Fake Marketing Leads to Real Failure
Stop measuring the unmeasurable
I’m writing this in a big hotel in one of Europe’s capitals. I came here to deliver a keynote. It is part of an international hotel chain.
Yesterday, when I checked in, I tried to connect to the WiFi. To my surprise, I found out I had only two options for connecting: to join the chain’s loyalty program or to get free WiFi for just 24 hours.
It felt like I was being forced into a shotgun wedding.
I know why it’s like that. This problem has its roots in a common superstition in management.
Measurable vs manageable
Business bloggers writing about ‘data-driven decisions’ like to quote Peter Drucker: “What gets measured gets managed.”
The quote has two problems:
1. Peter Drucker never said that
2. That’s not true
You can measure net cash flow, return on equity, or average product delivery time. But you can’t measure customer attitude towards your business.
1. NPS, CSI, customer lifetime value, CSAT, and other similar metrics are just surrogates. They tell you as much ab…