Use Customers' KPIs to Provide Better Service

Your customers' measurements of success, or KPIs, have a direct impact on your relationship with them.

When you work with a customer, or a stakeholder, knowing their definition of success will allow you to tailor your work to their needs.

Uncover and leverage your customers' KPIs.

Here are some steps you can use to uncover and leverage your customers' KPIs:

Ask what success looks like to them

Ask your customers how they have measured success in the past. What KPIs have they used?

Say you're building a website for a nonprofit. A KPI they might have used in the past is online donations.

Suggest KPIs

It’s possible that your client doesn’t have a clear picture of what success looks like. You can be a resource for them as they develop their goal and help them set realistic expectations.

For example, you might suggest overall traffic, or mailing list registrations as a KPI for your nonprofit client.

Tailor KPIs with your customer

Not every customer will use the same KPIs to measure success. Tailor your discussion of KPIs to what is important to that customer.

For example, if you build a website for another, more mature nonprofit, they may have a bigger focus on fundraising, or may want to measure petition signatures.

Follow up

After some time, communicate how well your customer is executing their strategy. Because you uncovered and helped define what success means to them, you can paint a favorable picture of your work.

Let's practice:

Jacqueline is working with a new client. She asks them to define what they would consider a successful implementation and what KPIs they intend to use to measure performance. They’re not quite sure how to answer because they’ve never used the type of service that Jacqueline’s company offers.


What can she do to help her customer and get the information she needs to ensure a successful relationship?

Quiz 1 of 1

What can Jacqueline do to help her customer and get the information she needs for a successful relationship?

a
Ask them to get back to her when they figure out the KPIs they need.
b
Define what success means for them and tell them what KPIs to use to measure performance.
c
Move forward without the information and let them figure it out as the implementation progresses.
d
Share some KPIs other customers use to help them set realistic expectations.

The correct answer is D.

Jacqueline should share some of the KPIs that her other customers are using to measure their success, which will help her new client set realistic expectations when measuring the performance of their implementation.

Take the next step:

Identify some common KPIs that your customers use to measure their success with your product or service. Use those to help new clients who may not have their own KPIs in place.

Lesson complete

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