A few numbers with their changes and the reasons behind them, sent to the same readers on a schedule.
Most dashboards tell you what the number is and leave you to guess why it moved. The two on this page put the reason next to the chart, in sentences. Both are snapshots: the figures are typed into the page, and each one says so near the top.
Who it's for
Founders, heads of product and team leads who send the same numbers to the same people on a schedule: a month-end note to staff and investors, a Monday rundown for a sales team. Those readers don't log in to your analytics tool, and wouldn't know which chart mattered if they did.
If your readers need to filter, drill down or see this morning's figure, they need a reporting tool wired to the data. A page sent as a link shows the export you pasted in, until you replace it.
What a good one contains
- A sentence before any chart. Bareroot's page opens with revenue up 5.3% and eleven customers lost, in one breath. A reader who stops there still knows the month.
- Few numbers, each against the last period. Five tiles, each with its change on October and a twelve-month line. On its own, 318 support tickets means nothing.
- Bad news labeled as bad. Lost customers went up, and so did revenue. The tiles that need attention carry the word "watch", so nobody has to decode a color.
- One main chart. Twelve months of recurring revenue with a dashed line at $1M a year. Give a reader six small charts and they'll skim all of them.
- The reasons, written out. "What changed, and why" is four short paragraphs. Five of the eleven lost customers were nurseries closing for winter, which no tile could say.
- What happens next, with a name or a date. The sales page gives each stuck deal an owner and a day. The monthly one lists three jobs for December and one ask of investors.
- How each number is counted. Activation here means a first order within 7 days. One paragraph of definitions saves the same question every month.
Before you send it
Add up everything that can be added up. In the monthly example, October's $84,200 plus new customers and upgrades, minus downgrades and losses, comes to November's $88,680, and a table shows each step. In the sales one, five reps' targets make the team's $240,000.
Keep the same tiles in the same order every time. People learn where to look, and a number that vanishes the month it turns bad gets noticed. Write the reasons yourself. An export shows that tickets rose, not that the new import caused it.
How to send it
To named people. It shows revenue, lost customers and who is behind target. The readers are a short, fixed list, so open it to those addresses and leave everyone else out.
Every page you publish gets one link that opens in any browser. You choose who can open it: anyone with the link, anyone with the password, or only the people and company domains you name, who sign in with Google or Microsoft. Change the page later and the link stays the same.
