Don't Just Win - Measure Your Success
by Diane MacWilliams, President and CEO
This quarter Quicksilver is focusing on “gaming” and how it might be used in successful communication programs. We have used gaming techniques in meeting production, on web sites, in trade show booths, and in e-learning programs. They have been fun to produce, allowing us to use our creative capabilities by making them look “cool” and be highly interactive. But how do we know if they are producing a successful communication program?
Success is calculated by metrics and analytics. No matter what game you are playing you should be able to produce metrics that allow you to measure your success and provide data that allows you to make changes, getting you closer to the target. Analyzing results is a key factor in creating success.
A few years ago I had the privilege of working with Jeanne G. Harris, author of “Competing on Analytics: the New Science of Winning.” 
In her book she cites the example of how the Oakland Athletics won the Major League Baseball title despite having the second-lowest payroll in baseball and a roster of misfits… overweight players, batters that rarely hit home runs and a pitching staff that can’t deliver a strike-out. In 2002 they did this by eschewing conventional wisdom and competing instead on analytics. Analytics revealed that hitters with high on-base percentages and pitchers who got lots of ground outs were the key to a winning season. The result? The Oakland A’s reached the post-season playoffs three years in a row…a phenomenal record of success.
We all have the opportunity to win. Quicksilver provides measurement and reporting tools to clients who host their websites with us. Our e-learning programs are tied into Learning Management Systems. Our meetings use audience response and follow up surveys. These are some of the tools we regularly use to measure success. And when our clients are tuned into “winning the game” we work side by side with them to test and tweak to create maximum success. Now if we could only help the Cubs…