“Management Dashboards — Are they for you?”

Dashboards are more than snapshots of your business data. They are powerful tools.

Are you crushed by a tidal wave of data?

Whatever your industry, having pertinent, key data in front of you is critical.

• Too much data will swamp you like a tidal wave!
• Too little data will show an incomplete and inaccurate picture of your business.

If you are like most companies, there is more of your own business and operational data available to you today than ever before. Have you been in those meetings when operational or analytical numbers fill the screen? Your eyes glaze over as the presenter drones on and on. If there were just a simpler way to see the essentials! Fortunately, there is a way. Dashboards provide at-a-glance views of your ever changing (dynamic) business data in near real time.

Switch gears for a moment.

When I take my car to the shop, the service mechanic plugs into the onboard computer to diagnose what might need repair. But on the highway, all I need is the dashboard. It tells me just what I need to know when I’m driving: speed, fuel level, temperature and fluid levels, engine RPMs, and sometimes engine alerts. Those few but critical data points empower me to make decisions as I drive.

Dashboards are valuable if you use ERP systems for your business.

Do you use an ERP system such as LumberTrack, Sage, Eagle or SAP? What dynamic data points do you need to see? Likely, you need quick access to the information you need to make prompt, efficient and effective decisions. Our team of skilled professionals can personalize visual dashboards for your management, sales reps, administrators and more. Here are some examples of items to track:

• Sales by Zipcode, either MTD or YTD
• Orders by location — pending, open or fulfilled, late or on time
• Invoices and SKU purchases by customer
• Customer Service Rep ordering

Your customers benefit, too!

• A customer dashboard provides instant visibility to the customer of what they have been ordering.
• A color coded heat map shows customers their SKU purchases by volume and date range.
• Customers can see what products they have not been ordering but might need to stock up on.
• Your Customer Service Reps can see what the customer has not been ordering, too. This enables productive sales discussions with your CSRs serving in a consultant role.

In a commodity business like lumber and building supplies, you need to sell a product mix. You don’t want to get caught in the trap of selling low margin items. With a custom markITbyte management dashboard, your salesperson can combine high margin items with low margin items. It’s a revenue opportunity for sales management.

Author Wayne Eckerson, an expert in business analytics, wrote a good article on operational dashboards for Inside Analysis. Read it at “Profiling Operational Dashboards.”

Dashboards need responsive design.

Often, dashboards look great on the computer in the office. But try to open them on your iPad or mobile and they look like a miniature version of the full webpage. Our responsive design ensures that you and your customers can view dashboards to make better business decisions from your laptop, iPad, or smartphone.

Learn more about markITbyte custom dashboards.

The WordPress Enterprise Framework (WEF) is used daily to support both large and small companies-. Our customized dashboards give you the information you need at a glance, in near real time. Would you like to find out more? Contact us!