Exterior Renovations: Looker Studio Report Configuration (2026-01-29)

Overview

During a weekly call with Mark, Ben identified and corrected a misconfigured Looker Studio automated report delivery for Exterior Renovations client contact Natalie. The report had been sending data anchored to a fixed date in January 2020, rendering it useless. The fix involved correcting the date range, enabling period-over-period comparison, and establishing a proactive pre-review workflow.

Meeting source: ^[1]

Problem

Natalie (Exterior Renovations) had been receiving automated Looker Studio reports with a fixed date range set to January 2020. This meant every scheduled delivery showed the same stale historical window rather than current performance data. Ben had previously paused delivery to Natalie after she flagged the issue; the report was not being sent to her at the time of this call.

Natalie's stated preference was to see last 30 days compared to the same period the prior year.

Resolution

1. Correct the Date Range

Changed the report's default date range from the fixed Jan 2020 date to "Last 30 Days"
This setting persists in the report and applies automatically on each delivery

2. Enable Comparison

Looker Studio's built-in comparison feature was used to show performance vs. the preceding 30-day period
Note: Natalie requested year-over-year comparison, but the preceding-period comparison was implemented as a practical equivalent available natively in the report's current configuration
The comparison delta (e.g., "−43.8% impressions") appears inline beneath each metric

3. Delivery Schedule Adjustments

Removed: Asymmetric team email (no one was reviewing it)
Added: Ben's own email on a Monday delivery schedule for pre-review
Re-added: Natalie on a Thursday (monthly) delivery schedule
This stagger gives Ben approximately one week to review the report before Natalie receives it

New Workflow: Proactive Report Review

"It's always embarrassing if the client sees data before you do." — Mark Hope

Going forward, the standard practice for automated report delivery is:

Send the report to yourself one week before the client receives it
Review for red numbers, anomalies, or declining metrics
If issues are found, proactively brief the client before they see the report — explain what happened and what's being done about it
If metrics look concerning (e.g., clicks and conversions down), loop in the relevant specialist (e.g., Gilbert for Google Ads) before the client call

This keeps the team on offense rather than defense when clients receive performance data.

Exterior's Google Ads showed declining clicks and conversions in the current period vs. prior — context matters (holiday period, budget changes, new competitors may explain variance)
A Google Ads review with Gilbert was flagged as a next step for both Exterior and Reynolds
See also: ^[2] for full client context

Action Items (from this session)

[x] Set Looker Studio date range to Last 30 Days
[ ] Re-add Natalie to report delivery (Thursday, monthly)
[ ] Confirm Ben receives Monday preview delivery
[ ] Remove Asymmetric team from delivery list
[ ] Schedule Google Ads review with Gilbert for Exterior — ^[3]
[ ] Pre-brief Natalie if next report shows continued decline in clicks/conversions

^[2]
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