You can spend hours each week generating reports by downloading data, manually entering it into an Excel spreadsheet, then spitting that data out into a readable PDF. You can do this for every report, ever.
Or, you can let a client reporting tool like BrightGauge do it for you and you can spend your valuable hours on tasks that drive business growth. Up to you.
BrightGauge was created to make people’s lives a bit easier. It basically connects with the business solutions you’re using everyday, like ConnectWise, and puts the data you care about in one place. If you’re an MSP who uses a PSA tool, an RMM tool, and a financial tool, you no longer have to toggle between windows or log in and out of multiple accounts to get the information you need. Instead, BrightGauge takes data from all of those tools and puts it side by side in an easy-to-interpret marketing dashboard.
We integrate with plenty of popular tools on the market, like ConnectWise’s suite, IT Glue, Webroot, Quickbooks, Solarwinds, Datto, Xero, Customer Thermometer, Autotask, and more. See them all here. It’s always our mission to make it easy for you to get started, so no matter which datasource you choose to integrate with, your BrightGauge account will come pre-loaded with default gauges, dashboards, and reports that you can access right out of the box.
Based on the metrics you’re viewing in your gauges and dashboards, you can generate reports (like ConnectWise reports) from scratch or from pre-built templates. Here are some things you can do with BrightGauge reports:
- Add the exact metrics and gauges you want.
- Create a cover page with your client’s logo, a title, and text.
- Choose between portrait or landscape mode.
- Make reports interactive so clients can click into data and get more details.
- Filter reports the same way you’d filter your gauges or dashboards.
- Add explanatory text below the data you’re displaying.
- Set up a report once and save it as a template.
- Schedule reports to go out automatically to the client(s) you want, on the date and time you choose.
We’ve had many customers open BrightGauge accounts just to take advantage of our simple reporting tool because of the amount of time it saves them each week and the value it brings to their business. But if you’re not utilizing all of our tools, you might be missing out.
We mentioned how dashboards help you visualize your data all in one place so that nothing falls through the cracks. Another BrightGauge feature that keeps teams motivated is the Goals feature.
We’re big believers in regularly setting goals and using them to stay on track throughout the year. Goal performance does not have to be tied to compensation or promotions, but goals should help team members be laser-focused.
With BrightGauge Goals, each team member can set goals each quarter (or however often you choose) and mark their progress on a weekly basis. Everyone in the company is given visibility into these goals, so it’s a really effective way to build a culture of accountability and transparency.
How can I make the most out of my ConnectWise reports?
Now that you see how undeniably valuable ConnectWise client reports are, you may have many questions:
There are many more questions that come to mind and none of them have a definitive “right” answer. In our experience, we have found the answers that work for us, and we’re happy to share what we’ve learned.
Before we dive in and explore the answers to the above questions, our strongest recommendation is to talk to your client to get a sense of exactly what they’re looking for. There’s nothing wrong with explicitly asking a client to specify their wants and needs. You’re not a mind reader. Nor is any client exactly like one you’ve had in the past. Even if two SLAs look almost identical, the actual people you are dealing with are very different from one another. Learn about them. It’s okay to ask questions and be proactive about providing clients with the best possible service.
Our Client Reporting webinar and our guide to reporting go into some of the details we’ll cover below, so keep them handy.
How often should I send ConnectWise reports?
This depends on a number of factors, including what the terms of your SLA are and how time-sensitive your work is.
In your SLA, you may have specified that you’d send monthly, quarterly, and annual reports to your client. Make sure you do that! You don’t want to breach your contract, so use your SLA as a guideline for the minimum amount of work you should be doing.
That being said, if you find it necessary to send custom reports on a more frequent basis, there’s nothing stopping you. Just make sure you aren’t sending reports just for the sake of sending them.
“Each ConnectWise report should display impactful metrics that lead to data-driven decisions.”
We have found that clients love a daily report, when used correctly. Especially for clients who have a lot of devices to manage, it’s helpful to get a daily snapshot of the status of all of those devices.
If your work is based on time-sensitive actions, as just described, it probably makes a lot of sense to send daily ConnectWise reports. As another example, if you’re helping to manage your client’s finances, it’s useful to know the status of all pending invoices on a daily basis. Letting your client find out on a Monday that they had five major invoices due last Tuesday is a little too late. But sending a daily 5PM report outlining invoices past due vs. invoices paid helps your client understand their financial health on any given day.
Daily reports also serve as a reminder that you are the right person for the job since you are proactive, reliable, and trustworthy.
What metrics should I always include in my ConnectWise reports?
Be thoughtful about choosing the right metrics to include in client reports. This is going to depend largely on the feedback you get from your clients. In all cases, metrics displayed should be directly or closely tied to overall KPIs. KPIs guide company goals, focus, and growth. All actions taken within a company should tie into KPIs in one way or another. This includes the creation of reports.
Be careful not to succumb to the temptation to report on every single thing you do for your client. As a service provider, there’s a lot that goes into your work but clients are too busy to pay close attention to every minute detail. Just report on the metrics that make a difference. BrightGauge’s client reports templates help you organize those metrics in an impactful way.
To give an example, if you’re tasked with managing a client with 500+ devices in their network, it makes sense to include patch status in your daily reports. However, you probably don’t need to report on the reasons you chose one patch management tool over another. Clients are interested in solutions that will make their business better - they don’t need to get into the weeds with details that, frankly, don’t matter.
Like we’ve mentioned, your client can pinpoint the exact KPIs that matter to him or her, but we have found that certain KPIs are common across the board. We’ve gone ahead and broken them down by team:
Sales Team KPIs
- Closed MRR MTD/YTD
- Current Sales Pipeline
- Sales Activities
Service Team KPIs
- Tickets per Endpoint (per client)
- SLA Missed
- Customer Satisfaction
- Daily/Weekly Utilization Rate
- Issue Backlog/Currently Open Tickets
- Kill Rate
- Tickets Resolved Today
- Billable Hours
Project Team KPIs
- Billable Project Hours
- Over Budget Projects
Finance Team KPIs
- Cash in Bank
- Past Due Receivables Amount
- Client Efficiency Index (CEI)
- EBITDA
NOC/Operations Team KPIs
- Critical Alerts/Issues Opened
- Backups Missed
- Documentation Engagement (Daily, Weekly)
Who should I send my ConnectWise reports to?
You’ve got a great ConnectWise report generated and you’re ready to deploy it. Before you hit send, you wonder “who should I send this report to?” Is it necessary for everyone on the client side to see it? The simple answer here is to send all reports to your main point of contact. This is the person you interface with on a regular basis and who is ultimately vouching for you on their end.
But what if that person leaves?
This is a serious consideration that you need to take into account. Just because your point of contact leaves, you don’t want to miss out on an important piece of business that you’ve worked hard to nurture.
It’s a wise idea to send all of your reports to more than one person on the client-side. Include your point of contact’s manager - that’s the person who is saying yes or no when it comes to utilizing your services. Plus, in the case that your point of contact leaves, all client-agency communication will not go out the door with them.
Depending on how big your client’s company is or how closely your point of contact and the CEO work together, you may want to consider cc’ing the big boss on your reports, too. He or she is the person signing your checks, so it might be a good idea to show what you’re up to.
A cool thing about BrightGauge’s analytics reports is that when you set up reports and save them as a template, you can also save your desired recipients to each report. So, when they are automatically sent out, your reports are being delivered straight to all the inboxes you care about.
What format should I use when sending reports?
At all costs, your reports need to look professional. Abide by that rule. Don’t just copy and paste some metrics into a Word doc and call it a day. Your formatting will be off and you’ll just end up looking sloppy. No one likes to write checks for sloppiness!
“Reports sent in PDF view generally tend to be a good idea because they are not editable, so you (and your client) will always have a consistent and reliable copy to refer to.”
BrightGauge allows you to send reports in HTML and PDF views. But a really great feature of BrightGauge reports is that they are interactive. Clients can click on any data to drilldown further and get more nitty-gritty details into what the numbers mean, which takes the guesswork out of interpreting complicated or numerous metrics.
Remember that ConnectWise reports through BrightGauge are generated automatically within minutes, so you’re regularly sending your clients incredibly professional and detailed information without adding a bulk of work on your end. Anyone else feeling excited about this?
Who should be preparing reports?
This is a good question without a straightforward answer. It makes sense for the person who liaises with the client on a daily basis to prepare reports, since that person has a good read on what the client is into. However, it’s realistic to assume that person doesn’t always have the bandwidth to create consistent reports.
“BrightGauge reports take just a few minutes to generate, so there's no heavy burden placed on any one team member.”
Going beyond that, BrightGauge allows you to create different roles for people in your company or on the client side who want access to the data you’re tracking. Three roles exist (depending on whether you choose the standard or enterprise plan): Admin, Analyst, and Viewer. Admins have complete access to the BrightGauge platform, Analysts are like Admins-lite, and Viewers have read-only access to certain parts of the platform.
What this means is that only Admins and Analysts have the capability to produce reports, so these roles should be assigned thoughtfully. That being said, when you assign roles, you streamline your process of getting things done and everyone knows exactly what’s on his or her plate.
62% of organizations use reporting and analytics (source: Deloitte)
How do I write a client report?
Many people don’t know where to start when it comes to how to write a client report, but we take the guesswork out by automating a lot of it for you!
Your initial thought may be to include a lengthy explanation of what the client will find within the report. We don’t recommend doing that because your clients are busy people and they don’t have a lot of time to review too much information. Keep it concise and impactful.
“Choose the metrics that are going to drive business growth and include a line or two with your thoughts.”
When you generate a ConnectWise report through BrightGauge, you can tell the app to pull from ConnectWise gauges and dashboards that you’re already monitoring. Since you set those up with the client’s most important KPIs in mind, you’re going to have what you need in just a few minutes.
You’ll have the option to include your client’s logo on the cover page and throughout the report (this makes you look professional - take advantage of this feature), a report title and description, an image if you so desire, and you can even choose to send in portrait or landscape mode.
Should I send reports to my clients?
This one’s simple. Yes, yes, yes. If you care about growing your business and consistently acquiring new clients, get yourself a good reputation! It takes a lot of focus and hard work, but the rewards are certainly worth the effort.
Part of having a good reputation is being reliable, trustworthy, and transparent with your business. Routinely sending reports - whether you’re showing the good or the bad - builds that foundation for trust.
You should also send reports to clients because it leaves a paper trail of sorts. You (and the client) will have backup and documentation for everything you’ve done, which you’ll be so thankful for should you ever be facing an audit.
Give BrightGauge a shot
Start investing in the habits that will set you apart from your competitors. Do good, honest work all the time and clients will take notice. We follow this principle, too.
Our mission is to simplify the lives of our end users and that’s what we try to base all of our actions around. We created a way for you to view all your data in dashboards, gauges, and reports because we knew it would give you back the time you needed to focus on revenue-generating tasks.
