We’ve all been there—rolling our eyes at that manager who is swept up in a new metric that they feel impresses senior leadership, and before you know it, you’re obsessing over the numbers. Not necessarily because it benefits the customer or employee experience, but because you now have to. Here’s the thing: metrics are tools to help you improve the customer experience, not the endgame itself.

I’ve seen too many companies get so infatuated with a particular metric that they lose sight of what really matters: making meaningful improvements for their customers or staff. And just like that, you are on your way to creating more problems than you solve.

Think about it: if you tie too much of your team’s performance (or heaven’s forbid, compensation) to a metric they don’t fully understand or can’t directly influence, you’re just setting them up for frustration and potential gaming of the system.

The harsh truth is, if you can’t explain the “why” behind your metric trends, you’ll never be able to systematically enhance the customer experience and positively impact those numbers you’re so focused on.

Yeah, great. So, what’s your solution? Glad ya asked!

Here are a few tips to keep you from falling head over heels for metrics:

1. Relationships and interactions should be treated distinctly. The questions you ask about a customer’s overall sentiment towards your company should be different from those about a specific interaction.
2. Test-drive metrics before tying them to compensation. Give your team a chance to understand the impact before the numbers start affecting their paychecks.
3. Set performance ranges, not rigid targets. Customer feedback can be unpredictable, so aim for consistently being in a reasonable “hi-lo” range rather than fixating on a single number.
4. Measure what truly matters to your business. Develop metrics that align with your unique brand strategy and target customer segments.
5. Metrics should not be siloed. Customer metrics should be incorporated in a carefully crafted voice of the customer (VoC) program. Isolated metrics won’t drive change; you need a program that continuously shares actionable customer insights across your organization in order to truly create better experiences.

So here’s to all those “Number Narrator” Managers out there spouting data and giving themselves a grand ol’ pat on their own backs! True CX practitioners know better. We stay laser-focused on developing measurements that align with your unique business strategy and resonate with your target audience’s attitudes and behaviors, driving actionable insights that deliver better experiences for all.