Episode Summary: "Tracking Numbers That Actually Move the Business Forward"

Podcast: The Ops Experts Club Podcast
Hosts: The Collab Team (Aaron, Terryn, Savannah)
Episode Number: 98
Release Date: January 29, 2026

Overview

In this episode, The Collab Team dives deep into one of the most vital—but often misunderstood—areas of business operations: tracking the right numbers to propel your business forward. Anchored around the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) framework and its "scorecard" concept, the hosts offer practical advice, specific examples, and lessons learned from years of working behind the scenes with seven- and eight-figure businesses. The conversation emphasizes why tracking certain metrics matter, how to tie those numbers directly to team roles for accountability, and how to iterate and refine your scorecard so it tells the real story of your company’s growth and performance.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Why Do Metrics Matter?

• Purpose Over Habit: Measurement for the sake of measurement doesn't move the needle. The metrics should serve the team, not the other way around.
  • “You want the numbers to serve you. You don’t want to serve the numbers. We don’t track just for tracking’s sake.” – Terryn [03:19]
• Metrics Need to Evolve: If a metric isn't useful or telling the right story, change or hide it; don't feel beholden to old numbers.
  • “If it’s not important, it’s not important—let’s change it… There’s never one right answer.” – Terryn [03:31]

The EOS Scorecard & Level 10 Meetings

• Foundational Tool: Weekly scorecards are core to the EOS system and "Level 10 meetings," allowing teams to track critical numbers and discuss adjustments.
  • Rocks (quarterly goals) should remain relatively fixed, while scorecard numbers can be flexible based on business needs. [05:11]
• Departmental Accountability: Each function/department (marketing, sales, tech, customer support) should have its own set of numbers, clearly owned by specific team members—no anonymous or "floating" responsibility.
  • “If you have a marketing team, everybody…should have metrics that are tied to their role…If you can create a job description that has key metrics that people are responsible for, you have a real-time showing of, is this person doing a good job at their job or not?” – Aaron [07:36]

Building a Useful Scorecard

• Start With the Wish List: Begin with the ideal metrics—even if you don’t know how to measure them yet. This often exposes process gaps or areas lacking clear ownership.
  • “Once they’re looking at a number and they’re like, ‘Well, that sounds like an easy number to get. Why can’t I get that number?’—now we realize, okay, nobody’s in charge…” – Terryn [09:17]
• Iterative Approach: Color-code “future” metrics and create action items to figure out how to get those numbers, rather than discarding the idea.
  • “You just color those line items a different color and say, hey, this is for future…Do we need to think about a change up of our CRM?...That’s a lot of time going to help us on the trajectory.” – Aaron [09:46]

Numbers Should Tell a Story

• Complete Pipelines: Avoid only tracking “vanity” or partial numbers (e.g., just sales or just leads). Instead, track the full journey: from marketing to sales, to customer support, to financial result.
  • “The scorecard should be telling a story from top down, right? ... If your numbers are not serving you, hide those lines…” – Aaron [06:58]
• Role-Specific Ownership: Assign every tracked metric to a person who’s present in the meetings— someone who’s accountable and can explain the number, not just collect it.
  • “If your name’s next to it, you’ve got to explain why it’s right or wrong.” – Aaron [11:51]

Real-World Examples of Role-Specific Metrics

Marketing Metrics

• Email list net growth per week (new subscribers minus unsubscribes)
• Email open and click rates (for last 7 or 30 days, ideally account-wide)
  • “Net growth because you can have 3,000 new leads, but you can have 2,000 that left because they're tired of hearing from you.” – Terryn [13:08]

Sales Metrics

• Calls booked
• Calls attended vs. no-shows
• Deals closed
• Close rate (by rep and rolled up for the team)
  • “Make them put their numbers in…When you line people up side by side like that… it just becomes very apparent.” – Aaron [17:19]

Customer Support

• Tickets resolved vs. backlog
• Average time to first response and resolution
  • “How many emails, how many open threads in your inbox…week over week…” – Aaron [19:38]

Finance

• Monthly revenues and profitability (often tracked monthly rather than weekly)

Departmental Breakout Example

• Each department—marketing, sales, customer service—should have its own Level 10 meeting and targeted scorecard, with only high-level numbers rolled up to leadership.

Memorable Moments & Quotes

• “You want your numbers to tell stories…hide them or add them. It can happen every single week.” – Aaron [06:53]
• “Just by having a wish list of something you want to track, you then open it up to, ‘this is actually a problem area nobody's had eyes on yet.’” – Terryn [09:23]
• “Sales teams love to tell stories, right? They're paid storytellers… All I care about is how many booked, how many showed, how many you close.” – Aaron [18:28]
• “Marketing efforts should lead to sales efforts, and all sales efforts should lead to customers in the kitty.” – Aaron [19:37]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:16 — Why metrics must have meaning: “The most important part is why it matters.”
• 05:11 — Difference between rocks and scorecard flexibility in EOS
• 07:36 — Audit job descriptions and ensure metrics tie to roles
• 09:07 — Building the scorecard ‘wish list’ exposes missing data/ownership
• 13:08 — Specific marketing metrics explained
• 15:10 — Case study: Tracking lead magnets and marketing ROI
• 17:19 — Sales numbers: Calls, close rates, and accountability
• 19:38 — Customer support: Ticketing and email backlog metrics
• 20:40 — Episode wrap-up and resources offered

Tone & Delivery

The hosts mix practical advice with a friendly, conversational tone, interspersed with humor and real-life stories from their years of ops consulting for high-growth companies. Their focus is on inspiring confidence to take action—always with a “roll up your sleeves” mentality.

In Summary

This episode offers a masterclass on developing and iterating business scorecards that measure what matters and drive real accountability. By rooting every metric in a clear purpose, assigning ownership, and reviewing results as a team, leaders can ensure their businesses aren’t just busy—but are moving intentionally towards growth.

Bonus:
Tools for rolling out EOS and Level 10 meetings (including scorecard templates) are available free at thecolabteam.com.

Recommended for:
Founders, team leads, and operations professionals looking to systematize growth and create a transparent, data-driven culture without falling prey to “metric overwhelm.”