Dashboards, scorecard and the daily digest

Reports answer a question you already have. Dashboards show what you did not think to ask. Zeyto Garage Pro has three views for managers: the dashboard on the home screen, the Garage analytics page, and the Performance scorecard. They need the garage price right because they show money.

Garage analytics

Garage analytics gives twelve views of one period: months, work mix, makes, turnaround, approval, repeat visits and ageing among them. Pick a period, then read the views like a doctor reads tests: one number means little, the pattern means a lot.

• Turnaround: how long cars stay from check-in to delivery. A rising turnaround means a bottleneck in parts, approval or the workshop.
• Approval: how many estimates the customer approves. A low rate suggests prices, communication or trust problems.
• Repeat visits: cars that come back for the same problem. A rising rate is a quality signal.
• Ageing: jobs and money waiting too long.

Performance scorecard

The scorecard compares the workshop with its targets. It is useful only if the targets were set honestly. Set a target you can reach this quarter, and raise it the next.

The daily digest

The daily digest is a short summary of the day for the owner or manager, so that he does not have to open five screens in the evening. It is for a first look: if something stands out, he opens the report behind it.

How to read without fooling yourself

• Compare with the previous period, not with a feeling.
• Change one thing at a time, then check the same view next month.
• Look at the count as well as the percentage: 2 of 3 estimates approved is 67%, but it is hardly a trend.
• Open the list behind a number before you act on it.

A dashboard that is checked every week catches a slow decline long before it shows in the bank balance.