How to Measure the Success of an Enterprise Transformation
All lasting companies change. The most successful ones transform in meaningful ways that continuously increase value for customers and employees. Recently, I have been sharing in detail what enterprise transformation looks like and what it requires from a strategic and tactical perspective. But with so many moving parts, you might be wondering how to know if the transformation is succeeding. How do you measure change?
You most likely cannot track the same metrics you have always tracked in your business. You need to identify new measures of success.
How you do this depends on how you are approaching transformation. I have written at length about the three major types: digital, data, and solution.
Each transformation strategy will map to its own set of success metrics. And while you may not necessarily need to track more metrics than you are today, you do need the right ones.
Digital transformation A digital transformation is the use of technologies to transform how customers consume and interact with products and services and how companies deliver those experiences. If you are incorporating digital experiences into a previously analog environment, there are new aspects of the customer experience that should be measured for your improved or new offering.
Engagement (e.g. time in product, ratio of new to repeat users)
Conversion
Market share
Key competitive wins
Team efficiency (e.g. frequency of feature updates)
Sentiment (e.g. Net Promoter Score)
Customer churn
Customer love
Data transformation A data transformation is about improving how you source and use data. This can reveal insight into customer behaviors, helping you deliver better offerings in the process. To track the success of this transformation strategy, you should choose metrics that reveal whether or not you are using data more intelligently.
Volume of new data available
Data availability (e.g. time to aggregate)
Time to analyze data
Reports being produced each month/week
Accessibility of data by key business users
Informed decisions (e.g. number of data-based decisions made)
Solutions transformation A solutions transformation means rethinking how products are bundled and sold to meet customer preferences and expectations. So, these metrics should focus on marketing — particularly on how you are moving from point offerings to bundled solutions.
New customers who purchase multiple products at sign-up
Existing customers who add on additional products
Percent of customers who purchase multiple products
Trials for multiple products at the same time
On-target earnings for salespeople (including salary, commission, and bonuses)
No matter what transformation metrics you choose, you might have to wait a year or more to determine the real impact.
This is because enterprise transformations are huge undertakings. These are often multi-year efforts in which success needs to be tracked incrementally — identifying progress points along the way.
Remember that this is not a six-month campaign with a tidy timeframe. An enterprise transformation is a longer journey. And if you track your progress in a meaningful way, you can better understand the destination when you arrive.
What metrics do you track when you are launching a new initiative?
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