The P&L That Lied to Me: Why Metrics Without Context Keep Your System Stuck

By Stephanie Benze, Director of Education at AC Inc.

In This Article You’ll Learn How To:

• Identify when data-driven coaching is missing human connection
• Use lead indicators that reflect behaviors, not just outcomes
• Apply B.E.A.P.s to uncover what drives franchisee decisions
• Balance process mastery with people connection to fuel sustainable growth
  

The P&L That Lied to Me

I used to think I had it all figured out.

In my late twenties, I was a rising operations and support specialist who knew the system inside out. I could recite the operations manual, dissect a P&L in minutes, and tell any franchisee exactly which metric they needed to fix to boost profitability.

I was data-driven. Efficient. Precise.

All dominance and compliance.

No steadiness. No influence.

And it worked… until it didn’t.

I cared deeply. I’ve always had an insatiable need to help and improve, a core value I still live by: leave things better than I found them. But that drive can also be a downfall. Like many franchise support pros I know, I cared so damn much, I nearly burned myself out trying to save everyone.

Then it hit me:

It wasn’t that they weren’t listening to me.

It was that I wasn’t listening to them.

The Numbers Lied, Or Maybe I Did

I knew the numbers, but I didn’t understand the people behind them.

The P&L told me what had happened, but not why it happened.

I was tracking lag indicators, revenue, margins, expenses, but missing the leading ones that actually drive them: behaviors, beliefs, and mindset.

What I didn’t realize was that:

• Feelings drive behaviors.
  
• Behaviors drive numbers.
  
• And when you skip that first layer, you’re coaching from a checklist, not a connection.
  

My coaching was mechanical, not meaningful. I was teaching processes, not people.

So I started changing that. I began paying closer attention to the people behind the performance, observing more, asking more, and listening differently.

And that’s when things really started to shift.

When Helping Too Much Becomes Hurting

At that point in my career, I was the definition of “overhelpful.” I wanted so badly to make an impact that I started doing the heavy lifting for everyone else.

I’d fix problems, rewrite systems, even build their plans for them. It felt productive, but it was exhausting.

I was helping too much. Carrying too much. Becoming the crutch instead of the coach.

And the harder I worked, the less they seemed to engage. The more I solved, the less they grew.

I wasn’t broken, I was just missing context.

They didn’t need another report or a faster fix.

They needed someone who saw them, their fears, motivations, and values, not just their KPIs.

When I started seeing people through their behaviors instead of my spreadsheets, everything changed.

The Brand with Great Operators… and Flat Growth

The system I worked in was full of great operators.

The kind who followed every rule, met every deadline, hit every KPI.

But growth had plateaued.

We had compliance, but not conviction.

We had systems, but not soul.

We were building strong operators, but not strong owners.

The P&L wasn’t lying, but it wasn’t telling the whole truth either.

That’s when I realized: I needed to stop applying processes to people and start applying people to my processes.

The Framework That Connects Metrics to Meaning

That realization, and many others just like it from members of the AC Inc. team, is what ultimately shaped the foundation of what became Strategic Growth Coaching (SGC).

It wasn’t one single moment or idea that created SGC, it was the shared experience of countless field coaches, operations leaders, and franchise support pros who had all felt the same frustration: the gap between helping and actually driving growth.

SGC was built from that collective pain point, a process for people and profits.

It’s a methodology designed to bring structure to the human side of performance, bridging what we know from the numbers with what we understand about the people behind them.

Here’s how it does that:

• Scorecards that track leading indicators, not just lagging results.
  
• Vision Planners that connect business goals to personal motivation.
  
• NOW Analysis that uncovers what’s really blocking progress.
  
• Coaching Cadence that adds rhythm, accountability, and growth momentum.
  

SGC doesn’t replace operational excellence, it amplifies it.

It gives field coaches a framework that turns metrics into meaning and conversations into breakthroughs.

Beliefs Drive Behavior… So Listen for the B.E.A.P.s

Once I started coaching through the lens of people’s beliefs, expectations, assumptions, and perceptions, I stopped needing to have all the answers.

Because that’s the magic of real coaching: you stop trying to be the smartest person in the room, and start being the most curious one.

When I slowed down enough to listen, I discovered that their goals, fears, and motivators were completely different from mine.

And once I stopped coaching to my assumptions, they finally started opening up.

That’s when business owners stopped complying, and started committing.

If you don’t understand someone’s B.E.A.P.s, you’ll never understand why they do what they do, or why they’re not doing what you think they should.

The Shift That Made Me Even Better

Here’s the thing: this shift didn’t make me any less of a systems person.

I still know those numbers and procedures inside and out, if anything, that depth became my superpower.

Because now, when I looked at the reports, I could see beyond the data. I could interpret the why behind the what.

I could look at a lagging number on a P&L and immediately start formulating possible causes based on what I now knew about that owner, their habits, communication style, stress points, and motivators.

That blend of process mastery and human insight made me dangerously effective.

It’s what started my reputation as a bit of a “schizophrenic psychologist”, half strategist, half therapist, tailoring my approach to each business owner I worked with.

And that’s when the real magic happened: higher engagement, deeper trust, and yes, more profitability.

The Organizational Shift: From Data-Led to Human-Led Coaching

When your support team learns to coach beyond the numbers, everything changes:

✅ Franchisees become more accountable and proactive.
✅ Coaches stop carrying the full load and start creating ownership.
✅ Franchisors see engagement rise and performance stabilize across the network.

Because when you build a coaching culture rooted in both structure and empathy, growth becomes inevitable.

Operational excellence keeps your brand efficient.

Strategic Growth Coaching keeps it evolving.

Bottom Line: The Numbers Don’t Lie, They Just Don’t Tell the Whole Truth

Metrics matter, but without context they’re just noise.

The P&L wasn’t the problem. My perspective was.

Once I stopped coaching from a report and started coaching from relationships, my work, and my impact, completely transformed.

🎓 Don’t just optimize the system, energize the people running it.

Ready to Coach Beyond the Numbers?

If your coaching or franchise support still revolves around checklists, reports, and recaps, it’s time to add rhythm, relevance, and results.

Strategic Growth Coaching helps franchisors and field coaches connect data to direction and metrics to meaning.

→ Explore Strategic Growth Coaching with AC Inc.

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