The key to a successful dashboard is being able to organize it in a way that best fits your business’ needs. It’s not enough to purchase a sales CRM software. Agents typically have a hard time adopting the software because they don’t know how to use it in a way that works with their strengths.
In order for sales agents to ensure they don’t just use their sales CRM software as a place to store their contact data, sales automation providers are trying to make the user experience more personalized by offering agents and managers customizable dashboards.
We’re going to break down what features need to be utilized by sales managers and sales agents, why they’re so important, what metrics agents and managers should keep track of, and what providers offer the best solutions for your business.
Why Sales CRM Dashboards Matter
Many agents stop using sales CRM software because of how good it is at collecting data. It typically collects so much data that it often overwhelms agents to the point where they can’t do anything with it. However, sales automation providers can help agents by making dashboards customizable, only showing the data they ask for.
Sales CRM dashboards matter because proper organization is the foundation for sales, marketing, support, and management teams in any business. The dashboard is where sales agents will be directed to when first opening their CRM software, so whatever information that matters most to them needs to be front and center.
Pipedrive, for example, offers users tons of categories and metrics to arrange on the dashboard. Managers can use metrics similar to these to get an overall picture of which agents are currently doing the best work and how many deals have been won/lost. Agents can focus on metrics like “Emails Sent/Received” and “Activities Completed” to keep track of their day-to-day activities.
Sales CRM dashboards tend to be accessible by all the sales agents, whether they’re working in the office or remotely. Agents can use sales CRM dashboards, regardless of location and how they’re accessing the dashboard, to look at KPIs that matter most to the team, and even to spark friendly competition with each other by seeing each agent’s numbers for the day/week/month. Let’s look closer at what features sales agents and managers should look for.
Mobility Features.
Sales agents are constantly in and out of the office, which doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to benefit from all the features sales CRM software has to offer. Being able to pull up tasks, reports, calendars, and contact data on the go can make all the difference in an important meeting.
Agents can pull up a report for their lead who might need more nurturing than usual, and it will show that they’ve come prepared and that they actually care about the lead’s wellbeing. In the moment, it might not seem like a big deal because it doesn’t take much to open your phone and pull up a monthly report, but in the grand scheme of things, how many customers would actually commit if the agent had to say, “You know what? I left the reports at home, but I can email them to you as soon as we’re done.”
There’s an extra, unnecessary step now for the lead. He/she has to now go online, check their email, and then make a decision. All of that takes time, and all that time is just giving the lead a chance to back out. If there’s a good flow in the meeting, don’t let a simple report be the difference maker.
Sales CRM Dashboards for Managers
Sales managers and sales agents typically have different tasks throughout the day. One isn’t necessarily more busy than the other, but their priorities are different, and the numbers they need aren’t going to always match up. Luckily, most sales automation providers offer users multiple, customizable dashboards, so managers can look at one dashboard while agents look at another. We’re going to start with what sales managers should look for in a sales CRM dashboard.
1. Sales Pipeline
2. Closed Sales
3. Weekly/Monthly Reports
4. Sales Cycle/Velocity Reports
5. Sales Activity Reports
6. Sales Forecasts Broken Down by Team, Agent, Territory
7. Activity/Event Calendar
8. Contact Data Records
The Final Word
Sales CRM dashboards are a great tool for sales teams — both managers and agents. Sales automation software is a fantastic way for businesses to take all the contact data they acquire and organize it into a way that makes the most sense for them. Sales teams, as we’ve discussed, use it primarily for organizing contacts, generating daily/weekly/monthly reports, and for generating sales forecasts.
The dashboard is the hub of the sales automation software. Without it, or without properly organizing one, all the data a company receives will remain completely unorganized. Agents have a hard time adopting sales CRM software because they don’t realize that they can’t rely 100 percent on the automation features.
Thankfully, sales automation providers offer businesses customizable dashboards where they can add metrics, see quick reports, share them with the team, pull up contact data forms, and even call contacts directly from the software with VoIP integrations. Businesses can even create multiple dashboards to further organize the data.
Ultimately, if businesses aren’t taking advantage of the organizational features that come with Sales CRM dashboards, they’re shooting themselves in the foot. When agents and managers take the time to improve their own user experience, they’ll offer leads a better experience and increase the odds of converting them into a customer.
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