Is Your Business Winning? Track the Right Metrics to Stay Ahead

By Ed Young, Fabricator’s Business Coach

It’s football season and as you watch your favorite teams battle it out on the gridiron, ask yourself, “Would the game be as exciting if we didn’t keep score? Would it matter as much if there were no winner?” Chances are, without a clear goal and metrics to measure progress, you wouldn’t even bother watching. In sports, the objective is to score more points than the opposing team. While the final score is what matters most, teams also track various interim metrics to gauge their performance during the game. In football, for example, teams pay attention to:

• The current down.

• Yards needed for a first down.

• Time left on the play clock.

• The quarter and remaining time in the game.

These stats don’t just make the game interesting for spectators — they provide the team with crucial information to manage their performance and strategize to win. Without knowing how far they are from a first down or how much time is left on the clock, how could a team adjust its game plan effectively? And if they didn’t know the score or how much time remained, would there be any sense of urgency when it mattered most?

Tracking progress helps teams make informed decisions and adapt to changing conditions. The same is true for your business.

Applying Game-Day Strategy to Your Business

The ultimate measure of success in business is profit. Hopefully, you’ve already set a profit goal for the year. But how well are you communicating your progress toward that goal with your team?

Breaking your annual profit target down into monthly, weekly, or even daily objectives is a great start. However, to truly drive performance, you need to go deeper. Just like a football team tracks its downs, play clock and field position, your business should track metrics beyond the final profit score. These intermediate goals help you understand how well you’re playing the game and provide insights into your overall strategy.

Here are some key factors that can impact your progress toward profit:

• Is showroom traffic increasing or decreasing?

• Are website and social media metrics improving?

• Are you hitting your outside sales call targets?

• How is quote volume trending?

• Are you on track to achieve your monthly Throughput Dollar goal?

• How many days of capacity are already booked?

• Are remakes and callbacks getting better or worse?

As a business owner, you might already track these stats in your head, on a spreadsheet, or through company software. But none of those methods is as impactful as displaying this data for the entire team to see.

The Power of Real-Time Feedback

Displaying your company’s performance metrics in realtime for everyone to see creates accountability and motivation. When your team can see how they’re performing relative to key targets, it spurs action. Strong metrics can be celebrated, while weak metrics can be identified early, allowing teams to coursecorrect immediately. Additionally, seeing performance data for various teams can foster healthy competition, further driving improvement.

To successfully implement this in your business, follow these guidelines:

Be Transparent with Metrics

While some owners may hesitate to share profitability data with employees, there’s a workaround: set a Throughput Dollar goal and track performance against it. This figure should cover operating expenses, your profit target and any additional funds you plan to reinvest in the business.

Provide Real-Time Feedback

Just as a football team gets real-time feedback after each play, your team needs live updates to improve performance. Monthly or weekly reviews aren’t enough; the data needs to be refreshed daily. Better yet, aim for live data if possible.

Tailor Displays for Each Team

Different parts of your business require different performance metrics. A sales display, for example, might depict showroom traffic, web traffic, quotes and sales calls, while a production team’s display might show template-toinstall lead time, remakes, callbacks and successful installs. While all displays should track progress against the overarching profit or Throughput Dollar goal, keep the data relevant and concise for each area. Too much information can overwhelm your team and dilute focus.

Track Trends

Metrics are more meaningful when viewed in context. Let’s say your goal for showroom traffic is 20 visitors per day, but you had only 12 yesterday. Is this part of an upward or downward trend? Maybe your traffic had been consistently low, but after implementing a new marketing strategy, it’s beginning to climb. Tracking trends, both against historical performance and future targets, helps you distinguish between positive changes and causes for concern.

Ask for Employee Input

Your team is directly affected by the performance data you’re tracking, so their feedback is essential. Are you displaying the right metrics? Do they understand how to respond if the data shows underperformance? Would changing how information is presented improve clarity? Involving employees in the decisionmaking process can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your displays.

Post the Score — For Everyone to See

Imagine if the score of a football game were available only to the coaches and kept on a hidden sheet of paper. The team wouldn’t know whether they were winning or losing and fans wouldn’t feel the excitement of the game. The same concept applies to your business. If only owners or key managers can see critical performance data, the rest of your team won’t feel empowered to make a difference.

To engage your team and improve overall performance, post the score. Display metrics that help them understand the company’s current status and, more importantly, their role in improving it. With the right data available in real time, your team can make adjustments and ensure you’re collectively working toward your ultimate business goals.

Remember: Your business is running exactly the way you designed it to!

Ed Young is a seasoned manufacturing manager and business coach, helping hundreds of companies improve their performance. For a free assessment of how well you’re using metrics to achieve your goals, contact Ed at ed@fabricatorscoach.com.