Our business is highly seasonal, with eighty percent of our revenue generated during a four-month summer window. This makes our weekly Scorecard targets wildly inaccurate during the off-season if we use flat annual averages. How do we set dynamic weekly targets that keep our team accountable without constantly moving the goalposts?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Setting flat annual averages for a highly seasonal business is a recipe for team burnout and operational blindness. During the off-season, your team will constantly hit red numbers and lose motivation. During the peak season, they will hit their targets easily without stretching themselves.

To solve this, you must implement dynamic, quarterly targets on your weekly Scorecard.

At your quarterly planning sessions, do not look at the annual average. Instead, look at the historical data for the upcoming thirteen-week cycle.

If your sales in the first quarter of the year are historically low, set a target that reflects that reality, but is still five percent better than the same quarter last year. This keeps the target realistic yet growth-oriented.

For your peak summer quarter, set aggressive targets that match your maximum operational capacity.

Additionally, you can adjust the focus of your metrics depending on the season. During the off-season, your Scorecard should focus heavily on leading sales activities, pipeline building, and system maintenance.

During the peak season, shift your focus to delivery speed, quality control, and customer satisfaction.

By aligning your weekly targets and metrics with your seasonal business cycles, you maintain high accountability and get an accurate pulse of the business relative to the actual time of year.