Recently, I was talking with a friend, and the topic of metrics came up. He shared an experience from one of his previous startups. The company was doing great, growing fast, and tracking a number of key metrics. However, they had this nagging issue where customers kept complaining, but the company would point to the metrics and say, “Look, we’re doing great. We’re hitting all of our metrics.”
After having this circular conversation repeatedly, where customers were clearly voicing concerns but all the metrics were green, they decided to make a change. If the anecdotes from customers don’t match the results from the metrics, the metrics need to be changed.
This seems obvious, but it’s easy for companies to build up systems, processes, and reports over time and get into a good groove. Of course, that doesn’t guarantee the metrics being tracked and the reports being generated match the actual customer experience.
The next time an entrepreneur is reviewing their metrics, it’s wise to look at not only the objective numbers but also the subjective feedback from customers. Entrepreneurs would do well to remember that if the metrics don’t capture the customer anecdotes, it’s time to change the metrics to make sure they do.
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