Metrics that change business: Receptivity and Impact

Take someone’s spending, let’s say $100. How much of that spending was caused by someone else? That’s what Receptivity is. It’s the part that wasn’t going to happen without that social piece.

Impact is the opposite. It’s how much you cause others to spend. So you can spend $1,000 or 0 and still impact others. I don’t like to use the word “influence” here because that conjures up a whole lot of pseudoscience from social media and influencers. That’s not what we measure or care about at all.

Once you can see someone’s Receptivity and Impact, there’s no way you’d think about them like you used to. You realize that their reasons for spending are now not just about the product and service, but about their connection with others. You realize they might impact others and cause a ripple effect.

If you could see these two values, what would you do differently?