Practice Management

How do you measure success?

 |  Bryce Sanders

We’re all under pressure to deliver. Although you might grumble when your manager asks how much business you closed, it’s important to realize they are under the same pressure from above. Everyone answers to someone.

If your worth and success were only measured by the revenue you generated that day or week, though, life could become pretty grim. It’s important to step back and realize you have an opportunity to make your own luck. But how do you measure your efforts?

Here are several metrics you can track:

  1. How many people did you speak to today? This might be an overall total. You spoke with clients and prospects. You fielded incoming calls. You returned calls that came in when you were on the phone.
  2. How many outgoing calls did you make? In prospecting terms, these are called “dials.” How many dials did you do? Sometimes you get voicemail or a hangup. Sometimes a person is interested.
  3. How many prospects did you connect with? This ties into the point above. How many of those dials connected you with an interested person?
  4. How many appointments did you set up? You call on the phone. Someone answers who sounds interested. Your next step is to see if you can get in front of them. You ask for an appointment. How many said yes?
  5. How many prospect or client meetings did you attend? You meet with clients and prospects scheduled on your calendar. It takes time to prepare for these. When you walk into the meeting, you have business you intend to ask for. How many of those meetings did you attend?
  6. How many times did you ask for referrals? If you have happy clients, they know you have helped them. (If they don’t, they need a reminder.) Do they know anyone else who you can help? The more specific the request, the more likely they will suggest a name.
  7. How many posts did you do on social media? Your firm likely has rules you follow about your professional social media use. They also likely have a library of approved posts you can use. How often have you posted?
  8. How many times did you comment in LinkedIn groups? You have joined some LinkedIn groups, and maybe you post there too. Now your posts are seen by people who aren’t connections. Have people commented on your posts? Have you commented on theirs? (Your company has rules here too!)
  9. How many LinkedIn notifications did you respond to? You get prompts for birthdays, work anniversaries and job changes. Do you comment or acknowledge them? You will be surprised how many people message back.
  10. How many social media messages did you answer? LinkedIn is a communications channel similar to email, but it isn’t as jam-packed as your email inbox. Have people messaged you? Have you answered? People deserve a response.
  11. How many invitations to connect on LinkedIn have you sent? You want to build your network and raise your visibility. This requires connections. How many invitations have you sent out today?
  12. Did you meet anyone at community events? You don’t spend all day behind your desk! You get out into the community to attend after-work activities, events and meetings. It’s a good idea to try to meet six new people at every event you attend. How are you doing?
  13. Did you mail any letters? Surface mail is so “out” that it’s now “in”! You hardly get anything but ads and bills in your daily mail. This means your mailing will stand out. What have you sent?
  14. How is your email inbox looking today? We all get a blizzard of emails. Some are junk. Have you sorted through yours? Speaking of junk, have you visited your “junk” folder? Sometimes important emails get sent there by accident.
  15. Have you prospected for speaking engagements? There are many community organizations in your area. How many have regular meetings with guest speakers? Your firm should have some compliance-approved talks with a public service approach, meaning they aren’t sales pitches. Have you tried lining up any engagements?
  16. Have you started planning a seminar? People still hold seminars and people still attend them. If this is part of your business strategy, are you setting one up? It takes a lot of work to build an audience.
  17. How many seminar attendees have you followed up with? You can’t wait around for seminar attendees to call. People have short attention spans! If you held a seminar recently, what have you done as a follow-up?
  18. Did you ring the cash register today? Now we get to the measure everyone thinks about: writing applications and doing business. It’s rare a prospect immediately says yes and hands over a check. There are lots of steps between getting them on the phone and holding signed papers and a check. Many of the 17 steps above are part of the process. How much business came through today?

There are many ways to measure success. You might not have rung the cash register today, but you laid the groundwork for future success.

Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. His book “Captivating the Wealthy Investor” is available on Amazon.

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