Today MMU is publishing a reference guide on KPIs for three key operational areas: Operations, Sales & Distribution and Marketing. The purpose is to provide mobile money managers with global guidelines to use while reviewing or creating KPIs for the mobile money team.
When it comes to KPIs, often they are treated interchangeably with operational metrics. While both KPIs and operational metrics are critical performance measures, it is important to distinguish them because the role they each play is considerably different. All mobile money operators have created dashboards to monitor operational metrics such as customer acquisition rates, customer and agent active rates, transaction volumes and value. Operational metrics are backward-looking hard numbers that provide mobile money operators an overview on the state of the business versus objectives. However, KPIs are the other part of the performance measure that operators need to use to manage and influence the future of the business. They address the “why.”
For example, an operational metric tells an operator that activation rates are lower than expected. Examining the KPIs will give more insight as to why. Are agents regularly monitored and are they holding the required level of float? Or is marketing raising awareness and implementing BTL strategies to drive education? Perhaps the back office is unable to process KYC rapidly enough and customers lose interest before their first transaction? Having a strong foundation of tangible KPIs that are tied to specific individuals and teams will give a manager a better understanding of the operational barriers preventing scale.
This guide provides further detail around how to build and leverage KPIs in mobile money. This guide is not exhaustive but is meant to highlight some effective KPIs that operators are already using and it is also meant to help operators avoid some common pitfalls when it comes to implementing KPIs.