Quantify Your Results: The Untold Story of Persuasion, Negotiation, and Influence

“Matin en adi?” [how “little” is little?] - Andrew Demba, Rt. Chief Accountant, KALRO

Several self-help books have been written on the importance of confidence, persuasion, and communication in success. However, the significance of quantifying one’s results has not been given serious attention in life, business, and academia, yet books and speeches are filled with significant quantification. It is evident everywhere – in public speaking, interviews, books, emails, memos, and proposals. Despite the obvious applications of this concept, many people often overlook it. While I agree that confidence, persuasion, sales, and communication skills are crucial for success, mastering the art of quantifying your results can also give you an aura of power and control. In fact, quantifying your results is at the heart of persuasion and is an effective tool in negotiating your way through life, work, and relationships.

You need to experiment, measure, or possess credible data to get the quantitative information required to pump up your conversations. Competition for skilled labor is also quite stiff, and the common bottleneck to opportunities and career progression is being unable to produce relevant results demanded by an employer. The question is, can you articulate and quantify the results you achieved in a previous role? Whether you are a student, a farmer, an entrepreneur, or a public servant, quantifying results to your peers and colleagues will shine a bright light on your credibility and put you on the roadway to success.

So, what does it mean to quantify your results?

Let’s start by breaking down the phrase. It has two primary keywords: quantify and results. Quantify comes from the noun “quantity”. It begs the question, “How much?” Results, on the other hand, are simply the visual manifestation of your actions. Can you present what you have done? Many people are not in a position to answer this question. For instance, there is a stark difference between someone saying they’ve read many books this year and another saying they’ve read 21 books in the last two months. The first exemplifies the tendency to avoid specificity, responsibility, and accountability. However, quantifying your results can open doors you never thought possible. This is a refinement of the old-school success formula of setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals. Whether relating to your friends, family, peers, or colleagues, you will never go wrong with it. Quantifying your results will make you conspicuous from the majority who offer generic conversations and solutions in their interactions. For instance, while your colleague will tell your boss that the sales have decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you will tell your boss that sales declined by 12% in the period ending 20th August 2023 compared to last year. Imagine you are the boss, and a position is open for promotion. Which of the two employees would you promote? The one whose reports are backed up with data, right?

However, data is only one way of quantifying your results. We will come back to the other strategies later. The takeaway here is that quantifying your results might require you to do things you never did before. For example, you must do your homework well to be always prepared with relevant quantitative ways to respond in every situation. You may need to measure and analyze your performance. Think of it this way. What would you tell your boss about your productivity right now if you had ten seconds with them in the elevator and they posed that question? How would you respond if it were an interview? How would you persuade the hiring manager? Even if you are an entrepreneur wanting to get more customers, this article is for you. You will no longer need to ask for a pay raise - they’ll raise your salary themselves. You will no longer have to go looking for customers. They will come looking for you. Why? Because a significant portion of your competitors don’t use quantitative elements in their interactions, engagements, and conversations. A person who can quantify their results is a person who knows what they are doing. This is the antidote to the ravaging effects of a capitalistic economy and your gateway to success.

How “little” is little

Growing up, my uncle was the richest person I knew. He served as the Chief Accountant of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (currently KALRO) in the 1980s. He was a humble and respected man who never stopped imparting knowledge to the community at every opportunity he could get. He had a knack for history and numbers in general. The villagers admired him for his wisdom and insight. However, communication only made sense to him if it was specific, objective, and quantified. For example, he preferred “I will return tomorrow at 7 pm” to “I will return soon.” He preferred “We should get two kilos of flour” to “we need some little flour.” Although he was diagnosed with dementia in 2015, he had already summed up this principle in a beautiful quote that several generations will remember. Whenever we asked for anything “little” or commented on how little something was, he would simply ask, “Matin en adi?” which means, “How ‘little’ is little?” He asked this question with sincere curiosity, so much so that you’d feel like there was a huge gap in the information you just presented. And he did not just want any information. He needed quantified information. I was only a teenager then and could not grasp the full magnitude of this principle.

More than 20 years later, I understood, for instance, that no one wants an employee who reports that the company is running out of resources. Such responses only create more questions than answers in your supervisor's mind. For example, what resources are you talking about? How many of the resources in question are remaining? How much do you need? What is the cost? How long can it take to acquire them? How much time do we have?

Organizations need people who cut to the chase and get straight to the point without wasting precious time. Before asking for just a little, ask yourself how 'little' is little and attach a value to it. This gives you and the other person an objective lens for making an efficient decision and prepares the other person to align their activities and goals around the provided value.

Why is it important to quantify your results?

“Everything is numbers” - Unknown

It was not until my second year of college that Professor Getabu introduced us to this principle in our Research Methodology class. Although most of my coursemates preferred qualitative reasoning, I found quantitative methods more interesting. However, this is not a lecture on research methodology. Whether you are a student, an employee, or an employer, you will learn and appreciate the importance of knowing your numbers.

Whether you are conscious about it or not, you are dealing with numbers every day. From knowing what time it is, to money, grades, and resources. Therefore, quantifying your results is a skill like any other. If you can learn to drive a vehicle or use a new software, you can learn to quantify your results. The earlier you master it, the higher your chances of persuading others, crafting a winning proposal, getting a promotion, and increasing your income.

I have met many people on social media who have degrees and masters but are broke and unemployed. They often cannot answer a simple question: “What are you bringing to the table?” You see, human resource managers want to hire individuals who will join the team and hit the ground running. When the stakes are high, even your academic qualifications might not cut it. If a company wants to hire a social media manager, for example, who do you think they would hire between the one who provides evidence of increasing a company’s customer engagement by 20% and conversions by 10% and another candidate who only has the academic qualifications without quantifiable practical results? Unfortunately, the latter are the majority of the population. If you don’t take action toward the results you want, measure those results, and present them as a proposal to your target audience or potential employer, then you might find capitalism really unforgiving. But don’t worry. The digital economy has made creating a portfolio quite affordable and simple. Even mentioning that you have over five thousand followers on LinkedIn can give you significant leverage in certain professional situations. You just have to learn to quantify your results, and you will see the opportunity to do so everywhere you look. In fact, almost half of my digital marketing success is due to the skill of quantifying my results. I developed this skill to break the competition and establish myself as a thought leader in the digital marketing space. I've learned from several authors who always touched on the subject, even though they did so without emphasizing it enough. It is also the inspiration for writing this article.

Quantifying your results also gives validity to your statements. It will make your communication authoritative, authentic, specific, original, credible, and factual. These are the traits of high achievers in every field. You can apply it in your education, business, or occupation. It is important to note that quantifying your results can only occur when you are communicating, and communication is not only about talking or speaking. You can also communicate with your boss, friends, family, or peers through other methods such as writing, images, graphs, maps, signs, or symbols. It does not matter what method you are using; if you assess every situation carefully, you will find countless ways to quantify your results.

However, moderation is important. Too much quantitative information can be boring, vague, and redundant. Quantifying your results is not just about your results. It is also about quantifying your observations. You must be ready to look at the world quantitatively. This skill will help you set SMART goals, track your performance, identify your strengths and weaknesses, improve your efficiency and productivity, and demonstrate your value to employers, clients, or investors.?

Conclusion

This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Quantify Your Results. You will master this critical skill to influence your academic, personal, and professional outcomes.

Your contributions will be included in the final copy.

Feel free to comment below and follow me to get notified when we launch the book.