Business Drivers are any important part of a business such has cost, capital expenditures, marketing, custom support or superior products, etc… They are Touch Points that influence an organization's value.
Business Outcomes are items that the customer deems important and that address the customer pain points or an opportunity to enhance the customer's perspective. Think Customer Focus, Getting the Customer's Journey and Experience Right.
Learn how business outcomes and business drivers can be applied to score the success of your business.
As technology continues to advance, business owners must be prepared to stay one step ahead of their competitors and the expectations of their customers. To gauge the success of a business, a capable portfolio manager can apply a number of metrics to determine how much of an effect a certain program or project is going to have on the company as a whole. Though both of the following metrics may apply in different ways, utilizing them both is one of the most powerful ways to shape the business approach and provide your end users with the products and services they are looking for.
Scoring by Drivers
Drivers are an effective scoring mechanism because they provide managers with a concrete way to observe the progression of a project and determine whether or not resources are being used effectively and as desired. Scoring by driver is necessary because it provides the business owner with a straightforward way to objectively observe how the company's resources are being used.
With business drivers as the metric, the manager can focus on getting results based on the business's unique approach. The objectivity allows managers to look at projects and zero in on faults while emphasizing strategies that work. Elements such as capital management and customer satisfaction all factor into the considerations and ultimately determine how professionals can get the desired results.
Once a specific field of influence has been identified, managers are strongly encouraged to speak with their teams and determine how they can better focus on the strategies that work and move away from the ones that don't. The primary approach looks at the business from within and strives to optimize strategies and processes by plotting touch points and moving in a single direction.
Scoring by Outcomes
Scoring on outcomes, on the other hand, takes a look at the business from the perspective of a customer, end user, or reviewer. These two approaches are vastly different because scoring by drivers takes a look at customer expectations, and scoring by outcomes looks at reviews and feedback left by the customers themselves.
When using customer feedback as a metric, a business is able to optimize its strategy in a much more organic way. Through SEO, content generation, and other tools that involve working directly with the customer, the business is able to move forward based on their audience.
Collaborating with your customers is one of the strongest ways to get results, but it must be done in conjunction with drivers to balance out the other half of the equation. Strive to listen to your customers whenever possible but always keep realistic goals and expectations in mind in order to shape the customer journey and experience as best as you can to fit your company's culture.
If you would like to learn more about efficient scoring and how you can apply a number of changes to your approach to drive results and leave lasting impressions, visit our video blog.