TTN Home TTN Training Blog

Training Blog...

‘Return on investment’

ROI

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Return on investment…..when you buy something, like it, get a lot of use out of it, and if it doesn’t have a lot of repairs, it was a good deal right?  Well, it isn’t always that easy.

Because I work in the training industry, I am often asked the question, “How do I measure the ROI?”  I am directly involved in our customers’ implementation plans and the one item that is stressed during this process is setting up measurement criteria in three major areas that they want to see improvements.

Now, depending on what this product is, these areas will vary.  Think of it as setting goals for the product.  What are the expectations and where will this product make a difference?  What obstacle will this product hurdle?  Once these are identified, I suggest reviewing these at least every 90 days.  Whether you are measuring for business or personal ROI, reviewing these criteria will do two things:

  1. Identify successes and challenges in the past 90 days
  2. Clarify what needs to continue, improve, or change during the next 90 days

There are many online tools that are at your finger tips to help with this process.  You can find blogs, forums, product reviews, videos etc that other consumers have posted.  Information directly from the manufacturer can also be found online.  I don’t know a magical mathematical equation that will work every time, but I know that most of us have purchased something in our life and felt that we didn’t get what we paid for.  Reflection on that experience may help with awareness for the next time.  I would love to hear ideas or processes that you have in place to measure ROI.