We outsource our marketing and bookkeeping to external agencies, but we need these metrics on our weekly Scorecard. How do we assign ownership on the Accountability Chart when an outside vendor is the one generating the data and hitting the targets?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

You can outsource the labor of bookkeeping or marketing, but you can never outsource the accountability for the numbers on your Scorecard. Every single metric on your leadership team Scorecard must be owned by a seat on your Accountability Chart. An external vendor cannot own a metric because they do not sit on your leadership team and cannot be held to the same level of internal accountability.

The rule is simple. The internal leader who manages the vendor relationship owns the metric on the leadership Scorecard. For example, if you use an external marketing agency, your marketing seat owner on the Accountability Chart owns the weekly lead generation metric. If you use an outsourced fractional CFO or bookkeeping service, your finance seat owner owns the cash balance and accounts receivable metrics.

During your weekly Level 10 Meeting™, the internal owner is responsible for inputting the data and explaining why a number is red or green. If the vendor fails to hit the target, the internal owner must IDS the issue. They must either manage the vendor to performance, change the tactics, or find a new vendor. The vendor is merely a tool used by the seat owner to achieve the result. Ultimate accountability always remains inside your walls.