Drive Business Growth Using the EOS® Scorecard

You’re three months into the fiscal year, and sales are 15% behind target. What’s the plan?

Some companies rationalize the lag with excuses like “a couple of slow months,” “losing a key client,” or “the departure of a top salesperson.” These things happen, so the explanations feel logical. Maybe the team hopes to catch up in the next months.

But what if the second quarter doesn’t close the gap—or even deepens it?

Excuses Won’t Drive Growth

Being off-budget might not seem catastrophic for some companies if cash is flowing, salaries are covered, and the owners are okay with taking home less.

However, publicly traded companies won’t tolerate underperformance. Investors react, and stock prices reflect it immediately! Private equity (PE)-owned businesses also face pressure, whether from lenders, increasing interest rates, or owners demanding aggressive remedial action.

Privately held companies should hold themselves to the same standard. Without access to large-scale resources or a safety net, disciplined action is crucial to prevent a financial shortfall from spiraling into bigger problems.

EOS and the Power of the Scorecard

The Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS) offers a solution to these “off-budget moments” with the EOS Scorecard. This tool uses 5-15 leading indicators, tracked weekly, to give leadership real-time visibility into performance.

Unlike lagging metrics that tell you what already happened, these leading metrics allow you to make proactive adjustments—whether that’s ramping up sales efforts, tweaking strategies, or reallocating resources—to close the gap before it grows.

Don’t Lower Goals—Increase Activity

When sales numbers are behind, the answer isn’t to cut your targets. It’s to expand the activity driving those results. Sales is a numbers game: lead generation, qualifying prospects, follow-ups, and closing deals.

For instance:

• Each signed contract might require two proposals.
• Each proposal might demand four discovery meetings.
• Generating those meetings might need eight qualified calls.
• To get those calls? You might need 400 cold calls.

The activity target, therefore, is 400 cold calls per month, which breaks down to about 20 calls per working day. Even a single salesperson can manage this if they work with discipline and consistency.

Build Traction and Hit Your Goals

When your numbers are behind, you can quickly recalibrate and take action—calls, workshops, direct mail, or whatever it takes—to catch up and grow your business. No need for outsider disciplinarians like equity analysts or private equity fund managers stepping in to take charge.

Or, you can hire a professional EOS Implementer® to keep you focused, hold you accountable, and help you gain traction while staying on track with your business growth goals.