You put out your best business communication.

It makes you look good and feel great.

• Do you really know where it’s taking you?
• Or are you on a hamster wheel to nowhere?

In Part 9 of a 10-part series on creating a business communication plan, we look at creating benchmarks.

Spinning Your Wheels

Even with the best communication plans, some things work and others don’t.

• You may be exercising your creative side
• But, if no one’s reading it, you are just spinning your wheels.

Business communication benchmarks are your road signs to success.

If you lost sight of your destination, go back to your vision statement. Is your business communication leading you towards your vision?

Is your business communication producing the desired response?

 

Creating a Prizewheel

In the ideal world, every communication results in a sale.

• Ultimately, that’s the goal
• It’s a good thing to keep in mind the next time you are tempted to send a snarky email response

In reality, the sale often occurs after a series of business interactions.

Think about each communication vehicle.

What is your ideal response?

Here are a few examples.

• Accept your offer for a free consultation
• Visit your site for more information
• Call your sales team
• Buy now
• Provide a referral

Before you measure the success of your business communication, you have to define success.

Mapping it Out

√  You have the business communication vehicle
√  You have the ultimate destination
√  You know what you’d like for your return

The next step is mapping out the journey.

1. Identify your points of interest
2. Evaluate your mileage
3. Use your GPS tracking

1. Identify Your Points of Interest

Personally, when it comes to vacation, I’m not a big planner. However, typically I do earmark sites I’d like to visit.

Identify your benchmark categories.

Here a few common categories.

• New leads
• New clients
• Total sales
• Site visits
• Page views
• Referrals

After establishing the categories, you move on to measuring your success.

2. Evaluate Your Mileage

Beyond simply knowing you made the trip, you want to know if it was worth it.

Benchmarks help evaluate the journey.

There are numerous methods for setting benchmarks.

• Best practices benchmarking – comparing results to a recognized leader in a particular category
• Comparative benchmarking – measuring results against competitors
• Improvement benchmarking – measuring results against prior results

Whatever method you select, be sure the benchmark is obtainable.

If you’re that widget-maker from the Pacific Northwest with 20 employees, you probably do not want to compare your sales numbers to the widget-making giant that has 20,000 employees.

As a small business owner, I prefer using the improvement benchmarking method.

• You know your revenue targets
• Improvement shows growth
• You know what satisfies the boss

3. Use Your GPS Tracking

I think of my GPS tracking as Get Projects Started. If you’re like me, it is very easy to let assessments slide.

Tracking results make measurements real.

• It puts your business communication in perspective
• It separates what you think is happening from what’s really happening
• It provides the perfect opportunity to make adjustments

Being the visual person I am, let’s look at a sample benchmarking analysis.

In the above example, you would need to define a “new lead.”

• Is a new lead someone downloading your white paper?
• Or it those who answer your Call to Action – e.g., to call you for a free consultation

Let’s assume it’s the latter. The results could be telling you the following.

• The greatest interest occurs with the release of the white paper
• Interest wanes after the initial release
• A renewed marketing campaign elevates the number of leads

An oft-quoted saying sums it up nicely –

You cannot manage what you don’t measure.

The Final Spin

Throwing business communication against the wall to see what sticks leaves you with a mess to clean up.

Once you know what your business communication vehicles are, do the following.

1. Define your success by your ideal response to each communication
2. Select a method for benchmarking that success
3. Track your results and make adjustments as needed

It sure beats spinning your wheels.

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This is Part 9 in a 10-part series for developing a business communication plan. I would love to have your feedback. Please share those in Comments.

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Prior Posts in Series

Part 1 – Does Your Vision Statement Reflect Your Dream?

Part 2 – Learn From Lieutenant Colombo to I.D. Your Killer Client

Part 3 – Why Blind Hog Business Communication Objectives Don’t Work

Part 4 – Busting 3 Budget Myths for Your Business Communication Plan

Part 5 – Are Your Business Communication Vehicles Driving You?

Part 6 – A Control Freak Guide to Business Communication Roles & Responsibilities

Part 7 – Does Your Message Stink From the Headline Down?

Part 8 – 3 Chopped Lessons for Your Business Communication Timeline

Follow-up Post in Series

Part 10 – Do You Have Your Business Communication on Autopilot?

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Helping you Keep it simple, clear & uniquely yours – contact me for help with your business writing needs.

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BigStock Photo Credit

BigStock Photo Credit

BigStock Photo Credit