Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measures designed to track the critical success factors of business processes. These measurements break down key areas of your business so that you can see how each area contributes to the overall business results.
Every KPI is different depending on the business. For example, in telephone sales, the timely answering of customer calls is a key business activity. The percentage of calls answered within the first minute might be one of its key performance indicators.
When selecting key performance indicators to monitor, choose them to reflect the goals of your business, be critical to its success, and allow for corrective action through early detection of problems. Using KPIs, you can represent aggregate and expression business measures. Each KPI you create should have a target, ranges, or both. Without a target or ranges, KPIs that are displayed on your dashboard reflect only the value of the aggregated and expression measures.