6.3 Dashboards & KPIs

A dashboard serves as a control panel rather than an art gallery. Metrics that do not directly drive a decision should be removed. Vanity metrics (e.g. “Total Likes,” “Number of Emails Sent”) obscure reality. Focus must be placed firmly on the physics of the business: Velocity, Quality, and Yield.

The dashboard hierarchy

Views must be segregated by role to prevent information overload.

The tactical cockpit (daily - rep/Project Manager)

Focus: Immediate action.
Widgets: Open Quotes > 3 Days, Orders Past Due, Active Complaints, New Leads.
Goal: Zero red flags by 5:00 p.m..

The managerial view (weekly - director)

Focus: Process health and coaching.
Widgets: Win Rate by Rep, Pipeline Coverage (Ratio), On-Time Delivery (OTIF) trend, Scrap $ by Line.
Goal: Identify bottlenecks and resource constraints.

The executive view (monthly - VP/c-level)

Focus: Financial health and strategic risk.
Widgets: Net Revenue Retention (NRR), Margin Leakage, Concentration Risk (Top 3 Customers %), Cash Flow Forecast.
Goal: Resource allocation and course correction.

KPI dictionary & formulas

Definitions must be standardized. “Win Rate” calculated by Count is misleading; it must be calculated by Value ($).

Metric	Formula	Owner	Threshold / Goal
Quote Cycle Time	∑ ( Datesent - Datereceived ) / Totalquotes	Sales Mgr	≤ 48 Hours (Standard)≤ 5 Days (Complex NPI)
Win Rate ($)	Won Deal Value / (Won + Lost Deal Value)	Sales VP	> 30% (New Logo)> 70% (Existing Acct)
OTIF (On Time In Full)	Orders Delivered (OnTime + Complete) / Total Orders	Ops Mgr	≥ 98% (World Class)Note: Late = Late, even by 1 hour.
Margin Leakage	Quoted Margin % - Actual Production Margin %	Finance	< 2% Variance. Gap implies bad quoting or shop floor waste.
Quality Escapes	Total Customer Returns / Total Units Shipped (PPM)	Quality Mgr	< 500 PPM (Standard)0 PPM (Safety Critical)
NRR (Net Revenue Retention)	(Starting ARR + Expansion - Churn) / Starting ARR	CS Lead	> 110% (Growth Mode)< 100% means the bucket is leaking.

Pro-Tip: Margin Leakage is your most critical silent killer. If you quote 15% and execute at 12%, you have lost 20% of your profit without knowing it until the month closes.

The review rhythm (governance)

Data without a meeting cadence is just wallpaper. The following review schedule must be enforced.

Monday morning pulse (30 mins)

Attendees: Sales Team, Account Managers.
Agenda:
- Review “Stalled” Deals (opportunities where the stage has remained unchanged for > 14 days).
- Review Quote Cycle Time breaches to understand blockers.
- Assign actions for key commitments closing within the week.

Monthly operations review (60 mins)

Attendees: Ops Director, Quality Manager, Sales Lead.
Agenda:
- OTIF Root Cause Analysis: Investigate missed delivery dates (e.g. distinguishing between material shortages and capacity constraints).
- Escapes & 8D Status: Review open critical customer complaints.
- Margin Analysis: Compare the Standard Cost against the Actual Cost for the top 5 jobs.

Quarterly business review (internal QBR)

Attendees: C-Suite, All Department Heads.
Agenda:
- NRR & Churn Analysis.
- Capacity Planning (Do we need more lines/shifts based on pipeline?).
- Strategic alignment check.

Final Checkout: Dashboards & KPIs

Control Point	Critical Threshold / Action	Logic / Risk
Data Latency	Real-Time	Do not manage off Excel sheets exported last Friday. Dashboards must be live.
Leading Indicators	Prioritize	”Revenue” is a lagging indicator (history). “Pipeline Creation” is a leading indicator (future). Focus on the future.
Drill-Down	Clickable	A static chart is useless. Users must be able to click the red bar and see the specific list of failed Orders.
Gaming the System	Audit	Watch for reps moving Close Dates to “Next Month” repeatedly to hide stalled deals.
Display	Visual	Use Red/Green indicators. Displays showing primarily neutral colors often fail to trigger necessary actions.