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Operational Performance and Financial Benchmark Report

How to Use the Benchmark Report

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A Powerful Tool for Improved Business Planning and Performance

Solomon Coyle’s Operational Performance and Financial Benchmark Report is an online application that incorporates performance data submitted by hundreds of dealers aligned with one of our six sponsoring research partners: Allsteel, Haworth, Kimball Int’l, MillerKnoll, Steelcase and Teknion LLC.

It is truly the industry-standard resource for aligned dealers who are focused on increasing margin, lowering overhead, and improving overall financial results.

The Benchmark Report makes it easy to compare your company to other aligned dealers and, in turn, to identify areas in which you excel or need improvement. Drawing on criteria that you select, the Report allows you to measure key aspects of your business, understand your operational performance as compared to like-aligned dealers, and confidently develop strategies to improve your performance and processes.

The Report also makes it easy to bring Solomon Coyle research data into your familiar desktop work environment. With a click of your mouse you can now export Solomon Coyle metrics and data into Excel worksheets, making it even easier to use the benchmark results as part of your budget building and performance tracking.

With the Solomon Coyle Operational Performance and Financial Benchmark Report, you can:

  • Benchmark your firm’s financial performance against the industry’s largest cross-section of aligned dealer peers and competitors available.
  • Focus on performance worthy of benchmarking: compare your performance to top performers and select the relevant metrics to help drive your operational goals.
  • Target those areas offering the biggest opportunity for improving profitability using the Solomon Coyle Key Performance Indicators.
  • Utilize exclusive Solomon Coyle-only industry measurements to provide true comparative analysis and new ways to view your company’s performance.
  • Develop key initiatives, backed by data, to define your firm’s future.
  • Make informed changes to overhead, operations or policies that improve profitability and cash flow.
  • Drive accountability for performance because you have the “numbers” to set the bar.
  • Track success by keeping score using key performance metrics.

 

Start at the Top

The information needed to navigate the tool and make key data selections is located in the report header. Upon a successful login, you will be presented with your data in the first column and, in the lower right, your Rankings, Metric Slices, and links to executive summaries.

benchmark tool image: initial view

ABOVE: INITIAL VIEW SHOWS YOUR DATA, RANKINGS, AND METRIC SLICES.

The next four columns are Data Comparison Parameters. The default is set to your Metric Slices so you can compare yourself to the Top 25% of the All SCI reporting group, dealers that are most like you.

benchmark tool image: configuring your data comparisons

ABOVE: YOU CAN CONFIGURE UP TO FOUR SETS OF PARAMETERS AT A TIME FOR COMPARISON.

Creating Report Views

The following Report Options offer you a choice of reporting views.

Select Report Type

  • Financial Summary (All Divisions)
  • Financials (Furn and Arch)
  • Margin Analysis
  • Financial Ratios
  • Staffing Summary (All Divisions)
  • Staffing (Furn and Arch)
  • Efficiency and Wages
  • Balance Sheet (Average Balances)
  • Balance Sheet (Year-end Balances)

Select a Context When Available

Context selections are available for some Report Views. For example, Staffing can be shown as Revenue per Employee or Installed Margin per Employee.

Drill Down Comparison Parameters

First Drill Down: Select a Reporting Group
  • Group by the Solomon Coyle Index (SCI). Includes all participating aligned dealers.
  • Group by Manufacturer. Includes all participating dealers aligned with your Primary Manufacturer.
  • Group by Peer Group. Available to Solomon Coyle peer group members and participating manufacturer dealer peer groups.
Second Drill Down: Select a Data Metric
  • Operating Profit
  • Installed Margin
  • Sales Volume
  • Services Sales
  • Market Size
Third Drill Down: Select a Metric Slice

Based on the second drill-down parameter, select the results set Metric Slice you want to compare.

Fourth Drill Down: Select Statistical Slice
  • View the average of the TOP 10% of dealers
  • View the average of the TOP 25% of dealers
  • View the average of the MIDDLE 50% of dealers
  • View the Average of dealers
  • View the Median dealer

Viewing the Report

The report will be based on the data comparison parameters you selected. It will consist of your data in the first column(s) to the right of the row labels, up to four comparative parameters, and in the far-right column, the average of the comparative parameters.

benchmark tool image: report view

ABOVE: SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON OF YOUR DATA AND UP TO 4 REPORTING GROUPS AND THEIR AVERAGES.

Exporting Report Views

With a click of your mouse you can export Solomon Coyle metrics and data into Excel worksheets.

To export data views, select the Export button from the top navigation. The Export feature will copy the current report view to a new Excel workbook.

benchmark tool image: export format options

ABOVE: THE FORMAT OPTIONS FOR EXPORTING REPORT VIEWS ARE PDF, EXCEL AND WORD.

Next, select the Export button from the top navigation. The Export feature will copy the current page view to a new Excel workbook.

Save the new workbook to begin working with the data.

This feature eliminates the need to rekey data and makes it easier for you to incorporate the benchmarking results into your budget building, monthly dashboard, and annual performance tracking.