25. January 2021

What is a Customer Performance Indicator (CPI)?

Have you heard of customer performance indicators (CPI)? They’re a business metric that measures your company’s performance, employees, and the outcome that customers are seeking.

In a world where 89% of customers switched to a competitor due to a poor customer experience, CPI is taking hold of the business world more every day. 

What is a Customer Performance Indicator (CPI)

At the end of the day, you want to ensure that your business provides the best customer experience possible.  But how can CPIs help

Continue reading to learn more about how you can use CPIs to grow your business, and give your customers the best experience possible.

What is a Customer Performance Indicator (CPI)?

So what exactly is a CPI?  Customer performance indicators are statistics used to predict a company’s growth, as customers are the primary driver of growth. Because of this, CPI can be used as a gauge for estimating a company’s future growth.

CPIs are based on giving the customer an experience that gives them the desired and expected outcome that they value.

There are a variety of variables that can be used to measure CPI.  These customer experience metrics are:

  • Time
  • Convenience
  • Money Saved
  • Recognition of Brand Loyalty

Customer experience can not only keep current customers satisfied, but also grow your business through happy customers leaving positive reviews, as well as spreading positive awareness of your company through word of mouth.

CPIs Versus KPIs

While CPIs measure what is important to the customer, KPIs (key performance indicators) measure what is important to the company. 

Key performance indicators focus on setting goals or target numbers important to the company to gauge growth and success.

KPIs reward employees for meeting certain goals that lead to the company’s best outcome, regardless of the desired outcome of the customer. Thus, the employee and the customer’s goals aren’t always aligned, which can create difficulties in giving the customer the best experience possible.

Connecting KPIs and CPIs

So now you know the difference between KPIs and CPIs. Now it’s time to learn about how they can work together to help you achieve the growth you’re seeking for your business.

While KPIs may not be the most effective metric when used on their own, when it is paired with CPIs, it can help paint a much clearer picture of your business’s success.

Meshing key performance indicators with CPIs helps align the company’s goals with the goals of the customer and shows how much of an impact CPIs have on reaching the company’s goals.

When paired together, employees can be held accountable for not reaching the customer performance indicators that they are most able to affect, which results in the growth of your business.

Growing and Sustaining Your Business

Now that you know more about customer performance indicators, you can start implementing them to grow and sustain your business.

Stay up to date for more tips and ideas on how you can continue growing your business in 2022-3.

Roman Kučák, Partner