Practical KPI Examples

Identifying your company’s goals is the first step in developing effective key performance indicators (KPIs). We’ve compiled the most important key performance indicator examples for each department and put them in order of importance.

This list is great for people who have already set their business goals and are looking for ideas on how to measure their progress toward these goals. Use the table of contents here to find the sections that are most important to your organisation and teams.

Explore the topic of “What is KPI” in further detail.

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Customer Service KPI Examples

Service and support teams should prioritise key performance indicators that monitor response times. In addition, they should have a clear perspective of the customer base and longer-term, preventive KPIs, such as employee engagement and knowledge base articles, as shown by the ten KPI examples provided below.

Abandon Rate – KPI Example

Customer support departments may be assisted in determining what actions need to be done to remedy a problem by doing an analysis of the abandonment rate. As a consequence of this, the Customer Service department may come to the conclusion that ring-backs should be established. This refers to the practise of providing customers with the opportunity to request a call back after they have been waiting in a line.

In addition, abandonment rates may assist in the optimization of resources, such as the use of workers from other departments during peak business hours.

Average Resolution Time – KPI Example

This is a standard method for evaluating how well customer service is provided. The resolving of problems in a timely manner is connected with providing excellent customer service. Therefore, if your department answers to client inquiries in a more timely manner, not only will the customers be better satisfied with the services you provide, but they will also be more likely to remain loyal customers.

If the department is unable to maintain the resolution time at a low level, this may be an indicator that your team does not have sufficient personnel.

Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) – KPI Example

Your customer satisfaction (CSAT) score is something that a department that handles customer care has to monitor. The effectiveness of your company’s customer service department is evaluated using this key performance indicator.

After a consumer has finished using your service, you should follow up with them by sending them a short survey to fill out so you can get their feedback. You need to take this seriously, and you can’t depend just on comments received through email as the method for your survey.

First Contact Resolution (FCR) – KPI Example

The first contact resolution rate (FCR) is an effective KPI for measuring the proportion of support problems that are addressed by the customer service department at the customer’s first point of contact. This indicates that the problem was fixed by your agent before the client hung up the phone or stopped the web chat session. This may happen during live calls or online chats.

The first contact resolution rate (FCR) is determined by dividing the total number of customer encounters by the number of problems that were addressed at the first contact with the client. When a consumer indicates that they no longer have an issue, that status is changed to “resolved.”

Because of this information, you will be able to zero in on problems that aren’t being fixed beyond the initial point of contact and address the underlying source of those problems.

Number of Support Tickets & Complaints – KPI Example

The amount of new problems, support tickets, and complaints that are created each day, week, and month is a metric that customer care teams need to track and monitor.

This gives you the ability to determine if these new problems link to any new advances in company, such as the introduction of new products. If the frequency of newly discovered problems suddenly increases, you will likely need to conduct an investigation and find a solution to the underlying problem.

Training Investment per Employee – KPI Example

Despite the fact that this is mostly a leading indication, you should keep a careful eye on the amount of money that is being invested in training and development.

If you spend too little, there is a good chance that you will either (a) fail to develop top talent internally or (b) have top personnel depart to seek training and development opportunities elsewhere. Both of these outcomes are likely to occur if you invest too little.

Wait Time for Callers – KPI Example

It may be quite irritating to be required to stand in line for what seems like an interminable amount of time. As a result, companies have to make certain that the typical length of time customers have to wait on hold to get help falls within an appropriate range.

To determine this key performance indicator for customer service, divide the entire amount of time customers wait in call queues by the total amount of customer calls that are answered.

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Financial KPI Examples

There is no lack of ratios and indicators for financial teams to monitor. Finance managers and CFOs should use a financial analytics tool to concentrate on margin, expenditure, revenue, and cash management, as shown by the ten major finance KPI examples listed below.

Current Ratio – KPI Example

The Current Ratio Key Performance Indicator gives your assets a weighting. When calculating your current obligations, including accounts payable, your assets, such as accounts receivable, are taken into consideration. You will have a better understanding of the financial health of your company as a result of this.

Gross Profit Margin – KPI Example

The proportion of total sales revenues earned that your earnings represent as an expression of your profitability. This provides you with an overall picture of how much money you are producing from your business.

However, since it does not take into account all costs, it is not appropriate for use in decision-making that is very specific. However, it is helpful for benchmarking your performance over a period of time or comparing your profitability to that of another business in a comparable industry.

Monthly Recurring Revenue – KPI Example

One of the most common metrics used by SaaS businesses like ours is known as Monthly Recurring Revenue. This measure takes into account simply the recurring monthly income that your business generates, which can be maintained with little to no extra expenditure.

For instance, our monthly recurring revenue (MRR) grows for every new client that registers for a recurring monthly membership to Cascade.

Net Profit Margin – KPI Example

The proportion of a company’s total income that is still available for profit after all of its operational costs, interest payments, and taxes have been subtracted off.

This provides a more precise internal number for analysing profit, but it is of less value for comparisons with other businesses.

Operating Cash Flow (OCF) – KPI Example

Every Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has to have a firm grasp on this metric, since it is one of the most fundamental financial KPIs. It provides you with information on the amount of revenue that your firm generates from its day-to-day activities. In a nutshell, it gives an indication of how a firm is doing financially in the near term.

Return on Equity (ROE) – KPI Example

ROE is a measurement that compares your company’s net income to each unit of shareholder equity. The return on equity ratio is a useful metric for determining not just the profitability of your business but also its level of productivity. This key performance indicator (KPI) is less relevant for new businesses but essential for more established companies.

Revenue Growth Rate – KPI Example

This key performance indicator (KPI) helps to guarantee that your company continues to expand at the desired pace, which is expressed as a percentage. In an ideal scenario, you would measure this on a monthly basis or on a rolling average basis for the last 12 months.

Revenue per Customer – KPI Example

This is a measurable metric that provides you with an estimate of the amount of gross income that you earn from each individual client. The manner in which you determine this will vary from one kind of company to another.

As a software as a service (SaaS) company, we calculate the lifetime value of a customer (LTV) by factoring in the amount of money a customer pays for a subscription as well as the average length of time a subscription is active. If you ran a coffee shop, you may instead focus on the amount of money customers spend on average throughout their visits.

Revenue per FTE – KPI Example

The majority of a company’s operating expenditures are often attributable to labour costs. Therefore, it is often beneficial to analyse the amount of cash that your business is really making for each employee that it has.

This provides you with an indication of whether or not the quantity of money you’re producing is adequate for the size of your business.

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Human Resource (HR) KPI Examples

The primary concerns of human resource managers are workforce management, remuneration, and recruiting. You may use a people analytics solution such as DoerHRM to monitor and evaluate the top 10 KPI examples for HR listed below.

Absenteeism Rate – KPI Example

It’s possible that significant difficulties exist within your organization’s culture if your absence rates are high. Even while some workers may have good reasons for being away from work, you still need to keep a careful eye on the general trend of absenteeism in the workplace as a whole.

This becomes much more important when your firm expands.

Here is the equation:

(Total number of workdays missed due to absence) divided by (Number of workdays available) = (Absenteeism rate)

Average Overtime Hours per Employee – KPI Example

This average is an excellent KPI that may assist quantify the amount of time that someone worked in addition to their typical working hours. If you keep this figure low, it may indicate that a firm is effectively controlling the amount of work they have to do and lowering the likelihood that their employees will get fatigued on the job.

Be wary of this key performance indicator (KPI), since it is not applicable to all kinds of businesses, and the meaning of the term “overtime” will change depending on the sort of company you work for.

eNPS – KPI Example

You are probably definitely familiar with the acronym NPS, which stands for “Net Promoter Score.” It is a method by which we evaluate the likelihood that a client would suggest our product or service to a friend or colleague. The eNPS is a straightforward and practical application of the same fundamental idea.

Employee Satisfaction Index (ESI) – KPI Example

This key performance indicator should not be overlooked. Especially in light of the fact that everyone is now competing with one another to keep their best employees and hire new ones.

The employee happiness index is a tool that can assist you in determining whether or not your workers are pleased with their jobs.

You may use the employee satisfaction index (ESI), just as you do with the employee net promoter score, to analyse growth over time, compare your performance with that of other firms in your industry, and figure out what events at your organisation influenced the ratings.

Failure Rate – KPI Example

The majority of employment contracts in today’s business world include a probationary term for new hires. However, this does not insulate you from the harm that might be caused by an unqualified employee.

A significant factor in determining overall efficiency is the amount of resources—including money, time, and effort—that are squandered on ineffective hires—those who do not survive their probationary period. Determine how many workers quit before the three-month mark, and work on bringing this number down as much as you can via effective management.

Internal to External Hiring Ratio – KPI Example

Hiring from within is almost always better than hiring from outside. It saves money, keeps good employees around, and encourages others to build their careers at your company.

It also shows how good your training programmes are and how well you can manage your talent. Just look at how many people were hired in the last 12 months (rolling) (internal hires: external hires).

% of ‘Cherish & Retain’ Employees – KPI Example

If you use a performance management platform, you’ll be able to measure not only how well an employee is doing now, but also how well they could do for the company in the future. The 9-Box Talent Grid is one of the most useful tools here.

This grid helps you measure how successful an employee is in these two ways in a fair and consistent way. Use the 9-Box Talent Grid and track how many employees each year fall into the “Cherish and Retain” group.

Revenue per Employee – KPI Example

Almost every investor I’ve talked to has said that this number is important when deciding which companies to invest in. Even though it’s not an exact science, the revenue per employee (total revenue divided by the number of employees) is a good way to measure how efficient your organisation is as a whole.

Most of the time, the biggest cost on the P&L is payroll. Organizations that don’t make much money per employee don’t tend to last long. The key is to compare yourself to others in your industry, since there is no “right” way to do this in general.

Training Investment per Employee – KPI Example

Even though this is mostly an early sign, you should keep a close eye on how much you spend on training and development.

If you invest too little, it’s likely that (a) you won’t be able to develop your best people from within, or (b) your best people will leave to find training and development opportunities somewhere else.

Turnover Rate of High Performers – KPI Example

Everyone in an organisation needs to care about its culture. High-performers may be the ones who can tell the most about how well your culture works.

That’s because they usually have a lot of job options and can look at more than just money when making a decision.

If your best performers are leaving, either you’re not paying them enough or there’s a big problem with the way your company works.

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Information Technology (IT) KPI Examples

IT administrators should monitor the constant flow of support requests and downtime. As illustrated in the top 10 IT KPI examples listed below, they should also monitor the initiatives and teams that will proactively minimise the amount of these tickets in the future.

Application & Service of Total Cost – KPI Example

This metric helps figure out how much each IT service costs to provide. For example, how much do you spend on storage, networks, and security, and which departments use these the most?

This can help find the “long-tail” costs of running an application and align the costs with business goals.

Employee Engagement & Satisfaction – KPI Example

Even though it’s great to work on new and interesting projects, IT teams spend most of their day helping other employees and customers with boring tasks.

Because of this, it’s important to keep track of how engaged employees are and keep your eye on the big picture.

Project Delivery Time – KPI Example

This is a common KPI that the rest of the business uses to judge IT teams: Did they do what they said they would do on time?

If you are managing projects within a clear time frame and clear goals, it is pretty easy to measure. Any small delays in a business process are likely to cost you time in the long run.

Quality Assurance – KPI Example

It’s one thing to finish a project on time, but it doesn’t mean much if it’s full of problems and bugs.

You can use the number of issues per project to figure out where problems might come up during launch. Over time, this will improve the process and make it easier to get things done.

Example: Number of issues on each project

Service Level Agreements (SLAs) – KPI Example

This is a very specific way to measure and show both quality and performance. The numbers are agreed upon, and they are measured once a month or once every three months to see if the agreed-upon level of service is being met.

So, SLAs have a bad reputation because they often show that an IT team isn’t as good as was hoped. On the other hand, if they are used in a good way, they can show honesty and set reasonable goals.

Showback – KPI Example

IT departments often give “chargebacks” to other departments for services they have provided. This shows how useful IT can be, but people often don’t like it.

By switching to “showback,” IT teams can keep track of the resources given to each department and report on them. This keeps everyone aware of what’s going on. IT can really find areas of weakness or stress by looking at how resources are used.

Team Iniative – KPI Example

This is almost certainly because of how hard the IT team worked. Teams that are highly involved are more likely to come up with new ideas and/or new ways to solve problems that are already happening.

Measuring internal projects will tell you not only how engaged people are, but also how ready they are. As in being ready to deal with unexpected changes in a flexible setting.

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Marketing KPI Examples

Marketing executives must monitor KPIs that allow them to gauge their success in relation to well stated objectives. The ten KPI examples for marketing provided below span all stages of the customer funnel and may be measured correctly using current marketing analytics.

Learn more about how to create a marketing KPI dashboard.

Click-Through-Rate (CTR) – KPI Example

This KPI is used by marketers to measure the interaction that their content receives across different media.

The method for estimating click-through rate is rather straightforward and consists of the following:

CTR is calculated by multiplying (total clicks / total impressions) by 100.

For instance, if your LinkedIn ad had 2253 impressions but only 17 clicks, your click-through rate (CTR) would be 0.75%.

Cost per Lead – KPI Example

How successful would you say your marketing effort is? As soon as you have traffic that is turning into leads, it is necessary to assess how much money each of these leads is costing you.

You have access to a wide variety of tools, such as Google Adwords and Google Analytics that you may utilise to monitor the performance of this essential KPI. You also have the option of using a single source of truth to consolidate the information obtained from a variety of sources into a single location. With DoerHRM, you can generate KPI reports in a format of your choosing and keep tabs on all significant indicators in real time.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) – KPI Example

Another important marketing and sales growth KPI that you should monitor is the customer acquisition cost (CAC). It determines how much money your organisation invests in the process of gaining new clients.

This Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and Customer Lifetime Value will be one of the things that potential investors focus on the most. They will determine the ratio between the two of them, whereby LTV should always have a higher value than CAC.

The following is the formula for calculating CAC:

The total amount spent on sales and marketing divided by the number of new customers acquired

Net Promoter Score (NPS) – KPI Example

There is no question that you could make the case that your NPS is not a marketing KPI. Your Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a measurement of the likelihood that a consumer would recommend your product to a friend or colleague.

Given how important they are as a marketing tool for bringing in new clients, we would be acting in a careless manner if we ignored our current clientele. To determine a company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS), survey respondents are asked to rate how likely they are to suggest a product on a scale from 1 to 10.

Because NPS is frequently time-bound, in order to guarantee that the KPI continues to be relevant, you should normally look at your NPS for the last thirty days rather than the total from the beginning of time.

New User to Returning User Ratio – KPI Example

There is no such thing as a “normal” visit to your website. When you start digging into your conversion rates, you’ll probably realise that returning users (those who have been to your site previously) have a considerably greater conversion rate than new visitors do. This is because returning customers already know what your site offers and are more likely to make a purchase.

This is due to the fact that they have made an effort to visit your website on a regular basis and are interested in the work that you are doing. In order to maintain healthy conversion rates on your site, it is essential to measure and improve this ratio.

Page Conversion Rate – KPI Example

When it comes to websites, everything revolves around conversions at the end of the day. luring individuals to begin a free trial, purchase a product, or sign up for a demonstration.

You may identify which pages are most efficient at getting people to convert by measuring conversion rates as a percentage. This is the most effective method available to you.

As a consequence of this, you will be able to identify which pages need more attention to be paid to optimising the conversion rate. You may also determine what factors contribute to effective conversions and then use those same strategies on various other pages that are significant to your business.

An illustration of a conversion rate expressed as a proportion of the total number of visits to a page.

Qualified Leads – KPI Example

This is one of the KPIs that marketing teams believe to be one of their most essential metrics. It may be used by you to identify the quality of the leads that were created as a result of the lead generating activities that you carried out.

This key performance indicator is often divided into two categories:

Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)
Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)

Time-on-site – KPI Example

If visitors to your website only stay for a few seconds before leaving, something is probably wrong with the way it’s designed or how it’s being implemented. After clicking on a link to your website, if they leave within a few seconds to go back to the Google search results page, then it is safe to assume that they will not convert into customers.

Traffic – KPI Example

The most apparent example of traffic would be visitors to a website; however, the same principles apply if you also operate a storefront in a physical location. How many people are strolling through your shop and how many individuals, as a result, have the opportunity to notice your items and might potentially become leads.

Example: the number of people that visit a website every day

Traffic to Lead Ratio – KPI Example

The next obvious step after monitoring traffic is to determine what percentage of that traffic really results in new leads being generated. You will need to specify what it is that you mean when you say a “lead”; for example, do you mean a chat with a sales assistant or a free trial of your product?

Example: the percentage of site visitors who sign up for a free trial.

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Sales KPI Examples

Leaders in sales and their teams must monitor the key performance metrics that facilitate the closing of additional orders. Below are the 10 most important KPI examples for sales:

Learn more about how to create a sales KPI dashboard.

Average Retention Rate – KPI Example

Depending on your business, this might look a little different. Basically, we want to know how many customers leave and how many stay after the sales cycle is over. A low rate of customer retention is often a sign that something is wrong with the sales process.

Find out how many of your customers withdraw each year or month.

Discount Applied – KPI Example

Selling is hard, but it’s easy if all your sales team has to do to make a sale is cut the price by a lot.

At the end of each month, figure out what percentage of the total sales volume would have been made if all sales had been at full price. This is something you should check on a regular basis to make sure you’re not on a trend that makes you offer more and more discounts just to reach your volume goals.

Lead Flow – KPI Example

A simple number that shows how many leads your salespeople work on each month. Start by setting a goal for the month. Then, divide this goal into the places where you want to get leads.

Opportunity to Win Ratio – KPI Example

The best way to tell if your opportunity pipeline is working is to look at how many of your new opportunities actually turn into sales. You should measure this for your sales team as a whole, but you should also measure it for each salesperson, since this is the most important part of their job.

Qualified Opportunity Rate – KPI Example

So, you’re getting leads, but are they good enough to actually turn into sales? Find out how many of your leads got to the “qualified” stage of your sales pipeline.

Sales Cost to Sales Volume Ratio – KPI Example

When you add up things like lead costs, salaries, commissions, fixed building costs, and more, the cost of making a sale is often more than you think. When you know how much your sales cost compared to how much you sell, you can make smart decisions about whether and how to grow your sales team.

Compare the total cost of your sales efforts in a given month to the total amount of sales that month. Then turn that number into a ratio and write it as a percent.

Sales Cycle Length – KPI Example

One thing that hurts sales teams is not so much that they don’t make enough sales, but that the sales cycles are just too long. That makes it hard to reach your goals quickly and gives you less room to change course if sales start to go down.

Use your CRM system to find out how long it takes on average for a lead to turn into an opportunity and get close to being a sale. The shorter this time is, the better.

Total Sales Volume – KPI Example

We’ll start with something very simple: you need to know how much your sales team has sold in total dollars at least once a month. You should try to set a goal that keeps going up, but don’t forget to account for seasonal changes, like those that happen around Christmas or the holidays.

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Top Management KPI Examples

Executives and managers want KPIs that represent the strategic goals of their organisation. Here are ten top management KPI examples:

Click here to explore the top 5 KPIs you’ll see in a CEO’s dashboard.

Average Order Value (AOV) – KPI Example

Average order value is the average amount of money customers spend on an average order. Companies use this metric to track how much money is spent on the different products or services they offer.

Cash Flow from Operations (CFO) – KPI Example

Cash flow from operations shows how much money the company makes from its operating activities. Basically, it shows how much money comes into or goes out of a business after all costs and taxes are paid. If this number is positive, it means that money is coming into the business. This could be a good sign for the business in the long run.

Customer Churn Rate – KPI Example

Customer churn is a way to figure out how many customers cancel their subscriptions or services in a certain amount of time. It also shows how many of the company’s customers still use or buy its products or services. This metric is used to predict how many customers a business will lose and how much money it might make in the future by measuring how many customers are still happy and continue to buy from the business.

Gross profit – KPI Example

Gross profit is the difference between total sales and the price of goods sold (COGS). Gross profit is the amount of money a company makes after taking out all of the costs of making, selling, and producing its product or service. High gross profit can be a sign of success because it means that a business is making enough money to keep going on its own. A high gross profit may also be a sign that there is a chance to expand operations or invest in new markets.

Net Profit Margin – KPI Example

The ratio of profit to sales is called the net profit margin. A net profit margin that is higher than zero means that more money is coming in than is going out. This metric shows how well the company is doing at reaching its financial goals. For instance, a company with a high net profit margin may have enough money to invest in marketing campaigns or other projects that could help bring in more money.

Net Profit to Sales Ratio – KPI Example

Operating income to gross sales is the ratio of net profit to sales. Managers use this metric to figure out how profitable a business is. The more profitable a company is, the higher the ratio of net profit to sales, which shows how much money the company makes for every dollar of sales.

Net Promoter Score (NPS) – KPI Example

NPS uses customer surveys to find out how happy customers are with a product or service and how likely they are to tell others about it. It’s a sign of growth because it shows if customers like a brand and are likely to buy more products from that brand in the future. NPS scores are given as a number on a scale from -100 to 100. Higher numbers mean that customers are happier with the product or service and are more likely to stick with it.

Return on Investment (ROI)- KPI Example

Return on investment is a way to figure out how profitable an investment is or a ratio of how much money an investment made compared to how much it cost. It can be used to compare and rank different projects’ investments.

Repeat Purchase Order – KPI Example

This metric looks at how often a person buys from a business or starts using another product from that business. The number of customers who come back more than once is the rate of repeat business. This metric measures how loyal and long-term a customer is.