Unlock Success: Harness the Power of KPIs to Drive Performance and Growth!

Accredian | Product Management
Accredian
Published in
3 min readJun 27, 2024

Author: Simran Gupta

What is a KPI Tree?

A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Tree is a powerful visualization method that allows an organization’s objectives to be broken down into more granular outcomes and relevant KPIs, or metrics, to track those outcomes. KPI Trees also enable you to visualize complex relationships, conflicts and interdependencies within an organization.

It’s a metric that is used to measure the success and progress of a product, team, or organization.

Here’s an example of a KPI tree:

  • Start by defining the primary business outcome, like “Increasing Profit” or “Boosting Product Profit.” Break it down into the how (product outcome).
  • Recognize that this outcome extends into specific product outcomes.
  • View the business outcome as a formula, such as

Revenue = Number of transactions X Average value per transaction.

  • Break down the formula further, considering elements like

Number of Customers = No. of New customers + No. of repeat customers.

  • Dive deeper into components like

Number of New customers = Number of new users X Conversion of New users to customers.

  • Identify product outcomes linked to these components, such as improving the conversion rate of new users to customers.
  • KPIs are typically quantifiable metrics that can be expressed numerically.
  • KPIs enable stakeholders to gauge how effectively the organization is performing.
  • If an organization’s primary goal is to increase market share, relevant KPIs might include market penetration rate, customer acquisition cost, and customer retention rate.
  • In a manufacturing company, KPIs may include production efficiency, defect rate, and on-time delivery performance.
  • In a sales department, KPIs may include monthly sales revenue and average deal size.
  • KPIs performances are compared against the industry benchmarks, and organizations can identify areas where they excel and areas where they lag, allowing them to set realistic targets for improvement.
  • KPIs provide valuable data for decision-making processes at all levels of the organization. Senior executives may use financial KPIs such as return on investment (ROI) and profit margin to make strategic decisions.
  • If a marketing campaign’s KPIs show a low conversion rate, the marketing team can analyze the data to identify potential issues and make adjustments to improve performance.

This approach facilitates identifying the fundamental drivers of the business outcome and dissecting them into actionable product outcomes.

Conclusion

KPIs are essential tools for organizations to measure, evaluate, and improve performance across various aspects of the business. By selecting the right KPIs and using them effectively, organizations can gain valuable insights into their operations and make informed decisions to drive success. Making KPI trees would identify the levers that would drive our business outcome and break it down to the product outcomes. By regularly reviewing and updating KPIs, organizations can adapt to changing market conditions and ensure ongoing success.

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