Tracking Key KPIs for your Business

Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that indicates how well a business is performing. It demonstrates how efficiently the businesses achieve their key goals. KPIs are used by organizations from several sectors all over the world. There is no restriction on who can use KPIs. Anyone with a will to analyze the performance of their business and improve that performance can make use of KPIs.

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There are two types of KPIs 

• High-level KPIs

The high-level KPIs are much stronger. They are capable of individually collecting the performance data for a complete medium to large-sized business. The focus is on the overall performance.

• Low-level KPIs

Low-level KPIs are used at departmental levels. KPIs are designed for collecting data from individual departments such as marketing, sales, support, human resources, etc.

KPIs should be based on quantities that can be influenced or controlled. For example: defining a KPI to find out how many audiences a specific keyword reaches. By using the gathered data, you can alter the keywords and core strategy. KPIs should be objective and not based on the opinions of any individual. KPIs should be derived from experience. Their key focus should be on the improvement of a specific goal or target. A clearly defined KPI goes a long way and is simple to understand. Make sure your KPIs are explicitly relevant to your purpose. KPIs should be constantly evaluated; and maintaining their significance is utterly important. While defining a KPI, be very precise about what exactly needs to be measured and how often. 

Best practices for determining KPIs

A few of the best practices that several business leaders follow and often suggest that others pursue too:

• Set KPIs that completely or partially align with your business interests and goals.
• Define personalized KPIs for only what you need. This narrows down the testing parameters and reduces the load of unwanted data that comes your way.
• Always ensure that your KPIs are achievable. Setting unachievable KPIs will only lead to a waste of your resources as well as your time. 
• Practice the ‘SMARTER’ criteria. This criterion states that your KPIs should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound. The remaining ‘ER’ stands for Evaluation and Re-evaluation.  You should evaluate and re-evaluate whether the data collected by your KPIs is helping your business.
• Apply the 6’A’s criteria to your KPIs. Those 6 ‘A’s are Aligned, Acute, Attainable, Accurate, Actionable and Alive.

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Tools for tracking and measuring KPIs

Some of the popular tools used for tracking and measuring KPIs:

• Geckoboard

Geckoboard has a live KPI tracking customizable dashboard. The drag and drop interface of Geckoboard allows its users to design their visual dashboards. Geckoboard dashboard can be displayed on a TV screen. Geckoboard prides itself on being a complete package by having Google Analytics, Shopify, and Salesforce features.

• Tableau

Tableau is another KPI tracking tool that offers excellent analytics. It has been designed specifically for e-commerce and retail operations. The pre-built KPI templates of Tableau makes it easy to keep track of your businesses. The unique real-time data blending feature of Tableau is a cherry on the cake.

• SimpleKPI

SimpleKPI is a KPI tracking tool for younger/newer teams (read: beginners). For businesses who want to start tracking their KPIs, SimpleKPI is a good place to start. It is a very easy-to-use tool suitable for any business. Even though it is a beginner’s tool, it has a very powerful tracking capability. It can track various metrics, including marketing metrics, service metrics, financial metrics, and operational metrics.

• Asana

Asana is a complete project management tool that allows its users to track their KPIs. Asana has a unique card system. The users can add a single task to each card along with timeframe and responsible personnel. Their KPI tracking system is called: Objectives and Key Results (OKR).

• Salesforce

Salesforce is a very notable KPI tracking tool. It takes a while to get the hang of Salesforce, but it is quite simple to operate once a user gets used to it. Salesforce not only allows you to build a custom dashboard for your business, but it also permits building individual custom dashboards for all your employees. Salesforce has features for every facet of businesses, including sales, marketing, services, community, commerce, and project planning.

Evaluation is essential for every business. Without that, you will never know why it is that you are failing or succeeding. Every businessperson is interested in expanding their business, and KPIs will play a vital role in that expansion. 

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