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What should a sales dashboard include?



What should a sales dashboard include?


Sales dashboards can be an incredibly useful tool when it comes to managing your business’s performance. They provide a snapshot of what's going well or not so well with each individual team member, which helps create accountability. 

There are many different tools that allow us to track our numbers, but they're often too complicated to use. A simple dashboard does all we need to know about what's happening right now at any given time. And if you have employees who work remotely, a good dashboard will save you valuable face-to-face time by allowing you to see their progress from anywhere you like.

A great sales dashboard allows businesses to understand how every single department within the company is performing. It provides a clear picture of where everyone stands against one another. This makes it easy to identify strengths and weaknesses, as well as make changes to improve overall productivity.

But there's more than just knowing what's working - you also need to know what isn't. That's why having a comprehensive sales dashboard is essential. So here, I've listed out some of the top questions you'll find yourself asking throughout your day. Let me explain...

What is the purpose of a dashboard?

You probably already know that a dashboard is used to visualize information collected through various channels (like emails, phone calls, webinars etc). But did you know that dashboards were originally designed to help military pilots navigate complex missions safely?

This information was gathered using radar screens, maps, and charts to gather vital statistics such as speed, altitude, air temperature, fuel usage, and other important information. The idea behind a dashboard has since evolved into helping us manage our teams' performance today.

So no matter whether you run a small business or a large corporation, a sales dashboard is an invaluable asset to anyone looking to keep tabs on their bottom line.

What 5 key metrics would you want to display on a data dashboard?

The best sales dashboards focus on tracking five core metrics:

1) Number of leads generated per week/month

2) Average number of days until conversion

3) Percentage of opportunities converted

4) Sales revenue / average price sold

5) Time spent closing deals

These metrics give us a better understanding of how effective our efforts are compared to others. For example, if we aren't converting enough new prospects into paying customers then we might consider reworking our strategies to increase lead generation. However, if we're getting closed quicker than ever before then maybe it's because we're spending less time researching potential clients instead of chasing them down!

If you're struggling to figure out which metrics to track, try thinking about the ones most critical for your business. What do you want to measure? Are you interested in seeing how quickly people respond to your outreach campaigns? Or perhaps you'd prefer to see how much money you're making off each sale. Whatever your goals may be, these metrics should always remain at the forefront of your mind.

What are key metrics of a dashboard?

While it's helpful to check certain numbers over time to get a general sense of things, it doesn't tell the whole story. You shouldn't only rely on raw numbers to evaluate your company's performance either. Instead, think about how you can take advantage of those figures to achieve greater results.

For instance, let's say your client base doubles next month. If you haven't increased your budget to match, you could end up losing money due to lack of resources. On the flip side, though, you could decide to lower prices in order to attract more buyers. By taking both sides of the coin into account, you can effectively determine what works best for your business.

Think about how you can use your findings to adjust your strategy moving forward. Maybe you'll need to tweak your content strategy to reach more of your ideal audience. Perhaps you'll need to hire additional staff members to handle extra workload. Either way, analyzing your numbers gives you insight into what needs improvement, so you can make adjustments accordingly.

What are the 4 types of metrics?

As mentioned above, you don't necessarily need to stick to a set list of metrics when creating your dashboard. In fact, you can go beyond basic stats and dive deeper into specific areas of interest. Here are four common metrics that you might choose to monitor depending on your exact situation:

1) Revenue vs Cost

Do you sell products or services directly to consumers? Then you'll likely want to pay close attention to how much you spend on advertising versus how much cash you collect back from customers. If you're selling physical goods this metric could refer to how much inventory you currently have left. If you're selling digital downloads then you'd look at how much profit you made after accounting for shipping costs.

Either way, this kind of analysis can help you determine how efficient your current processes are. Since it takes time and effort to generate revenue, you won't want to waste any precious resources without first assessing how much value you bring to your customer base.

2) Lead Generation vs Conversion Rate

Another area worth exploring is determining the efficiency of your prospecting process. How long does it typically take you to turn a new lead into a contract? What percentage of your contacts actually follow up with you? These kinds of insights can help you fine tune your approach while ensuring that you're consistently generating high quality leads.

It's crucial to remember that even though your goal is to convert as many prospects into actual customers as possible, it's equally important that you retain as few dead ends during the entire journey towards acquisition.

3) Customer Service & Satisfaction Score

Many companies struggle to keep track of customer service complaints. After all, how else would you gauge your level of satisfaction? One way to solve this issue is to ask existing customers to leave feedback about the experience they had interacting with your brand. Doing so will give you a clearer view of how satisfied your customers really are.

In addition to improving your customer relations, you'll gain valuable insight into your competitors. Take note of the negative reviews and compare them to positive comments. Do you notice any trends? Is the majority of your online reviews written by the same individuals? If so, it might indicate that you need to review your policies and procedures to ensure consistency across departments.

On the other hand, if you notice a lot of positive feedback coming from a particular demographic group, it might mean that you need to change the tone of your messaging. Your target market wants to hear encouragement, rather than criticism.

4) Productivity

We all know that the faster we perform tasks, the less stressful life becomes. So it follows that being able to complete projects efficiently means that you're doing something right. Whether you're trying to hit monthly deadlines or simply meet quarterly targets, this metric can help you assess your success rate.

As with anything worthwhile, though, it pays to put in the upfront work to maximize your chances of succeeding. Try setting realistic expectations for yourself and breaking down big projects into smaller chunks. You'll feel more confident once you begin tackling challenges one step at a time.

What are the benefits of a sales dashboard?

Having access to real-time analytics allows you to make informed decisions based on evidence, rather than emotion. Knowing exactly where your company stands at any point in time keeps you ahead of the curve, giving you the opportunity to react appropriately.

And finally, having a customized sales dashboard lets you easily share relevant information with colleagues around the world. As long as you're willing to invest the necessary time and energy, you can transform your business into a machine that runs itself.

Today’s tech savvy customers have become accustomed to receiving information on demand. They expect constant updates from brands they trust and want to hear about their favorite products or services before making any purchase decisions. This has led many companies to adopt a more transparent approach towards customer service - with social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter becoming key influencers of consumer behavior.

With such an intense focus on transparency, it's no wonder that businesses are scrambling to make sense of all these data points and turn them into actionable insights. The only problem is there is so much out there! How do you know which ones are worth acting upon? One solution is to create a sales dashboard, where you can see at glance what exactly your company is doing well (and not so well) when it comes to meeting its goals.

The good news is creating a great sales dashboard doesn't require a lot of work. You just need some basic tools, including a spreadsheet, Excel templates, and a few custom visuals. In fact, if you're new to building sales dashboards, we've put together everything you need right here in one place. We'll walk through how to get started below.

What are sales dashboard?

A sales dashboard is simply a collection of reports designed to help managers monitor the performance of individual staff members or teams within an organization. It allows you to quickly identify areas of improvement and take immediate steps toward achieving specific business goals.

If you think back to high school math class, you may remember learning about ratios. Ratios let us measure something relative to another thing - how many times as big it is, how long it takes, etc. A ratio tells us how two things compare to each other. For example, if you were given the number 1,000 and asked to come up with a word describing it, chances are you would say "large". When we use numbers to describe our world, we call those words "ratios", because that is essentially what they represent.

In the same way, a sales dashboard is a set of quantitative measurements used by management to understand how closely a team is performing against its targets. Sales dashboards provide a visual representation of various aspects of daily activities, allowing executives to analyze how effective certain employees are at reaching goals, while also providing a snapshot of how others are tracking compared to expectations.

As mentioned above, sales dashboards aren't really all that complicated. While they might seem daunting at first, most organizations will find themselves using similar techniques over time. Here are three core elements every successful sales dashboard must contain:

1. Customer Data

The first step to developing a solid sales dashboard is collecting accurate and relevant data from across departments. Ideally, you'd start off by identifying who actually owns each metric (i.e., what department does the reporting belong to), then ask questions relating to the following categories:

- Team Performance Metrics

This includes anything related to hitting sales quotas, revenue, costs, and customer satisfaction. As a general rule, you shouldn't try to track too many different details under this category since it can easily overwhelm users with unnecessary clutter. Instead, stick to a handful of top performers per team, and keep tabs on them regularly throughout the year. These KPIs could range anywhere between weekly and monthly depending on the size of your organization.

2. Targeted Goals & Objectives

Next, you'll want to decide what specifically you hope to achieve with your sales dashboard. What are the overall objectives of your company? Do you wish to increase profitability, improve client retention rates, or reduce churning among existing clients? Once you figure out your main goal(s), you can begin gathering the appropriate metrics needed to reach said objective. Again, limit yourself to a handful of critical values per department.

3. Visualization

Once you've collected enough data to determine whether or not your team is succeeding, you'll need to visualize it. If you don't already have a visualization tool available to you, consider purchasing a Microsoft Power BI Dashboard Template to speed up the process.

There are hundreds of different chart types you can choose from, but you generally won't need more than five to ten types total. To help narrow down your options, refer back to your target metrics and brainstorm several ideas based around the following criteria:

- Show trends over time

- Display data relationships

- Use color coding to highlight positive vs negative results

- Add a trend line for easy interpretation

You can even combine multiple charts into one single dashboard to present an overview of your entire team's performance. That being said, you can always add additional graphics later on if you feel like your initial dashboard isn't comprehensive enough. Just make sure you only go overboard with adding images and colors once you've nailed down the basics.

What should be in a sales dashboard?

Now that you know how to collect raw data and create a simple sales dashboard, you can start considering what elements you should include in order to properly gauge your team's progress. Below, we outline seven essential components to keep in mind when designing your dashboard.

1. Timeframe

Every dashboard needs a timeframe. Make sure you pick something reasonable and realistic (i.e., 12 months). Also, avoid choosing a short term period that overlaps with next year's plan, unless absolutely necessary. Remember, you want to give your executive audience clear insight into current performance versus previous years' performance, without getting lost in the weeds.

2. Top Performers

It goes without saying that your dashboard should feature your strongest contributors. However, it's also crucial to note that you don't necessarily need to show everyone's numbers. Only include figures belonging to your top 10% of performers, since focusing on the wrong people could potentially lead to skewed conclusions.

3. Overall Trends

Although you probably wouldn't want to present a full summary of last month's performance on day one, it never hurts to look ahead and spot potential problems early on. After all, you never know when a competitor might steal away a major account. So, check in periodically throughout the quarter to identify any sudden changes in trends. Keep in mind that you should only include a limited amount of data under this section, otherwise you risk overwhelming viewers with irrelevant information.

4. Targets

Your dashboard should clearly state your sales goals, along with the expected level of achievement for each person involved. Don't forget to update this list annually so that nobody gets left behind during annual reviews.

5. Individual Metrics

While you definitely want to showcase your top performers, you still need to ensure that all other individuals receive recognition for their contributions. Therefore, it's imperative to dedicate space to showing each member's unique statistics, rather than lumping them together like a group. Your best bet is to divide your dashboard into sections corresponding to roles, departments, or locations. Then, break each role/department/location into smaller subgroups, and assign metrics accordingly.

6. Action Items

Finally, you'll want to include a final column listing each employee's primary responsibilities. By highlighting tasks directly linked to financial outcomes, you'll allow viewers to immediately grasp the importance of each employee's actions.

7. Additional Details

Last but certainly not least, it's always nice to throw in extra tidbits of info that weren't included in the original design phase. Maybe you'd like to share a little bit more background info about your company's culture, or maybe you'd like to announce exciting new initiatives coming soon. Whatever you end up deciding, make sure you leave room for creativity.

Why are sales dashboards important?

When combined with proper leadership support, sales dashboards can play a pivotal role in improving productivity levels across your whole team. With the right software platform, you can gain access to real-time analytics that allow you to pinpoint areas of weakness and opportunity wherever they exist. Furthermore, having a centralized location where all members can view, interpret, and act upon data makes it easier to collaborate on issues affecting your bottom line.

The term "sales dashboard" can refer to many different things - from an Excel spreadsheet with key performance indicators (KPIs) or just a simple Google Sheet that can help you track important aspects of your business' growth. There's no single right answer here as it depends entirely on what type of company you're running and how much time you want to spend managing all these numbers. We'll give some examples below but first let's discuss exactly what it means to create one!

A good sales dashboard will provide you with useful information about your business so you know where you stand at any given point in time. A bad sales dashboard could mean missing out opportunities, not being aware of issues within the team or even putting yourself into a situation where you don't know whether or not you're making money. It's vital to understand the difference between knowing something vs actually having proof or evidence of it. This is why we've compiled a list of tips in order to make sure you're creating the most effective dashboard possible.

What should be shown on a dashboard?

In general, a good dashboard has three main sections: the top row shows current KPIs which are typically based around revenue / profit, while the middle section indicates historical values. The bottom section contains more details about each metric and allows you to drill down further if needed. You may also need additional columns to show other important information like pipeline status or deal size.

It's worth noting though that there isn't always room for everything! Some companies only monitor certain categories such as new deals or existing ones so they might remove specific ones from the report. For example, if you were working with a small startup then you wouldn't necessarily need a column showing monthly revenue because they won't generate enough over those twelve months anyway.

Another thing to consider when choosing what goes onto your dashboard is whether or not it's going to change often. If you're looking to see trends week by week then you probably shouldn't bother including anything else than a few figures at the very least. However, if you're using your dashboard to inform decisions or highlight problems then you'd definitely benefit from seeing graphs or charts instead of just text.

How do I choose dashboard metrics?

There are several factors that go into choosing the correct metrics to use on your dashboard. First off, you'll obviously need to decide which area you want to focus on. Do you want to look at overall profitability, revenue growth, net income per employee etc.? Or maybe you just care about getting leads, converting them to customers and keeping happy clients once they become paying members.

Once you've decided what areas you want to measure, you must determine whether or not you're interested in comparing them against competitors. Are you trying to beat last year's results or simply get better than average? What kind of competition do you face? Is it local or national?

Finally, think about how long you plan to keep the dashboard active for. Will you update every month, six weeks or annually? These considerations will affect what you pick as metrics to put on your dashboard.

What metrics should a dashboard have?

So now let's talk about what types of metrics you should be tracking. Below we've provided some suggestions but again, this is completely dependent on your goals. Ideally, your dashboard would allow you to easily spot potential problems before they happen. That way, you can proactively respond rather than reacting after the fact.

When discussing KPI's, it's common practice to start with the easy wins and work our way up to harder ones. So, for instance, if you wanted to improve customer retention rates, you might start by measuring things like how many people signed up for their newsletter, how many people visited the website during peak hours and how many paid memberships they sold. Once you've got a handle on that, you can move on to looking at the number of emails sent, phone calls made, chat sessions and so forth. When you reach the hardest part of the funnel, you'll have a great idea of what needs improvement.

If you want to find out who your biggest competitors are then you should try to identify the major players in your market. Then compare your stats against theirs. Don't forget to take into account seasonal fluctuations too! For example, if you sell tickets to sports games, then September through December are traditionally busy times compared to January through March.

What should a dashboard contain?

Now that you've chosen the relevant metrics you want to track, you need to figure out where to store them. One option is to use an online database such as Salesforce Analytics Cloud or Tableau Public. Both offer plenty of prebuilt templates which you can customize however you please. Another approach is to use spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel or Numbers. In either case, you'll need to add formulas for calculating the KPIs and set up filters to exclude irrelevant rows.

You can also use apps like QuickBooks Online or Xero to manage your finances. Alternatively, you could use software like HubSpot or Marketo to run email campaigns and social media posts. Finally, you can install Zapier to integrate various platforms together seamlessly.

Whatever method you end up using, remember to regularly review your dashboard to ensure nothing has changed. And finally, if you're still unsure where to begin, check out our guide to building a sales dashboard starting with the basics.

The Sales Dashboard

A good sales dashboard will allow you to monitor various parameters of your business' progress such as customer satisfaction scores, order cancellations and so forth.

It is also essential when creating a sales dashboard to keep track of which customers are actually buying products and services from you, rather than simply browsing around looking at items they like. This helps you avoid wasting resources chasing after people who aren't interested in anything you offer and may even be actively trying to get away without paying any money.

In addition to tracking data about your clients, you need to make sure you know where each client has come from and if there were any problems during their previous purchase experience. For example, did they buy something through another retailer before coming to you? Were they recommended by a friend? Did someone else contact them directly? All of this information needs to be recorded on your dashboard so you can easily see how you've been performing over time.

There are two main ways you can do this. Either use a third party tool such as Xero or QuickBooks Online  or try building your dashboard yourself using spreadsheets and tools such as Google Sheets. You could then share the results with colleagues and other stakeholders within your organization via email or online collaboration software.

If you choose the latter option however, bear in mind that not everyone will understand the formulas used inside your spreadsheet, especially if you haven't fully explained them. So unless you really trust those working alongside you, we recommend sticking with a more automated solution whenever possible.


Author

Anyleads

San Francisco

We are the leading marketing automation platform serving more than 100,000 businesses daily. We operate in 3 countries, based in San Francisco, New York, Paris & London.

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