Creating Custom Reports and Insights

Default reports are like off-the-rack suits – they work, but they're not tailored to you. Custom reports are your bespoke business intelligence, answering the specific questions that keep you up at night.

Why Custom Reports Matter

Here's what happened to Jake, a business coach on Selgora: He was drowning in data but starving for insights. His generic reports showed revenue was up, but profit was down. Why? A custom report revealed that his low-ticket offers were cannibalizing his high-ticket coaching. He adjusted his funnel, and profit increased 40% without adding revenue.

That's the power of asking the right questions.

Defining Your Key Questions

Before building reports, know what you're solving:

Revenue Questions

• Which offer has the highest profit margin?
• What's my revenue per email sent?
• How much does each traffic source actually profit?
• What's my true customer acquisition cost including all hidden costs?

Customer Questions

• What's the journey of my best customers?
• Which customers are about to churn?
• Who's ready for an upsell?
• What content do purchasers consume before buying?

Operational Questions

• Where do students get stuck in courses?
• Which support tickets repeat most?
• What's my content creation ROI?
• How long until profitability for new offers?

Building Your First Custom Report

Let's build a real report: "Customer Health Score"

Step 1: Define Your Metrics

Choose 5-7 indicators of customer health:

• Login frequency
• Lessons completed
• Community engagement
• Email opens
• Support tickets (negative indicator)

Step 2: Set Up Data Collection

Track these events in Selgora to build your health score.

Step 3: Create the Report

Use Selgora's Report Builder:

1. Go to Analytics → Custom Reports
2. Click Create New Report
3. Name it: "Customer Health Dashboard"
4. Add widgets for health scores, at-risk customers, and trends

Step 4: Automate Insights

Set up alerts:

• Health score drops 20% → Send re-engagement email
• Score increases 30% → Trigger upsell sequence
• Multiple support tickets → Personal check-in

Advanced Report Types

1. Cohort Analysis Report

Track customer groups over time to see retention patterns:

• January Cohort: 100% start, 70% after month 2, 55% after month 3
• February Cohort: 100% start, 75% after month 2 (improvement!)
• Compare cohorts to see what's working

2. Funnel Analysis Report

Visualize your conversion path:

• Landing Page Visit: 10,000 (100%)
• Guide Download: 3,000 (30%)
• Email Series Start: 2,700 (90%)
• Webinar Registration: 800 (30%)
• Offer Purchase: 100 (1% overall)

Biggest drop: Landing to download (70% loss) - focus here!

3. Content Performance Matrix

Plot content on two axes (engagement vs conversion):

• High Engagement, High Conversion: Your winners
• High Engagement, Low Conversion: Good for nurturing
• Low Engagement, High Conversion: Hidden gems to promote
• Low Engagement, Low Conversion: Consider removing

4. Revenue Attribution Report

Track revenue by touchpoint to see what's really driving sales.

Creating Dashboards That Stick

The Morning Coffee Dashboard

What you check with your morning coffee:

• Today's revenue and comparison to yesterday
• New customers
• Active users
• Support tickets
• Any alerts or issues

The Weekly Review Dashboard

For Monday planning:

• Week-over-week metrics
• Top performers
• Underperformers
• Action items

The Strategic Monthly Dashboard

For big-picture decisions:

• MRR and growth rate
• Churn rate
• LTV:CAC ratio
• Trend analysis

Visualization Best Practices

Choose the right chart:

• Line Charts: Trends over time
• Bar Charts: Comparisons
• Pie Charts: Composition (use sparingly!)
• Heatmaps: Patterns and correlations
• Funnels: Sequential processes

Design principles:

1. Less is more (5-7 metrics per dashboard max)
2. Use color meaningfully (green = good, red = bad)
3. Always show context (comparisons, percentages)
4. Make titles actionable
5. Progressive disclosure (summary → details)

Automating Report Generation

Set up automated reporting:

• Daily revenue emails
• Weekly performance summaries
• Monthly deep dives
• Alert notifications for important events

Use tools like Zapier to connect Selgora data to Google Sheets or email reports.

Interpreting Complex Data

Statistical Significance

Don't be fooled by random variation. You need sufficient data points (usually 100+) for reliable insights.

Correlation vs Causation

Just because two things happen together doesn't mean one causes the other. Always ask: "What else could explain this?"

Seasonality Adjustments

Compare apples to apples:

• Wrong: "December sales up 50% vs November!"
• Right: "December sales up 10% vs last December"

Your Custom Report Checklist

Before creating any report, answer:

• What decision will this inform?
• Who will use this report?
• How often should it update?
• What actions will trigger from it?
• Can it be simpler?
• Is the data reliable?

Common Report Pitfalls

1. Report Graveyards: Creating reports nobody uses
2. Vanity Dashboards: Pretty but useless
3. Analysis Paralysis: Too much data, no decisions
4. Set and Forget: Reports become stale
5. No Context: Numbers without story

Your 30-Day Report Plan

Week 1: Discovery

• List your key business questions
• Audit current reports
• Identify data gaps

Week 2: Design

• Sketch dashboard layouts
• Choose visualization types
• Define update frequencies

Week 3: Build

• Create your first custom report
• Set up data connections
• Test with real data

Week 4: Iterate

• Use reports for one week
• Document insights gained
• Adjust based on usage

Remember: The best report is the one you actually use. Start simple, iterate based on real needs, and always tie metrics to actions.

Your data tells a story. Custom reports help you read it, understand it, and write the next chapter!