talking about but to appreciate the difference is vital.
So, I came up with the notion of cause and effect KPIs.
Let me explain
Cause KPIs are metrics that reveal the actions that cause good selling like numbers of appointments, quality of new prospects, success of exploratory meetings and so on.
Effect KPIs are measures which illustrate the effect of these good KPIs such as number of sales, number of converted leads, range of products sold.
Maybe you’ll spend more time with your sales people on the cause KPIs, after all that’s what the job is all about. Effect KPIs are the results and should be celebrated and rewarded not managed against. That’s soooo 1990’s.
