light of a stop light. Green means go back to sleep, yellow means you might want to look into it, and red means you need to call someone. Once the dashboard was created, it became obvious that two more criteria needed to be incorporated. Because of the ebb and flow of call volume, the information needed to represent a rolling 12 months. So, the system presents information as if it is year-end every new month. Also, it is important to track trends. To do this, the dashboard has a drill-down feature that allows users to look at trends and individual performance at the rooftop and licensee levels. On a whim, I decided to include information on what the financial impact of doing nothing might be. This information originally was just for me. It has turned out to be the primary focus of my clients and the motivator for taking action. The Dashboard Below is a sample dashboard. This particular firm serves more than 85% cremation, so the metrics are very different than a more conventional funeral home. Again, the purpose is for an owner to understand where they are and what to do at a glance. If it takes more than five minutes to understand, it is too complicated. These dashboards cannot be generic but must be customized for each firm. Note that I have translated the variances into impact numbers and their effect on the value of the firm. With the click of a button, the user can drill down and see how things are trending. Note that call volume is slowly increasing, but average sale is slowly decreasing. In addition, users can drill down to look at performance by location, staff member (see below), type of service and more. Conclusion Business Intelligence powered by a form of artificial intelligence has allowed me to fulfill a career dream. It provides instant information in relevant terms that clients immediately understand. But, more importantly, they know what to do or they know who to call. This is, perhaps, the most exciting thing I have accomplished in my career. Alan Creedy is a former Certified Public Accountant. He celebrates more than 40 years of helping funeral professionals accomplish their personal goals in managing, developing and eventually selling their business. He is the author of “Finish Well: An Exit Guide for Funeral Home Owners.” He can be reached at alan@alancreedy.org or (919) 280-1217. 20 | Directors Digest
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