A Sales Dashboard helps you visualize your Sales data, which is helpful for efficient decision-making and performance analysis. With the advent of technology, data-driven Sales teams need a Dashboard that is interactive and intuitive. A Dashboard allows a business to be fully aware of the critical metrics and performance standards. A metric or KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is used to track the effectiveness of certain Sales activities to optimize Sales performance.
In this article, you will learn about the Sales Dashboard & its importance, key features, finally zeroing in on the key metrics a business must include when leveraging a Sales Dashboard to visualize Sales data. The article wraps up with a few Sales Dashboards templates to cater to your needs.
Table of Contents
What is a Sales Dashboard?
Sales Dashboard break down complex information into handy chunks of information, which can be used to obtain actionable insights regarding your business. Simply put, the role of a Sales Dashboard is to extract the most actionable information from your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system and present it in a more palatable format.
The most challenging task of building a Sales Dashboard is understanding the specific goals you are trying to reach. One can start by identifying the key metrics to keep track of to ensure peak efficiency.
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While building a Sales Dashboard, here are a few things you should keep in mind:
- The target audience.
- The frequency of viewing the Sales Dashboard.
- The volume of data included.
- The type of chart(s) needed.
- Purpose of the Dashboard.
The Importance of Sales Dashboard
Sales teams function in a highly target-oriented environment. Sales Dashboard gives you a comprehensive glance at your Sales teams’ performance and give you an idea about where you stand vis-a-vis your company’s revenue targets and come up with effective strategies to reach those revenue targets within the set deadline. As a Sales leader, this allows you to:
- Track progress towards goals.
- Make decisions and plans based on your team’s performance.
- Adjust compensation accordingly and award bonuses and incentives.
- Identify key issues before they snowball into major problems for the enterprise.
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How to Create a Sales Dashboard?
Creating a Sales Dashboard is based on the principle of pulling data from the CRM platform and providing the Sales team with a graphical representation of the same. Here’s a small checklist to look at while building your Sales Dashboard:
- Identify the key metrics and KPIs you wish to track.
- Determine where the data currently resides. It could reside in Google Sheets, an Excel file, or in a CRM system.
- Determine the mode in which you prefer viewing your Dashboard. For instance, you might want to view your Dashboard in TV mode or Mobile mode.
- Identify a Sales Dashboard provider based on your requirements.
Pulling the Data Into the Sales Dashboard
Dashboards that are integrated with your CRM allow you to easily sync the data between them. For instance, the HubSpot CRM lets users create Sales Reports based on the customer database data. They can create reports and dashboards to identify top-performing sales reps, track sales performance, create sales forecasts, and much more.
For some cases, this might be a more manual process. Say, if your company leverages spreadsheets to manage customers and prospects, you will most probably have to build reports from scratch. Fortunately, Excel provides a couple of handy Sales Dashboard templates that you can use to start building. Learn more about setting up a Sales Dashboard in Excel.
14 Must-Have Metrics & KPIs for your Sales Dashboard
According to the 2018 Global Data Management Benchmark Report, 52% of the organizations firmly believe that data and analytics would serve as a key opportunity in the future. To reap maximum benefits from a Sales Dashboard, Sales managers need to avoid measuring the wrong KPIs which bear no effect on business performance. A well-defined KPI or metric will be actionable, well-defined, and above all relevant to the business performance. Personal success Metrics will vary significantly based on the industry, visions, and goals. Here are a few key Sales Dashboard metrics to give you a fair idea:
1. Lead Conversion Ratio
This Key Performance Indicator (KPI) deals with asking the question: Is your Conversion Ratio stable? Lead Conversion Ratio is defined as the number of people that get converted into paying customers. Once a company has established a baseline, you will get an idea of how many leads to convert.
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Once you have gained a good enough understanding of conversion ratio and Average Sales Cycle length, you will know how many leads you will be needing to keep your team running at full throttle. Armed with this information, you also gain an idea of the number of reps you will be needing at any given time. Accordingly, find benchmarks for your specific industry and use them as a target for your Sales pipeline.
2. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) refers to all the costs incurred in signing up a customer. Depending on your line of business, different costs would be associated with CAC. For instance, if you are an online marketer, you will be including the costs of all your campaigns. In a traditional SaaS (Software as a Service) business this would include all your staff’s salaries, Marketing, and Sales costs.
The general recommendation is to recover your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) within a year of the customer’s subscription. Otherwise, you end up burning through all your capital, before you can bank on your Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR).
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Therefore, the goal should be to increase Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and Average Revenue per Unit (ARPU) while cutting Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) to maintain profitability in your enterprise.
3. Customer Churn Rate
The Customer Churn Rate is defined as the number of customers who stopped using your company’s products or services in a given timeframe. Customer Churn Rate, therefore, gives you a realistic overview of your customer retention strategies and the kind of trends you should cope with.
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To calculate Customer Churn Rate, divide the total number of customers at the beginning of the month by the number of customers you ended up losing. The goal should be to keep this metric as low as possible. These calculations can be automated by using professional software that can trigger alarms as and when any Sales anomalies occur. When developing retention strategies this metric should be the top priority.
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4. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
This metric asks the question: How much do you expect to earn from each customer? Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) allows you to track how long you have had paying customers. This is essential since the longer you have had paying customers the more revenue your enterprise will generate. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) in mathematical terms is the total revenue you expect to get from a new customer throughout your relationship minus the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).
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If you see your Customer Lifetime Value increasing (LTV), it means you are getting more revenue from each customer for a longer duration which is a very good thing. This metric gives you an idea of how much Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) can be allowed for the relationship to still be profitable.
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5. Number of Sales Opportunities
The number of Sales opportunities talks about your potential purchase volume. Sales management largely depends on current and new Sales opportunities. The number of Sales opportunities should be pretty high to optimize and increase the value of your Sales metrics. Valid qualified leads are critical for Sales, as is the potential purchase volume of these open opportunities. These require regular monitoring to have a real impact.
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6. Sales Target
Sales Target is a metric that allows you to understand if you are on track regarding the Sales targets for your team. One way to ensure that you are on track to reach your planned goals is by implementing automated Sales reports.
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Hence this metric helps you understand if your team is doing what they should, if they need any help getting aligned to the strategy, or if the whole strategy needs to be revamped. This is crucial for your Sales prediction, letting you know the additional factors affecting the baseline.
7. Sales Growth
Sales Growth is a metric that is a direct proponent of the growth of your company, which makes it integral when it comes to developing your Sales Dashboard. A positive Sales growth over a specific time is an indication that you are on track with your Sales goals. By leveraging the Sales Performance Dashboard you can analyze the performance of your reps, reassess the vertical distribution in your Sales team which allows you to have higher returns.
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8. Sales Opportunity Score
Every single Sales opportunity will have to meet your minimum lead requirements. Scoring models for Sales opportunities come into play due to different classifications within opportunities in terms of potential and Sales opportunities. These scoring models serve as a KPI for Sales that help you assign a standardized value (1 to 5 for instance) for your Sales opportunities. This score is key when it comes to prioritizing the resources and assigning them accordingly. This ensures that profitable Sales opportunities are handled promptly.
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9. New & Expansion MRR
The MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) happens to be one of the most popular SaaS metrics. It can track all the monthly Sales, Upsells, and Churns. An enterprise must maintain a healthy MRR since this makes sure that you focus on generating consistent and recurring revenue to boost your monthly cash inflow. This can also be used to predict future business health and growth.
This is a key metric that is heavily influenced by the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and the Customer Churn Rate. For instance, a high Churn Rate means that your business is not as sustainable as your monthly customer losses keep growing rapidly. If your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is very close to your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) then a significant amount of investment will have to go into acquiring customers.
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10. Upsell and Cross-Sell Prices
By focusing on effective Upselling and Cross-Selling tactics, you can increase your Return On Investment (ROI) and revenue. This comes from the simple idea that it is easier and cheaper to generate more revenue from existing clients and customers, as compared to new clients and customers.
The Upselling tactic relies on encouraging customers to buy a more expensive upgrade or package of your product or service. Cross-Selling relies on encouraging customers to buy a related product or service.
This Metric helps improve your customer service since your relevant suggestions can increase customer loyalty and satisfaction.
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11. Sales Cycle Length
A well-defined Sales Cycle is helpful when it comes to streamlining the Sales process. Sales Cycle length is generally calculated using a CRM tool like Zoho, Salesforce, etc. Average Sales Cycle length brings about predictability as a proponent of your Sales forecasting. Reducing your Average Sales Cycle length can help you accelerate revenue growth that is a widely used tactic by high growth companies.
Analyze the Sales Cycles for individual reps at different stages of it, to optimize your current Sales Cycle. A quick comparison between the reps can help you understand which one fares better than the others. The objective is to have each lead spend as little time as possible in each stage of the Sales funnel. Sales Cycle length therefore can be a key metric that is useful in tracking an individual rep’s progress as well.
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On a Sales Dashboard, you can use an alert to identify the reps that might need training depending on the Sales Cycle length.
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12. NPS (Net Promoter Score)
Net Promoter Score is defined as the likelihood score that a customer will recommend your brand or service to a friend. You can make use of customer surveys and interviews, or simply pose this question at the end of follow-up mail of product order or subscription.
According to Net Promoter Network, the NPS score can be classified into 3 categories:
- Promoters (Score 9-10): This demographic will drive the Sales and is usually full of praise for your company.
- Passives (Score 7-8): These are the people that are satisfied but unenthusiastic customers, who end up leaving at the prospect of a better offer.
- Detractors (Score 0-6): This demographic consists of unsatisfied customers that spread negative information and bring a bad name to your brand image.
To calculate NPS, you need to subtract the percentage of Detractors from your percentage of Promoters. Compare this customer success Metric over several months to get an idea about user experience.
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13. Average Revenue Per Unit (ARPU)
Average Revenue Per Unit or ARPU indicates the average customer revenue from all your Sales. To calculate ARPU, you divide the total MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) by the total number of customers you have. Your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) should always be less than your ARPU as this would indicate the generation of revenue.
Rising Average Revenue Per Unit (ARPU) is a sign that you are on the right track and are signing bigger customers or customers with a more expensive subscription plan.
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14. Sales Per Rep
This Sales KPI is essential when it comes to having an idea of how your team is performing and the kind of targets they need to reach. The revenue each Sales rep brings should be compared with historical data to analyze performance.
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Identify which Sales rep has the best performance and have all the other reps implement the same strategy as this Sales rep to improve your team’s performance.
Key Sales Dashboard Templates
Here are a few examples of Sales Dashboards to give you an idea about where to start on your data visualization journey:
1. Sales KPI Dashboard
The Sales KPI Dashboard represents the most important strategic and operational data needed for running the Sales department. This also helps increase the quality and performance of Sales goals.
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The critical Sales numbers represented in a Sales KPI Dashboard are revenue, profit, and costs to name a few. A Sales KPI Dashboard presents the current and historical data on the same screen, which allows the managers to have a complete perspective of the Sales process and delve deeper into the numbers that are needed for sustainable business development.
2. Sales Conversion Dashboard
The Sales Conversion Dashboard enables you to look at minute details of the individual stages of the Sales process, to enhance your all-over conversion rate. This Dashboard breaks down the raw information into simple visualizations of different aspects of the Sales conversion process.
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The funnel depicted in this manner will demonstrate the exact way your enterprise generates Sales and which stages need to be retouched for increased efficiency. Armed with this information you can decide the stages where additional training might be useful, or take a closer look at the leads being targeted.
3. Sales Opportunity Dashboard
The Sales Opportunity Dashboard focuses on the most promising leads in your Sales funnel. This usually depicts the overview of the current opportunities and the purchase value of each, along with a comparison with historical data to help you determine if your opportunities have generated growth and by how much.
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This Dashboard is a visualization of every key aspect of your Sales portfolio. It allows you to view your Sales operations as a whole without any loss of valuable information.
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It serves as a one-stop-shop for all your Sales insights making your operations and Sales data digestible while engaging the users to delve deeper and provide valuable insights on the most important metrics and developments.
Conclusion
This article covers the basics of a Sales Dashboard, their importance, and how you can start by creating a Sales Dashboard for your Sales team. It then sheds light on a few key Metrics to keep track of in your Sales Dashboard to effectively track your Sales team’s progress and a few Sales Dashboard examples to choose from based on your unique requirements. Extracting complex data from a diverse set of data sources can be a challenging task and this is where Hevo saves the day!
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Amit is a Content Marketing Manager at Hevo Data. He enjoys writing about SaaS products and modern data platforms, having authored over 200 articles on these subjects.