How we Report

Keep track of these metrics in actionable reports

1. Goal - Creating actionable dashboards

How we Report Template

What You've Already Built

In the How we Measure lesson, you set up tracking systems that capture data: spreadsheets for manual metrics, automated tools for website/ad data, CRM events for the complete customer journey, and product database tracking for user behavior. Now you have data flowing in–but raw data isn't useful until you turn it into actionable dashboards.

What You're Deciding Here

This lesson helps you make a critical strategic decision: What dashboards should you create, and how do they connect to your funnel? Not all dashboards are created equal. Some dashboards show everything but reveal nothing. Others focus on what matters at each stage and drive decisions.

The goal is to create four types of dashboards that work together:

North Star Metric Dashboard - Track your most important metric and its leading/lagging indicators (the one number that represents success)
Input Dashboards - Track what's coming in: traffic sources, volume, and cost (ToFu metrics that lead to your North Star)
Process Dashboards - Track what's happening: leads, qualification, conversion to customers (MoFu/BoFu metrics that lead to your North Star)
Output Dashboards - Track what you're achieving: customer experience, satisfaction, business health (GroFu metrics that lag your North Star)

What Should You Focus On First?

Your starting point depends on your business situation:

Always Start with Your North Star Metric Dashboard
Your North Star Metric dashboard is your foundation–it shows the one number that matters most and how leading/lagging metrics connect to it. Create this first, then build Input, Process, and Output dashboards that connect to your North Star.

If You're Just Getting Started
Start with your North Star Metric dashboard plus one Input dashboard that shows your top traffic sources, volume, and cost. This helps you understand what's working and how it connects to your North Star. Add Process and Output dashboards as you grow.

If You Have Multiple Funnel Stages
Create all four dashboard types (North Star, Input, Process, Output) to see the complete picture. This helps you identify where problems occur, where opportunities exist, and how everything connects to your North Star. Review each dashboard weekly, compare monthly.

If You Have a Team
Create shared dashboards that everyone can access. Use dashboard tools (Looker Studio, CRM dashboards, product analytics) so the team sees the same data. Make sure your North Star Metric dashboard is front and center–everyone should know what success looks like. Set up automated reports that email weekly summaries.

Your Decision

By the end of this lesson, you'll have four types of dashboards that turn your data into actionable insights–starting with your North Star Metric dashboard, then Input, Process, and Output dashboards that all connect to and support your North Star.

Design your dashboard system
I'm working through the How we Report lesson and need to design my dashboard system.
You have access to my Metrics document (which shows what to track, including my North Star Metric), my Tracking Setup document (which shows how I'm tracking), and my Funnel Overview document (which shows my customer journey).
Before making any recommendations, please ask me these questions and wait for my answers:
1.**What dashboards do you currently have?**
- Do you have any dashboards or reports? (Google Analytics, CRM dashboards, spreadsheets)
- What do they show? Are they useful?
- What's missing or difficult about your current dashboards?
2.**What's your funnel structure?**
- What funnel stages do you have? (ToFu, MoFu, BoFu, GroFu)
- Which stages are most important right now?
- Where do you need the most visibility?
3.**What decisions do dashboards need to support?**
- What questions do you need dashboards to answer?
- What actions should dashboards drive?
- What's the most important thing to track at each stage?
Ask these questions one at a time and wait for my responses.
Once you have my answers, provide a clear recommendation:
**Recommend a dashboard structure:**
- Start with my North Star Metric dashboard (from my Metrics document)
- Then which dashboard type next? (Input, Process, or Output)
- What metrics should each dashboard include? (focus on leading/lagging metrics for North Star)
- What tools should I use? (spreadsheets, Looker Studio, CRM dashboards, product analytics)
- How often should I review each dashboard?
**For each dashboard type, explain:**
- Why it makes sense for my funnel structure
- Which metrics it should track (from my Metrics document, focusing on leading/lagging metrics for my North Star)
- How it connects to my North Star Metric
- How to set it up (high-level steps)
- How to interpret the data
- What actions it should drive
**Prioritize:**
- What dashboard should I create first?
- What can wait?
- What's the quickest win?
Keep this in the project for reference.
Design your dashboard system

2. North Star Metric Dashboard - Your most important metric

Your North Star Metric dashboard is your foundation–it shows the one number that matters most and how leading/lagging metrics connect to it. This dashboard should be the first one you create and the one you check most often.

What Your North Star Metric Dashboard Tracks

Your North Star Metric:

  • The one most important metric that represents success (from your Metrics Overview document)
  • Current value, trend over time, target/goal
  • Week-over-week, month-over-month changes

Leading Metrics:

  • Metrics that predict your North Star Metric (they move before your North Star)
  • Examples: If North Star is MRR, leading metrics might be trial signups, feature adoption, engagement
  • These help you see if you're on track before the North Star moves

Lagging Metrics:

  • Metrics that confirm your North Star Metric (they move after your North Star)
  • Examples: If North Star is MRR, lagging metrics might be churn rate, customer satisfaction, profitability
  • These help you understand the impact of your North Star

Why Your North Star Metric Dashboard Matters

Your North Star Metric dashboard helps you:

  • Stay focused: One number to optimize for, not dozens
  • Predict success: Leading metrics show if you're on track
  • Confirm impact: Lagging metrics show if improvements are working
  • Make decisions: If it doesn't move the North Star, it's lower priority
  • Align team: Everyone knows what success looks like

Best Practices

  • Make it visible: Put this dashboard front and center–check it daily or weekly
  • Track leading metrics: Focus on metrics that predict your North Star
  • Watch lagging metrics: Use them to confirm your North Star is healthy
  • Set targets: Know what "good" looks like for your North Star
  • Connect everything: All other dashboards should connect back to your North Star
Create your North Star Metric dashboard
I'm creating a North Star Metric dashboard to track my most important metric and its leading/lagging indicators.
You have access to my Metrics document (which shows my North Star Metric and all other metrics), my Tracking Setup document (which shows how I'm tracking), and my Funnel Overview document (which shows my customer journey).
**First, identify my North Star Metric:**
- What is my North Star Metric? (from my Metrics document)
- Why is this the right North Star for my business?
- What's my current value? What's my target/goal?
**Then, identify leading metrics:**
- Which metrics predict my North Star Metric? (they move before my North Star)
- How do these leading metrics connect to my North Star?
- What should I track to see if I'm on track?
**And identify lagging metrics:**
- Which metrics confirm my North Star Metric? (they move after my North Star)
- How do these lagging metrics connect to my North Star?
- What should I track to confirm my North Star is healthy?
**Based on my North Star Metric and funnel structure, help me create a North Star Metric dashboard:**
**1. Dashboard Structure:**
- How to display my North Star Metric prominently (current value, trend, target)
- How to show leading metrics (what predicts my North Star)
- How to show lagging metrics (what confirms my North Star)
- What visualizations to use (big number, trend lines, gauges)
**2. Key Metrics to Track:**
- My North Star Metric (current value, trend, target)
- Top 3-5 leading metrics (from my Metrics document)
- Top 3-5 lagging metrics (from my Metrics document)
- How leading/lagging metrics connect to my North Star
**3. Dashboard Setup:**
- What tool should I use? (spreadsheet, Looker Studio, CRM dashboard, product analytics)
- How to set it up (step-by-step instructions)
- How to update it regularly (daily, weekly)
- How to interpret the data
**4. Connection to Other Dashboards:**
- How Input dashboards connect to my North Star (which ToFu metrics are leading indicators?)
- How Process dashboards connect to my North Star (which MoFu/BoFu metrics are leading indicators?)
- How Output dashboards connect to my North Star (which GroFu metrics are lagging indicators?)
**Focus on:**
- Making my North Star Metric the center of attention
- Showing clear connections between leading/lagging metrics and my North Star
- Making it actionable (what should I do if leading metrics drop?)
Provide specific instructions for my tracking tools with correct setup steps.
Keep this in the project–we'll build on it in the next sections.

Outcome: You have a North Star Metric dashboard that shows your most important metric and how leading/lagging metrics connect to it.

Create your North Star Metric dashboard

3. Input Dashboards - Traffic sources, volume, and cost

Input dashboards track what's coming into your funnel: traffic sources, volume, and cost. These dashboards answer the question: "Where are new leads coming from?" and connect to your North Star Metric by showing which traffic sources drive leading indicators that predict your North Star.

What Input Dashboards Track

Traffic Sources:

  • Where visitors come from (organic search, paid ads, social media, direct, referrals)
  • Volume from each source (visitors, sessions, page views)
  • Cost per source (ad spend, content creation costs, time investment)
  • Quality indicators (bounce rate, time on site, pages per session)

Key Metrics to Include:

  • Traffic Volume: Total visitors, sessions, page views
  • Traffic Sources: Breakdown by channel (organic, paid, social, direct, referral)
  • Cost per Source: Ad spend, content costs, time investment
  • Cost per Visitor: Total cost divided by visitors
  • Source Quality: Bounce rate, time on site, engagement by source

Why Input Dashboards Matter

Input dashboards help you understand:

  • What's working: Which traffic sources bring the most visitors?
  • What's cost-effective: Which sources give you the best ROI?
  • Where to invest: Should you double down on organic or paid?
  • What to optimize: Which sources need improvement?
  • How it connects to your North Star: Which traffic sources drive leading metrics that predict your North Star Metric?

Best Practices

  • Track all sources: Don't just look at total traffic–break it down by source
  • Include cost data: Track both volume AND cost to understand efficiency
  • Compare periods: Week-over-week, month-over-month comparisons show trends
  • Focus on quality: Volume matters, but quality (engagement, conversion potential) matters more
Create your Input dashboard
I'm creating an Input dashboard to track traffic sources, volume, and cost.
You have access to my Metrics Overview document (which shows what to track, including my North Star Metric), my Tracking Setup Overview document (which shows how I'm tracking), my Funnel Overview document (which shows my customer journey), and my North Star Metric Dashboard design.
Based on my funnel structure, tracking setup, and North Star Metric, help me create an Input dashboard:
**1. Dashboard Structure:**
- What metrics should I include? (from my Metrics document, focus on ToFu metrics that are leading indicators for my North Star)
- How should I organize the dashboard? (by source, by time period, by campaign)
- What visualizations should I use? (tables, charts, graphs)
**2. Data Sources:**
- Where do I get traffic data? (Google Analytics, ad platforms, social media analytics)
- Where do I get cost data? (ad spend reports, time tracking, content costs)
- How do I combine data from different sources?
**3. Key Metrics to Track:**
- Traffic volume by source (visitors, sessions, page views)
- Cost per source (ad spend, content costs, time)
- Cost per visitor (total cost / visitors)
- Source quality (bounce rate, engagement, conversion potential)
- Trends over time (week-over-week, month-over-month)
**4. For each traffic source I'm using:**
- How to track volume
- How to track cost
- How to calculate efficiency (cost per visitor, ROI)
- What quality indicators to watch
**5. Dashboard Setup:**
- What tool should I use? (spreadsheet, Looker Studio, CRM dashboard, product analytics)
- How to set it up (step-by-step instructions)
- How to update it regularly
- How to interpret the data
**Focus on:**
- Metrics that relate to ToFu (Top of Funnel) from my Metrics document
- Sources that match my funnel structure (organic, paid, social, etc.)
- Cost tracking that helps me understand efficiency
- How ToFu metrics connect to my North Star Metric (which traffic sources drive leading indicators?)
Provide specific instructions for my tracking tools (Google Analytics, ad platforms, etc.) with correct setup steps.
Keep this in the project–we'll build on it in the next sections.

Outcome: You have an Input dashboard that tracks traffic sources, volume, and cost so you can see what's coming into your funnel.

Create your Input dashboard

4. Process Dashboards - Lead generation, qualification, and conversion

Process dashboards track what's happening with your traffic and leads: lead generation, qualification, and conversion to customers. These dashboards answer the question: "How well are leads converting?" and connect to your North Star Metric by showing which conversion activities drive leading indicators that predict your North Star.

What Process Dashboards Track

Lead Generation:

  • How many leads are coming in (from each source, each campaign)
  • Lead volume trends (up, down, flat)
  • Cost per lead (total cost / leads generated)
  • Lead quality indicators (source, engagement, qualification score)

Lead Qualification:

  • How many leads are qualified (meet your criteria)
  • Qualification rate (qualified leads / total leads)
  • Time to qualify (how long it takes)
  • Quality by source (which sources bring better leads)

New Sales:

  • How many leads convert to customers
  • Conversion rate (customers / leads)
  • Sales cycle length (time from lead to customer)
  • Revenue per customer

Key Metrics to Include:

  • Lead Volume: Total leads, leads by source, leads by campaign
  • Cost per Lead: Total cost / leads generated
  • Qualification Rate: Qualified leads / total leads
  • Conversion Rate: Customers / qualified leads (or customers / total leads)
  • Sales Cycle: Time from lead to customer
  • Revenue per Customer: Total revenue / customers

Why Process Dashboards Matter

Process dashboards help you understand:

  • What's working: Which sources/campaigns bring the best leads?
  • Where leads drop off: Are leads not qualifying? Not converting?
  • What to optimize: Which part of the process needs improvement?
  • How efficient you are: Are you converting leads efficiently?
  • How it connects to your North Star: Which conversion activities drive leading metrics that predict your North Star Metric?

Best Practices

  • Track the full journey: Lead generation → qualification → conversion
  • Break down by source: See which sources bring better leads
  • Calculate rates: Don't just look at numbers–look at conversion rates
  • Compare periods: Week-over-week, month-over-month comparisons show trends
  • Focus on bottlenecks: Identify where leads are dropping off
Create your Process dashboard
I'm creating a Process dashboard to track lead generation, qualification, and conversion.
You have access to my Metrics Overview document (which shows what to track, including my North Star Metric), my Tracking Setup Overview document (which shows how I'm tracking), my Funnel Overview document (which shows my customer journey), my North Star Metric Dashboard design, and my Input Dashboard design.
Based on my funnel structure and tracking setup, help me create a Process dashboard:
**1. Dashboard Structure:**
- What metrics should I include? (from my Metrics document, focus on MoFu and BoFu metrics that are leading indicators for my North Star)
- How should I organize the dashboard? (by funnel stage, by source, by time period)
- What visualizations should I use? (funnel charts, conversion rates, trend lines)
**2. Lead Generation Tracking:**
- How to track lead volume (from my tracking setup: spreadsheets, CRM, product database)
- How to track cost per lead (connect to Input dashboard cost data)
- How to break down by source/campaign
- What quality indicators to track
**3. Lead Qualification Tracking:**
- How to track qualified leads (from my CRM or tracking system)
- How to calculate qualification rate
- How to track time to qualify
- How to identify quality by source
**4. Conversion Tracking:**
- How to track new customers (from my CRM, product database, or tracking system)
- How to calculate conversion rate (customers / leads)
- How to track sales cycle length
- How to track revenue per customer
**5. Dashboard Setup:**
- What tool should I use? (spreadsheet, Looker Studio, CRM dashboard, product analytics)
- How to set it up (step-by-step instructions)
- How to connect to Input dashboard data
- How to update it regularly
- How to interpret the data
**Focus on:**
- Metrics that relate to MoFu (Middle of Funnel) and BoFu (Bottom of Funnel) from my Metrics document
- The lead journey from generation → qualification → conversion
- Rates and percentages (not just raw numbers)
- Identifying bottlenecks and drop-off points
- How MoFu/BoFu metrics connect to my North Star Metric (which conversion activities drive leading indicators?)
Provide specific instructions for my tracking tools (CRM, spreadsheets, product database, etc.) with correct setup steps.
Keep this in the project–we'll build on it in the next sections.

Outcome: You have a Process dashboard that tracks lead generation, qualification, and conversion so you can see how well your funnel is working.

Create your Process dashboard

5. Output Dashboards - Customer experience and business health

Output dashboards track what you're achieving: customer experience, satisfaction, and business health. These dashboards answer the question: "How profitable is customer acquisition?" and connect to your North Star Metric by showing lagging indicators that confirm your North Star is healthy and sustainable.

What Output Dashboards Track

Customer Experience:

  • Customer satisfaction scores (NPS, CSAT, reviews)
  • Product usage and engagement (feature adoption, activity levels)
  • Support metrics (ticket volume, resolution time, satisfaction)
  • Retention indicators (churn rate, renewal rate, lifetime value)

Profitability:

  • Revenue vs. expenses (are you profitable?)
  • Customer acquisition cost (CAC) vs. lifetime value (LTV)
  • Profit margins (gross margin, net margin)
  • Growth metrics (revenue growth, customer growth, profit growth)

Key Metrics to Include:

  • Customer Satisfaction: NPS, CSAT, reviews, ratings
  • Product Engagement: Feature usage, activity levels, retention
  • Support Health: Ticket volume, resolution time, satisfaction
  • Revenue: Total revenue, recurring revenue, revenue per customer
  • Expenses: Total expenses, cost per customer, operating costs
  • Profitability: Revenue - expenses, profit margins, CAC vs. LTV
  • Growth: Revenue growth rate, customer growth rate, profit growth

Why Output Dashboards Matter

Output dashboards help you understand:

  • Are customers happy?: Is your product/service delivering value?
  • Are you profitable?: Is revenue greater than expenses?
  • Is growth sustainable?: Are you growing profitably?
  • What to improve: Where should you focus to improve business health?
  • How it confirms your North Star: Do lagging metrics confirm your North Star Metric is healthy and sustainable?

Best Practices

  • Track both experience and profit: Happy customers AND profitable business
  • Calculate ratios: CAC vs. LTV, revenue vs. expenses, growth rates
  • Compare periods: Month-over-month, quarter-over-quarter comparisons
  • Focus on trends: Are things getting better or worse?
  • Connect to inputs: See how Input and Process dashboards affect Output
Create your Output dashboard
I'm creating an Output dashboard to track customer experience and business health.
You have access to my Metrics Overview document (which shows what to track, including my North Star Metric), my Tracking Setup Overview document (which shows how I'm tracking), my Funnel Overview document (which shows my customer journey), my North Star Metric Dashboard design, my Input Dashboard design, and my Process Dashboard design.
Based on my funnel structure and tracking setup, help me create an Output dashboard:
**1. Dashboard Structure:**
- What metrics should I include? (from my Metrics document, focus on GroFu metrics that are lagging indicators for my North Star)
- How should I organize the dashboard? (customer experience vs. profitability, by time period)
- What visualizations should I use? (revenue charts, satisfaction scores, profit margins)
**2. Customer Experience Tracking:**
- How to track customer satisfaction (NPS, CSAT, reviews, ratings)
- How to track product usage/engagement (from product database, analytics tools)
- How to track support health (ticket volume, resolution time, satisfaction)
- How to track retention (churn rate, renewal rate, lifetime value)
**3. Profitability Tracking:**
- How to track revenue (from CRM, product database, accounting system)
- How to track expenses (from accounting system, ad platforms, tools)
- How to calculate profitability (revenue - expenses, profit margins)
- How to calculate CAC vs. LTV (connect to Input and Process dashboards)
**4. Growth Tracking:**
- How to track revenue growth (month-over-month, quarter-over-quarter)
- How to track customer growth
- How to track profit growth
- How to identify trends
**5. Dashboard Setup:**
- What tool should I use? (spreadsheet, Looker Studio, CRM dashboard, product analytics, accounting software)
- How to set it up (step-by-step instructions)
- How to connect to Input and Process dashboard data
- How to update it regularly
- How to interpret the data
**Focus on:**
- Metrics that relate to GroFu (Growth Funnel) from my Metrics document
- Both customer experience AND business profitability
- Ratios and percentages (CAC vs. LTV, profit margins, growth rates)
- Trends over time (are things getting better or worse?)
- How GroFu metrics connect to my North Star Metric (which lagging indicators confirm my North Star is healthy?)
- Connecting Output metrics to Input and Process metrics
Provide specific instructions for my tracking tools (CRM, product database, accounting system, etc.) with correct setup steps.
Keep this in the project–we'll build on it in the next sections.

Outcome: You have an Output dashboard that tracks customer experience and business health so you can see if your business is profitable and sustainable.

Create your Output dashboard

6. Your Dashboards

Creating Your Dashboards Document

Throughout this lesson, you've designed four types of dashboards: your North Star Metric dashboard (the foundation), Input dashboards for traffic sources and cost, Process dashboards for lead generation and conversion, and Output dashboards for customer experience and business health. Now it's time to create a single overview document that shows all your dashboards and how they connect to your North Star Metric.

The Goal: Complete Overview of All Your Dashboards

This dashboard overview will serve as your reference for:

  • Seeing all your dashboards in one place
  • Understanding how dashboards connect to your funnel stages
  • Knowing what metrics each dashboard tracks
  • Understanding how to interpret and act on each dashboard
Create your dashboard overview
I've designed dashboards throughout this lesson: my North Star Metric dashboard, Input dashboards, Process dashboards, and Output dashboards.
You have access to all my dashboard design documents from the previous sections in this project, plus my Metrics document (which includes my North Star Metric), my Tracking Setup document, and my Funnel Overview document.
Now I need you to create a comprehensive document: "[Business Name] - Dashboards.md"
**Structure the document as follows:**
# [Business Name] - Dashboards
## Overview
- Summary of our dashboard approach (North Star Metric, Input, Process, Output)
- How dashboards connect to our funnel stages (ToFu, MoFu, BoFu, GroFu)
- How dashboards connect to our North Star Metric (leading/lagging indicators)
- How often we review each dashboard (weekly, monthly)
- Who sees the dashboards
## North Star Metric Dashboard
- Our North Star Metric (what it is, current value, target)
- Leading metrics that predict our North Star
- Lagging metrics that confirm our North Star
- How to interpret and act on this dashboard
## Input Dashboards
- Which tool we use (spreadsheet, Looker Studio, CRM, product analytics)
- Metrics we track (traffic sources, volume, cost)
- Key insights and actions from this dashboard
## Process Dashboards
- Which tool we use
- Metrics we track (lead generation, qualification, conversion)
- Key insights and actions from this dashboard
## Output Dashboards
- Which tool we use
- Metrics we track (customer experience, profitability, growth)
- Key insights and actions from this dashboard
## How Dashboards Connect
- How Input dashboards feed into Process dashboards
- How Process dashboards feed into Output dashboards
- How to use all three together for decision-making
**Extract all the dashboard information from our previous conversations and organize it into this overview structure. Make sure it reflects all the decisions we made and respects the context of my business and funnel structure.**
Save this as "[Business Name] - Dashboards.md" in the project.

Outcome: You have a complete dashboard overview that shows all your dashboards and how they work together.

Download and upload your Dashboards document to your Claude project