Why ‘Scoreboarding’ is Absolutely Critical to Your Success

June 25, 2020

Back when there was such a thing as live sports, imagine the following:

You buy a ticket to an NBA game… let’s say a Lakers game at Staples Center.

You fight traffic, land a $40 parking spot, grab some snacks and drinks, and finally get to your seat.

The game starts, and you look up in the rafters, and the scoreboard is… missing!

There’s nothing there.

The players are dribbling, passing and shooting, but no one’s keeping score. After some arbitrary amount of time, they decide to stop playing, and everyone goes home.

Tell me…

Would that be the same experience as attending a game where the teams are battling for every important point as the clock counts down to the final buzzer?

No, of course not! If you take away the scoreboard and the clock, all the drama, tension, urgency, and excitement vanishes as well.

So here’s my question to you: Are you playing your game with or without a scoreboard?

Track & Measure Everything!

I’ve talked a lot lately about how strongly I believe you have a window of opportunity to be more productive than ever – for those in the U.S., from now until the election, or possibly through the end of the year.

And one of the most important steps you can take to maximize efficiency is making sure you’re tracking and measuring EVERYTHING you do.

Especially now!

That means having scoreboards up and visual… wherever you’re working from these days.

Put Pearson’s Law to Work for You

Pearson’s Law says, “When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates.”

So keep your goals and “actuals” in front of you and in the public eye, whenever possible. When they’re up and visual, it’s real. When they’re hidden away in a drawer, it’s not.

Here’s a baseline of what you should be tracking:

Goal appointments (and by when)
Actual appointments
Conversations
Calls
Call-to-appointment conversion rate
Closed transactions
GCI/earnings

Add to that list any metrics you know are important to your progress and will inspire you on a daily basis.

Make It a Habit to Give Yourself the Advantage

Just like the NBA game analogy I used above, without a scoreboard in your face, you’re not as likely to bring that high-level intensity, competitiveness or urgency to your work.

And here’s the thing… The more intimate you become with your numbers, the more they’ll push you to achieve on a daily basis. When you love your numbers, it sorta gets in your bloodstream.

This creates an additional layer of momentum and accountability to keep you on track… one that you’ll need over the next six months or so to make up for lost time and achieve the results you desire.

Don’t Overlook This “Extra” Benefit

Scoreboarding also allows you to identify emerging trends and bring more certainty to your business.

Take your appointment setting conversion rate, for example. If you know that for every 24 calls you make, you book an appointment, you can figure out exactly how many calls you need to make to achieve your goals. Then you can play a game with yourself, challenging yourself to refine your approach to improve that ratio. The worse your ratio gets, the less effective your scripts have become, and vice versa.

Without tracking and measuring, you wouldn’t know any of that. You’re just guessing!

Find Your System & GO!

So… I don’t really care how you choose to implement your scoreboards…

A chalkboard or whiteboard
Dry erase paint on your walls
Go high-tech with digital display monitors mounted in your office
Old-fashioned poster board from Staples or CVS
The tracking features inside illūm displayed on a giant screen at all times
Other software

Whatever you do, just make sure you get a system in place to put those numbers in your face at every possible opportunity.

I promise you that you’ll be better for it!

Who’s in? Let me know what steps you’ll take to implement in the comments below, or if you already have a system in place, share your details for the benefit of others!