Execs Care About Revenue. How Do We Get Them to Care About Outcomes?

Business outcomes start with financial metrics (e.g., grow revenue, reduce costs), but they can also represent strategic initiatives (e.g., grow market share in a specific region, increase sales to a new customer segment).

Business outcomes start with financial metrics (e.g., grow revenue, reduce costs), but they can also represent strategic initiatives (e.g., grow market share in a specific region, increase sales to a new customer segment). Many business outcomes, however, are lagging indicators. They measure something after it has happened.

Gothelf, Jeff. Outcomes Mapping https://medium.com/@jboogie/execs-care-about-revenue-how-do-we-get-them-to-care-about-outcomes-5d541a823358

Traditional accounting metrics, like revenue, profit, and return on investment (ROI), aren’t helpful at the early stages because they all track numbers that are negative or near zero. Even at later stages, relying solely on aggregate revenue can prevent you from uncovering the right growth strategies.

The problem with relying on revenue as a measure of progress is that revenue is generally a longer customer life-cycle event, which can mean having to fly blind for a really long time.