Intangibles with Hard Impact – Put Your Measuring Tape Away

Measure and improve. Measure and improve. Measure and improve. Those are words that the team at Televerde has heard for years.

The folks who work here are fantastic performers – they get great work done for our clients each and every day. Even though they are already working at very high levels, they always strive to do even better the next time. That’s because we measure our performance so we know where we stand.

I generally believe you can’t get better if you don’t know where you crossed the finish line last time.

Just as I say that, I am reminded of some very important “intangibles” that I know are essential to the success of our business – and every business – that are really hard to measure. So, how does a measurement-minded CEO like myself reconcile the need to quantify critical programs like Quality, Innovation, People and Outcomes that are hard to wrap a measuring tape around?

I examined exactly that topic in a recent article I wrote for Business2Community. When I sat back and thought about what it means to focus on intangibles that have the opportunity to influence our business in such an important way, I was able to identify a few key elements that, while not what I consider measurement, help guide us to know if we are succeeding.

Some highlights include:

• • Quality: Your common denominator here focuses on how you helped the buyers and their aligned stakeholders

• • Innovation: Outsource the things you’re not good at to eliminate distractions. Rather than spend the money on training a world-class IT team, inside sales group, marketing operations team or HR group, smart leaders hand those areas off to the experts and focus their energy on excelling where their unique competitive talents lie.

• • People: If you want an employee who’s an asset to the company mission and who will ideally grow with the business, train them to acquire soft skills that cater to your clients’ values. Do that and your client relationships will be built on a foundation of trust.

• • Outcomes: There’s one factor that always tells the true tale of performance: the success of the client. If the buyer feels good about what they have purchased, if the product or service has taken them to a higher level of profit and satisfaction, you know you’ve succeeded.

Please read the article and share your thoughts. What are some important parts of your business that you find difficult to measure? Do you have guideposts for them that help you know if you are moving in the right direction?