In the dynamic world of marketing, tracking the right metrics is crucial for agency growth and success. The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) provides a powerful framework that empowers marketing agencies to thrive, and a key component of that framework is the scorecard. By diligently monitoring specific scorecard metrics, marketing agencies gain valuable insights into their performance, make data-driven decisions, and ultimately drive their business forward. In this article, we explore a range of EOS scorecard metrics that are particularly beneficial for marketing agencies, providing practical examples and highlighting why they are instrumental in measuring and improving agency performance. Whether you’re a marketing agency owner, leader, or aspiring entrepreneur, understanding these scorecard metrics will empower you to make informed decisions and propel your agency to new heights.

Figuring out your agency’s scorecard is one of the more challenging aspects of implementing EOS. The scorecard creates focus and accountability for the department that keeps it, so getting these measurable correct is crucial. Here are some EOS scorecard items that are particularly relevant for marketing agencies:

EOS Scorecard Measurables for Sales & Marketing:

1. Lead Generation: Measure the number of leads generated and their quality to gauge the effectiveness of marketing efforts. This can include metrics such as website traffic, lead conversion rates, and qualified leads generated.

2. Sales Meetings: Tracking the number of sales meetings conducted is essential to monitor the agency’s sales pipeline and business development efforts. It provides insights into the team’s proactive engagement with potential clients and their ability to generate new business opportunities. By measuring sales meetings, the leadership team can assess the effectiveness of their sales strategies, identify areas for improvement, and ensure consistent efforts to drive revenue growth.

3. New Client Proposals Sent: Monitoring the number of new client proposals sent is crucial for assessing the agency’s ability to convert leads into potential clients. It reflects the team’s proactive approach to pursuing new business and showcases their expertise in crafting compelling proposals. Tracking this metric enables the leadership team to evaluate the agency’s sales and marketing efforts, identify conversion rates, and make strategic adjustments to increase the effectiveness of their proposal process. It also helps ensure a steady flow of new client opportunities and contributes to sustainable agency growth.

4. New Client Acquisition: Track the number of new clients acquired within a given timeframe. This metric reflects the agency’s ability to attract and win new business.

5. Revenue Growth: Measure the agency’s revenue growth over time to evaluate its financial performance. This includes tracking total revenue, revenue per client, and year-over-year growth.

6. Industry Thought Leadership: Measure the agency’s thought leadership in the industry through indicators like speaking engagements, published articles or books, podcast appearances, and participation in industry conferences or events.

7. Lead Count By Target Client Type – This is helpful for agencies because it allows them to understand the effectiveness of their marketing and sales efforts in attracting specific types of clients. By categorizing leads based on their target client type, agencies can identify which segments are generating the most leads and adjust their strategies accordingly. This metric provides valuable insights into the agency’s market positioning and helps them focus their resources on the most promising client segments for better lead conversion and revenue growth.

“As a leadership team, if we don’t believe the numbers and goals represent the real world, we can’t look away. We can’t delegate and trust.” – Rick Fawcett

EOS Scorecard Measurables for Account Management:

8. Client Retention: Monitor the rate of client retention to assess customer satisfaction and the agency’s ability to deliver results. This can be measured by the percentage of clients retained over a specific period. Helpful reading: Agency client retention: How much annual client turnover is OK?

9. Customer Churn Rate: Monitor the rate at which clients discontinue their relationship with the agency. A high churn rate may indicate dissatisfaction or issues in delivering value to clients.

10. Customer Satisfaction: Implement surveys or feedback mechanisms to gauge client satisfaction levels. This can help identify areas for improvement and ensure clients are receiving the desired value from the agency’s services.

11. Project Delivery: Monitor the agency’s ability to deliver projects on time and within budget. This can include metrics such as project milestones achieved, project margin, and client satisfaction with project delivery.

12. Cross-Selling and Upselling: Evaluate the agency’s success in cross-selling or upselling additional services or products to existing clients. This metric reflects the agency’s ability to expand client relationships and generate incremental revenue.

13. Referral Rate: Measure the percentage of new clients acquired through referrals from existing clients. A high referral rate indicates client satisfaction and the agency’s ability to generate word-of-mouth marketing.

EOS Scorecard Measurables for HR:

14. Employee Productivity: Track employee productivity and utilization rates to optimize resource allocation and assess the agency’s operational efficiency. This can include metrics like billable hours per employee or project, client-to-staff ratio, and project turnaround times.

15. Employee Engagement: Measure employee engagement levels to ensure a positive and productive work environment. This can involve surveys, feedback sessions, and tracking metrics like employee retention, satisfaction, and participation in agency initiatives. Helpful reading: How to properly measure employee engagement

16. Client Lifetime Value (CLTV): Calculate the average value of a client over their entire relationship with the agency. This metric helps assess the long-term profitability of the agency’s client base.

17. Employee Development and Training: Measure the investment in employee development, including the number of training programs attended, certifications obtained, and skills acquired. This metric reflects the agency’s commitment to nurturing talent and fostering continuous learning.

EOS Scorecard Measurables for Operations:

19. Innovation Index: Assess the agency’s ability to innovate and adapt to changing market dynamics. This can involve tracking the number of new ideas implemented, successful experiments, or patents filed.

20. Utilization Rate: Tracking utilization rate is crucial for agencies as it provides insight into the efficiency and productivity of the workforce. It measures the percentage of billable hours worked compared to the total available working hours, allowing agencies to optimize resource allocation and maximize revenue generation. By monitoring utilization rates, agencies can identify underutilized resources, improve project planning, and ensure that employees are working on billable tasks to drive profitability. Helpful reading: Utilization Rate & Capacity Forecasting: Marketing Agency’s Guide

21. Average Billable Hours per FTE: This metric is helpful for agencies as it provides insights into the productivity and efficiency of their workforce. By monitoring this metric, agencies can assess the utilization of their employees’ time and ensure that they are maximizing billable hours. It helps agencies identify potential bottlenecks, optimize resource allocation, and make informed decisions about staffing levels.

“When we evaluate employees without scorecards in place, it’s subjective and leads to the employees saying. ‘you just don’t get it.'” – Rick Fawcett

EOS Scorecard Measurables for Finance:

22. Average Billable Rate: Tracking the Average Billable Rate is essential for agencies as it allows them to measure the effectiveness of their pricing strategies and ensure that they are charging appropriately for their services. By monitoring this metric, agencies can identify opportunities to increase rates for high-value services, optimize pricing structures, and maximize revenue per client.

23. Revenue Per FTE: Revenue per FTE (Full-Time Equivalent): This is a another helpful metric for agencies to measure the overall productivity and efficiency of their workforce. By calculating the revenue generated per employee, agencies can assess the profitability of their staffing levels and evaluate the impact of resource allocation on their financial performance. This metric enables agencies to identify areas where productivity can be improved, optimize staffing levels, and increase overall revenue generation.

24. Revenue Growth: Tracking revenue growth is crucial for the finance department as it helps measure the effectiveness of financial strategies, assess market performance, and identify opportunities for revenue optimization. It enables the team to monitor trends, set realistic targets, and make informed decisions to drive sustainable financial growth.

25. Profit Margin: Monitoring profit margin allows the finance department to evaluate the agency’s financial health and efficiency. It provides insights into the ability to manage costs effectively, optimize pricing strategies, and ensure profitability. By tracking profit margin, the finance team can identify areas where profitability can be improved and take appropriate actions.

26. Accounts Receivable Aging: Keeping a close eye on accounts receivable aging is essential for maintaining healthy cash flow. By monitoring the age of outstanding client invoices, the finance team can proactively follow up on overdue payments, implement effective collections strategies, and ensure timely payment to support financial stability.

27. Billable Hours Ratio: Tracking the billable hours ratio allows the finance department to assess the productivity and utilization of the agency’s workforce. It measures the percentage of billable hours worked compared to the total available working hours, helping to identify areas where resources can be better allocated and optimize revenue generation.

28. Accounts Payable Turnover: Tracking accounts payable turnover helps the finance department manage cash flow by monitoring the rate at which the agency pays its vendors and suppliers. It ensures timely payments, maintains good relationships with suppliers, and avoids any potential disruptions in the supply chain.

29. Collection Efficiency Index: Measuring the collection efficiency index enables the finance department to evaluate the effectiveness of the agency’s collections process. It assesses the ratio of cash collected to the amount invoiced, highlighting the efficiency of the agency in collecting payments and managing accounts receivable.

30. Overhead Ratio: Monitoring the overhead ratio provides insights into the efficiency of the agency’s operations. By assessing overhead expenses as a percentage of revenue, the finance team can identify areas where costs can be reduced, optimize resource allocation, and improve the agency’s financial performance.

31. Agency Gross Income (AGI) – AGI is the total amount of money that comes into your agency (Gross Revenue) minus your Pass-Through Expenses (often, your accountant will consider these COGS). Pass-Through Expenses are those in which external vendors are required for delivering work to end clients. Revenue that passes through the business and onto other vendors is not the business’s responsibility to earn with their own time and effort.

For more agency metrics check out:

• 8 Vital Agency Metrics & KPIs to Improve Profitability by Parakeeto
• Eight Important Gauges On Your Financial Dashboard by David C. Baker

In conclusion, implementing the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) in a marketing agency and tracking the top EOS scorecard metrics can significantly contribute to its success. These metrics provide a comprehensive view of the agency’s performance, enabling leadership teams to make data-driven decisions, identify areas for improvement, and drive the agency towards its goals. By monitoring key metrics such as lead generation, client acquisition and retention, revenue growth, campaign performance, customer satisfaction, employee productivity, marketing ROI, project delivery, employee engagement, and finance-related metrics, agencies can gain valuable insights into their operations and make necessary adjustments to optimize their performance. Embracing the EOS scorecard metrics as part of the agency’s management and measurement framework allows for a holistic approach to growth, profitability, and client satisfaction. It empowers agencies to enhance their strategic planning, focus their efforts, and continually improve their operations, ultimately leading to sustainable success in the dynamic marketing industry.

Why Employees Want to Be Measured

There’s a great section in the Patrick Lencioni book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job that explains why high performing exmployees want measurement:

“Great employees don’t want their success to depend on the subjective views or opinions of another human being. That’s because this often forces them to engage in politics and posturing which is distasteful for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the loss of control over one’s destiny. Employees who can measure their own progress or contribution are going to develop a greater sense of personal responsibility and satisfaction than those who cannot. The key to establishing effective measures for a job lies in identifying those areas that an employee can directly influence and then ensuring that the specific measurements are connected to the person or people they are meant to serve. This point is worth repeating, failing to link measurement to relevance is illogical, and creates confusion amongst employees who are left wondering why they aren’t measuring the most important parts of their jobs.

 

Too often an executive will try to rally employees by giving them some macro objective. For example, hitting a corporate revenue numbers or cutting expenses or driving up the stock price. The problem here is that most employees have no direct impact on these things, certainly not on a daily basis. When they realize there is no clear observable link between their daily job responsibilities and the metric they are going to be measured against, they lose interest and feel they are unable to control their own destiny. And while many managers will then be tempted to accuse them of being lazy or ignoring the well being of the company, those managers are failing to understand that what their employees are looking for is a measure that is more closely tied to their actual jobs. That’s why so many salespeople enjoy their jobs. They don’t depend on others to tell them whether they’ve succeeded or failed. At the end of the day (or better yet the quarter), a salesperson knows the score and feels responsible for it. Sports is another arena where measurables are clear. Imagine a basketball game where no score is kept but where a winner is chosen based on the subjective criteria of judges. Sound miserable? Unfortunately that is all too common in how many employees are assessed.”

-Patrick Lencioni, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job (see full video)

EOS for Marketing Agencies:

• The 16 Signs Your Marketing Agency Needs to Use EOS [Read Article]
• The 10 Reasons EOS Is a Perfect for Marketing Agencies [Read Article]
• The 12 Reasons EOS Fails at Marketing Agencies [Read Article]
• The Best EOS Implementers/Coaches for Marketing Agencies [Read the List]