“You will know them by their fruits .” - Matthew 7:15

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS (KPI)

Every business needs one, your CRM can improve it.

A KPI is a measurable value that tracks and assesses the effectiveness of a business process or activity. Some key things to know about KPIs:

• KPIs evaluate the performance of critical business operations, departments, campaigns, and more. Examples include sales, marketing, customer service, HR, finance.

• They enable businesses to set data-driven targets and benchmarks for improvement. Quantitative metrics make it easier to measure progress.

• Common KPI examples include: revenue, lead conversion rates, customer satisfaction scores, project delivery times, sales quotas achieved.

• KPIs should link directly to overall business objectives and priorities. They focus effort on what matters most.

• Effective KPIs are specific, trackable over time, easy to calculate, and actionable. They should spur action when monitored.

• Dashboards and data visualizations are often used to display KPIs for frequent tracking and insights.

• By regularly monitoring KPIs, businesses can identify issues, evaluate progress, and guide optimal decision making.

COMMON KPIs for your CRM

Here are some common KPIs (key performance indicators) that businesses can track in an electronic CRM to measure performance and value:

Sales KPIs:

• New leads generated

• Lead conversion rate

• Sales cycle length

• Opportunity win rate

• Average deal size

• Sales activity metrics (calls, emails, demos etc.)

Marketing KPIs:

• Campaign subscribers

• Campaign open/click rates

• Cost per lead

• Marketing qualified leads (MQLs)

• Sales qualified leads (SQLs)

Customer Service KPIs:

• Tickets opened/closed

• Customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores

• First contact/reply time

• Case resolution time

• Customer retention rate

Account Management KPIs:

• Customer lifetime value

• Account renewal/churn rate

• Upsell/cross-sell opportunities

• Share of wallet

Setting targets and benchmarks for these CRM KPIs and tracking them over time provides quantifiable metrics to measure the business impact of CRM initiatives and focus ongoing improvement efforts. The ability to extract and analyze KPIs is a key driver of value from the CRM platform.

How do you set targets?

Here are some examples of how a company could set targets and benchmarks for key performance indicators in an electronic CRM system:

Sales KPIs:

• Generate 250 new leads per month (current is 200)

• Improve lead conversion rate from 15% to 20% in 6 months

• Reduce average sales cycle from 90 days to 70 days in 1 year

• Increase opportunity win rate from 25% to 30% in 6 months

• Grow average deal size from $5,000 to $6,000 in 1 year

Marketing KPIs:

• Get email campaign open rate above 25% (currently 20%)

• Lower cost per lead from $45 to $35 in 6 months

• Generate 50 marketing qualified leads per quarter (currently 35)

Service KPIs:

• Improve customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores from 70% to 85% in 1 year

• Answer 80% of inquiries within first 24 hours (currently 60%)

• Resolve 60% of support cases within 48 hours (currently 45%)

Account Management:

• Raise customer retention rate from 85% to 90% in 1 year

• Increase share of wallet with top 20 accounts by 15%

The key is setting specific, measurable targets and deadlines for improvement across key CRM processes and metrics. Tracking performance regularly helps keep initiatives focused on achieving CRM KPI benchmarks over time.

In summary, KPIs are vital performance metrics that help businesses assess the health and progress of critical operations. Setting the right KPIs and tracking them enables data-informed strategy and continuous improvement.

Hope this helps. Happy Tracking.