Most companies get a lot of data from their internal reporting about sales, labor costs, materials used, payroll etc. In fact, there is a huge amount of monthly data, some comes daily and some companies get their data close to real time.
Digging through all that data to get to the 2 to 3 most important metrics that drive your business is a deep dive worth all your effort to achieve. Big companies have these metrics. They watch them in real time so they can adjust staffing, maintain equipment and create great customer satisfaction. They anticipate the customer’s reaction and respond before the customer can complain. Why don’t we?
I got a chance to ask the CEO of a ski resort what metrics they use to measure success. His response was sales and profitability versus plan.
Then I asked him how he gets measured running a resort that draws visitors based on the amount of snow, something he can’t control. His response was capacity utilization, staffing by hour and total sales divided by customers on the mountain. If he manages that well, they can get very close or equal the profitability goal. At least that was my mental summary as we got off the lift. One of the few times I wished I had stopped and made notes in my IPhone instead of speeding down the mountain.
By the way, I also asked how often he gets out skiing, given his responsibilities. With a big smile, he said several times a week. That was why he worked in the ski industry.
Next time we ride on a Chairlift together, or have a 1-2-1 or meet in a causal conversation, will you be able to tell me the 2-3 metrics that drive your business?
photo by Nora Paller