A dashboard shows clients what changed. Their portal should tell them why.
Asked & Answered is a monthly note from LDOO: what shipped, why it matters, and one idea you can use this week.
In this issue
- One live portal per client: one link, with a written “What changed” at the top every day.
- Only the people you add: they confirm by emailed code; anyone else can ask you for access.
- Your own domain: portal links on your domain, so clients see your agency.
- Every client at once: ask which clients need you; get them ranked, with causes.
A portal that answers the client’s question
What changed. Every client now has one live portal at a link that never changes. Each day, LDOO writes a short “What changed” at the top: the number that moved, why, and the one thing to do next, checked against the portal’s own figures as a report is. Below it: the numbers at a glance, trend lines to hover and zoom, and a section per source.
Why it matters. Clients stop asking how things are going. When they look, the why is already there, in your brand.
Ask LDOO: “Create a portal for [client]”
“LDOO gives useful answers even when I’m not exactly sure what to ask. Everyday language is enough to get clear, easy-to-understand insights that make marketing data much more accessible.”
Ruth Ndebele, Director, PIG Marketing Agency. Verified review on Capterra
What else changed
Ask which clients need you today
Ask “Which clients need attention?” from All clients. Each client is checked against its own usual range, and the ones worth your time come back worst first, with what moved and why. A flag waits for a second day to confirm it, and LDOO says when a client has recovered.
Why it matters: Monday’s first hour goes to the clients who need it.
Portals only the people you add can open
Set a portal to Only people you add and type their emails. Each confirms with a six-digit code; anyone else can ask, and you allow or decline from Alerts, then see who opened it.
Why it matters: Share with the client’s whole team, no password passed around.
Portal links on your own domain
Add a domain like portal.youragency.com under Branding, then the DNS records LDOO shows you. Once they resolve, portal and report links use it. On Growth and Scale.
Why it matters: The client sees your agency at every step.
Tell LDOO once what to leave out
Say “from now on leave out brand campaigns” for a client. Every answer, report, portal, alert and usual range for that client follows it until you say “include brand campaigns again”.
Why it matters: Numbers that match how you talk about the account, without repeating yourself.
Next: A Monday email to everyone a portal is shared with, carrying the week’s “What changed”.
Reporting idea
| November 1–15 | Revenue | Compared with |
|---|---|---|
| Vs all of October | −50% | all 31 days of October |
| Vs October 1–15 | +4% | the same 15 days of October |
An example month.
Compare the same days.
Halfway through a month, a dashboard that sets month to date against all of last month shows every number down by half. On the 15th, that reads as a crisis that isn’t there.
LDOO compares like with like: the same days or weekdays of last month, ending on the last day the source has finished counting, and says which it used. Portals line up the previous period week by week for the same reason.
When you share numbers mid-month, say which days you’re comparing before the client does the math.
Ask LDOO: “How is [client] tracking this month against the same days last month?”
Built for the question between reports
Clients rarely wait for the monthly report. They ask on a Tuesday how things are going, and someone stops what they’re doing to pull the numbers and write the answer. The portal is my answer to that message, and I want it to answer the question your clients ask most.
Tell me what they ask most: how we’re tracking, why a number moved, what happens next, or email me. I read every message.
— Gideon Banks, Founder, LDOO, Christchurch
