Setting business goals is an important part of running a business, but achieving those goals requires more than staying busy. Business owners can spend considerable time managing daily operations, responding to enquiries and working through tasks without necessarily making meaningful progress towards the results they want to achieve.
Building traction involves understanding which activities are contributing to business performance and identifying where improvements can make the greatest difference. Rather than spreading time and resources across numerous priorities, a more focused approach allows business owners to concentrate on what matters, address obstacles and measure whether their efforts are producing results.
In this video, Business Strategist Clive Enever explains how to move from setting goals to building measurable momentum. He explores the importance of identifying a key performance indicator (KPI), reviewing the customer journey for points of friction and making targeted improvements through a process of tweaking, testing and evaluating results.
We'll Cover
- Why being busy doesn't necessarily mean a business is making progress.
- How to identify the single most important KPI for your current business goals.
- Why concentrating on one meaningful measure helps focus business activity.
- How to conduct a friction audit of the customer journey.
- Common obstacles that can affect customer experience and business performance.
- How to use a tweak-and-test approach to make targeted improvements.
- Why measuring results is essential for making informed business decisions.
Identify the KPI That Matters Most
When business owners are working towards a goal, it's easy to become overwhelmed by the number of metrics available to measure performance. Sales figures, customer enquiries, website activity and retention rates can all provide useful information, but attempting to improve everything simultaneously can make it difficult to know where to direct attention.
Clive recommends simplifying the process by identifying the single most important KPI for the quarter. This should be the measure that, if improved, would have the greatest impact on achieving the business's current objectives.
For example, if a business is preparing to launch an online course, the number of people joining its email waitlist might be the most relevant KPI. For a business focused on increasing recurring revenue, customer retention could be a more meaningful measure.
The important consideration is how closely the KPI relates to the result the business is trying to achieve. Once that measure has been identified, activities can be assessed according to whether they contribute to improving it.
This gives business owners a clearer way to prioritise their time and resources, reducing the likelihood of becoming distracted by activities that don't contribute to their immediate goals.
Conduct a Friction Audit of the Customer Journey
After identifying the KPI that matters most, the next step is to examine what might be preventing progress.
Clive introduces the concept of a friction audit, which involves reviewing the customer journey to identify points where people may become confused, frustrated or decide not to continue.
He encourages business owners to experience their own processes as though they were approaching the business for the first time. This means following the entire customer journey, from making initial contact through to purchasing a product or using a service.
At each stage, consider:
- Is the process clear and straightforward?
- Are there unnecessary steps that make it difficult for customers to proceed?
- Is the value of the product or service clearly communicated?
- How easy is it for someone to contact the business?
- Is there anything that could cause a potential customer to abandon the process?
Clive points out that friction can occur in relatively simple ways. A website that is difficult to navigate, limited payment options or phone messages that remain unanswered for too long can all create barriers for customers.
These issues might not appear significant when considered individually, but they can affect the overall customer experience and influence whether someone chooses to do business with you.
Finding and addressing these points of friction can be one of the quickest ways to improve performance because it focuses attention on obstacles that are already affecting the business.
Tweak, Test and Measure the Results
Once a point of friction has been identified, Clive recommends looking for the simplest and most efficient way to address it.
Rather than making changes based on assumptions, he encourages business owners to follow a structured process that connects an improvement to an expected result.
Form a hypothesis
Identify the specific change you believe will improve performance and the outcome you expect it to produce. This gives the adjustment a clear purpose and provides something meaningful to evaluate.
Implement the change
Put the proposed improvement into practice. Depending on the issue identified, this might involve updating an internal process, refining how a message is communicated or adjusting a service offering.
Measure the impact
Review what happened after the change was introduced. Did the KPI improve? What feedback did customers provide? Did the adjustment produce the expected result?
This approach allows business owners to make informed decisions rather than relying on guesswork.
It also recognises that improving performance is an ongoing process. A business can identify an issue, make a targeted adjustment, review the outcome and use what it learns to determine the next improvement.
Build Momentum Through Intentional Action
A business can have clear goals and still struggle to make progress when its activities aren't directed towards achieving them.
Clive emphasises that lasting momentum comes from intentional action. This means understanding what the business is trying to achieve, identifying the measure that matters most and concentrating on improvements that will contribute to that result.
The combination of a clear KPI, a friction audit and a tweak-and-test approach provides a practical way to connect everyday business decisions with broader objectives.
Instead of continually introducing new activities or pursuing every opportunity, business owners can focus on their current priorities and use the results of their actions to guide what happens next.
This creates a more considered approach to business performance, where decisions are informed by what is happening in the business rather than assumptions about what might work.
Reflection
Consider the goals you've set for your business this quarter. Are your current activities contributing directly to those goals, or are you spending time on tasks that keep you occupied without producing measurable progress?
Start by identifying the one KPI that would make the greatest difference to your current objectives. Then review the experience customers have when interacting with your business. Where might they encounter confusion, unnecessary steps or delays? Choose one point of friction to address, make a targeted improvement and examine the results. The aim is to understand whether the change has helped and use that information to decide what deserves attention next.
For further reading, Clive also explores related ideas in Simplifying Business Processes for Enhanced Focus, where he discusses reviewing workflows and removing unnecessary steps.
Resources
Strategic Wisdom Advisory with Clive Enever
If you're working towards business goals but aren't seeing the progress you expected, a Strategic Wisdom Advisory session with Clive can help you examine your current performance, identify what needs attention and determine your next steps.
Highlights
- 00:00 From Being Busy to Building Momentum
- 00:35 Identifying Your Most Important KPI
- 01:00 Choosing a KPI That Supports Your Goals
- 01:25 Conducting a Customer Journey Friction Audit
- 02:00 Identifying Barriers to Customer Action
- 02:30 Making Improvements Through Tweaking and Testing
- 03:00 Measuring the Impact of Your Changes
- 03:20 Building Momentum Through Intentional Action
