Putting KPI Data Together for Success — KPIs Part Three
Now that we understand a variety of KPIs or Key Performance Indicators, (see our last two articles, links below), we’re going to define some of the KPIs we need to measure success in an example case.
Working Backwards from Revenue
Let’s put together an initial KPI plan to test working backwards from the sale and define what we need to measure. This is the fun part of planning!
Your Brand New Landscaping Business
Here is the scenario (which can be adjusted for any type of business).
You enlisted the help of a local investor, and launched a new landscaping business. You are very excited because you have a brand-new website that is full of great messaging, a value proposition on what you do differently and better than anyone else and a compelling story of passion with landscaping and your history in the industry.
KPI Breakdown
Now let’s break this down for the KPIs you need working backwards from obtaining a new customer. You know from experience that some people will call you directly. So tracking a phone number click from a mobile visitor is definitely an important KPI.
We know others will use the contact form on your site. You want a KPI for completed contact forms.
We’d also like to know how long people stay on your site which demonstrates interest before the person asks for help. This is called Average Engagement Time.
Total unique visitors to your site is important too so you know how much site traffic you are getting.
So now we have some excellent KPIs that you’ll want to measure frequently on the website:
- Phone calls
- Contact form submissions
- Average Engagement Time
- Total Unique Visitors
Without actual contact form submissions or phone calls yet, you focus on Average Engagement Time to see if people are engaged on your site. You see that your efforts are generating an average of 1.5 minutes on the site, but no one is reaching out yet.
Refining Site Visits Through KPI Measurements
People are interested enough to “look around,” just not convinced to ask for a quote. You decide to create a gallery page of past landscaping jobs and have a photographer reshoot them. We use our average engagement time KPI again but this time we also look at time on each site page.
You notice that this new gallery page is generating more viewing time than any other page and people are starting to ask for quotes. Perfect. You are headed in the right direction.
Revenue in Reverse
Working backwards from your ultimate goal, you can define the KPIs needed to generate sales and even set goals for these KPIs as you gather more data. With some data history, you’ll know how many qualified site visitors you need to generate a specific amount of sales based on the conversion ratio.
The Beginning of the Journey
And then there is the other end of the user journey with ads and referral sites like Angi and Thumbtack. Tying your referral site listings to your website KPIs connects the dots so you know what referrals sites are generating leads.
What about flyers you leave in driveways? You can add a trackable QR code to your flyers and even a customized phone number to evaluate your return on the expense and effort. With a little elbow grease and KPI data you can say, “Neighborhood A generates more profit than Neighborhood B so I’m going to focus on Neighborhood A for my flyer distribution.”
Data is King
Data rules and there are great KPIs you can use to define the steps to success to increase your revenue.
This exercise doesn’t have to be hard or tedious. And it takes the guess work and stress out of investing in your business. I think we can all agree everyone could use less stress, right?
