Innovating Analytics: How the Next Generation of Net Promoter Can Increase Sales and Drive Business Results

Appendix C

Eleven Common Measurement Mistakes

All businesses need an accurate, precise, and reliable methodology to measure success. Inaccurate and imprecise methodologies lead to poor decisions and to a false sense of confidence in those decisions. Unfortunately, I see many companies making a series of mistakes in their measurements. A discussion of common mistakes follows.

Common Measurement Mistake #1: Drawing Conclusions from Incomplete Information

Every day your business generates a tremendous amount of data, but those data may not tell the full story. Your analytics show that visitors spend a relatively high amount of time on a particular page. Is that page great, or is it problematic? Visitors may love the content, or they may be getting stuck because of a problem on the page.

Your call center statistics show that your average call time has decreased. Is this good news or bad news? When calls end more quickly, costs go down, but have you actually satisfied callers, or have you left them disgruntled, dissatisfied, and on their way to your competition? Without additional information to better evaluate the data, you simply cannot know.

Never draw conclusions from any statistical analysis that does not tell the whole story.

Common Measurement Mistake #2: Failing to Look Forward

Every company seeks to look forward. Many analytics programs are dominated by behavioral data. Behavioral data tell us what has happened, not what will happen. We may have visited, purchased, downloaded, ...