Measuring Connections

There is an old business saying, “What gets measured, gets managed.” That may be true, but what if you are measuring the wrong thing? Then, all of your management efforts are a waste of time, money, and resources. This is often the case when it comes to measuring connections. Most organizations have a misunderstanding about how and why connections occur, so they gather and assess data that is irrelevant.

That misunderstanding is only half the problem, however. The other is the misinformation that is peddled to those organizations by some consultants and vendors representing methods that don’t work. Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a good example. There is not an ounce of science behind the metrics it uses to assess relationships—certainly no cognitive findings—and yet, it has become the gold standard for relationship management for hundreds of thousands of organizations.

James offers a better, science-based alternative. He measures the right information in the right way, helping organizations understand the current state of the their relationships and even more importantly, how they ended up there. If you want to know which of your clients are loyal, why certain employees won't cooperate, why your communications isn't resonating, or why your strategic partners aren't being more supportive or better advocates, then measure the right information. And manage that.