We noticed our sales and customer success reps are hitting their weekly volume metrics perfectly, but our revenue is not moving. We suspect our team is gaming the scorecard. How do we audit and redesign our metrics to stop people from manipulating the data?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

When employees realize they are being judged solely on a single quantitative metric, their natural instinct is to optimize for that metric, even if it hurts the business. A classic example is a sales rep who hits their weekly outbound call target by making short, unqualified phone calls that lead to zero appointments.

To stop your team from gaming the Scorecard, you must pair your quantity metrics with quality metrics. Every activity-based leading indicator needs a balancing metric. If you track outbound calls, you must also track the conversion rate of those calls to scheduled meetings. If you track customer support tickets closed, you must also track client satisfaction ratings or unresolved reopen rates.

Another critical safeguard is to audit the definitions of your metrics. Ensure that every measurable has a clear, objective criteria that leaves no room for interpretation. If your metric is meetings booked, define exactly what constitutes a valid meeting. A five-minute casual chat does not count. It must be a scheduled calendar event with a qualified decision-maker.

Review your data during your Level 10 Meetings and look for anomalies. If one department has a perfectly green scorecard every week but their overall output is lagging, flag it immediately. Use the IDS process to dig into the root cause. You may need to adjust the targets or completely change the metric to ensure it truly drives your business goals.