Sales reporting

Sales reps need visibility into their performance: Am I on track to hit quota? Which deals need to close this month to hit target? How does my activity this month compare to last month? Without dashboards, you're guessing about your performance until your manager tells you at the end of the month that you're behind.

This chapter builds pipeline dashboards that show deal status and progression, tracks personal performance metrics that matter for quota attainment, sets up revenue forecasting so you know whether you'll hit your number, and implements forecast accuracy tracking so you improve over time.

These dashboards transform vague questions ("Am I doing well?") into specific answers ("I'm at 73% to quota with 12 days left in the month, and I have £87k in late-stage deals that should close").

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Dashboards are collections of reports displayed together. Build a personal pipeline dashboard you check every morning.

Create your pipeline dashboard

Navigate to Reports > Dashboards > Create dashboard.

Name: "My pipeline dashboard."

Description: "Personal sales metrics and pipeline health."

Visibility: Private (only you can see it).

Now add reports to this dashboard.

Report 1: Pipeline by stage

Shows how much pipeline value sits in each deal stage.

Click "Add report" > Create custom report > Deals.

Metrics:

• Sum of deal amount
• Segmented by: Deal stage

Filters:

• Deal owner is [you]
• Deal stage is not Closed Won or Closed Lost

Visualisation: Horizontal bar chart showing value in each stage.

This report answers: "Where is my pipeline concentrated?" If 80% of value is in early stages (Discovery, Demo), you need to move deals forward. If most value is in late stages (Proposal, Negotiating), you're close to closing significant revenue.

Report 2: Deals closing this month

Shows how much you expect to close by month-end.

Create report > Deals.

Metrics:

• Count of deals
• Sum of deal amount

Filters:

• Deal owner is [you]
• Close date is this month
• Deal stage is not Closed Won or Closed Lost

Visualisation: Single value (shows total amount closing this month).

Compare this to your monthly quota. If quota is £50k and this report shows £35k, you're short £15k. You need to accelerate existing deals or find new opportunities.

Report 3: Weighted pipeline forecast

Shows pipeline value adjusted for probability of closing.

Create report > Deals.

Calculation: Sum of (Deal amount × Stage probability).

Example:

• £100k deal in Proposal stage (40% probability) = £40k weighted
• £80k deal in Negotiating stage (65% probability) = £52k weighted
• Total weighted pipeline = £92k

Filters:

• Deal owner is [you]
• Deal stage is not Closed Won or Closed Lost

This is your realistic forecast - what you'll probably close based on historical win rates.

Report 4: Won vs Lost deals (this quarter)

Shows win rate and helps identify patterns.

Create report > Deals.

Metrics:

• Count of Closed Won deals
• Count of Closed Lost deals
• Win rate percentage (Won / (Won + Lost))

Filters:

• Deal owner is [you]
• Close date is this quarter

Visualisation: Pie chart showing Won vs Lost.

Target: 20-30% win rate is typical for B2B. Higher is better, but if you're at 60%+ you might not be pursuing enough opportunities (too conservative in who you engage).

Report 5: Average deal size

Tracks whether you're moving upmarket or downmarket.

Create report > Deals.

Metrics:

• Average deal amount for Closed Won deals

Filters:

• Deal owner is [you]
• Close date is this quarter

Visualisation: Single value showing average.

If your average deal size is declining, you're closing smaller customers. If increasing, you're moving upmarket. Track this trend over time.

Report 6: Pipeline coverage ratio

Shows how much pipeline you have relative to quota.

Calculation: (Total open pipeline value) / (Remaining quota this quarter).

Industry best practice: 3-4× coverage ratio. If you have £30k remaining quota, you should have £90-120k in open pipeline.

If coverage ratio is below 3×, you don't have enough pipeline. Focus on prospecting and deal generation before month-end.

If above 5×, you have plenty of pipeline but might not be qualifying hard enough. Too many low-probability deals.

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Beyond pipeline, track activity metrics that drive results.

Activity metrics dashboard

Create second dashboard: "My activity metrics."

Report 1: Calls made

Metric: Count of call activities logged

Filters: Activity owner is [you], Activity date is this month

Visualisation: Line chart showing calls per day.

Consistent calling activity correlates with closed deals. If your call volume drops, your pipeline suffers 4-6 weeks later.

Report 2: Meetings held

Metric: Count of meeting activities (outcome: Completed)

Filters: Activity owner is [you], Activity date is this month

Visualisation: Single value showing total meetings this month.

More meetings (especially with new prospects) means more opportunities entering your pipeline.

Report 3: Emails sent

Metric: Count of email activities

Filters: Activity owner is [you], Activity date is this month

Track email volume. Consistent outreach generates pipeline.

Report 4: Deals created

Metric: Count of deals where Created date is this month

Filters: Deal owner is [you]

Shows how many new opportunities you're generating. If this number is declining month-over-month, you're not prospecting enough.

Comparison to previous periods

For each activity metric, add comparison:

• This month vs last month
• This month vs same month last year
• This quarter vs last quarter

Example: If you made 120 calls this month but only 80 last month, you increased activity 50%. If closed revenue doesn't increase proportionally, examine call quality or targeting.

Leading vs lagging indicators

Activity metrics are leading indicators (predict future results). Revenue metrics are lagging indicators (show past results).

If activity metrics are strong (lots of calls, meetings, emails) but revenue is weak, give it time - activity drives results with a lag. Continue high activity.

If activity metrics are weak (few calls, few meetings), revenue will suffer in 4-8 weeks. Increase activity immediately before pipeline dries up.

Forecast how much revenue you'll close this month and quarter based on your current pipeline.

Build forecast report

Create report: "Revenue forecast vs quota."

Metrics:

• Quota amount (manual entry or pulled from goal tracking)
• Closed-won revenue (actual revenue closed so far this period)
• Weighted pipeline forecast (from Section 1, Report 3)
• Total forecast = Closed + Weighted pipeline

Visualisation: Progress bar showing:

• Quota (full bar length)
• Closed revenue (filled portion)
• Forecast (projected end point)

Example:

• Monthly quota: £50k
• Closed so far: £30k (60% of quota)
• Weighted pipeline: £25k
• Total forecast: £55k (110% of quota)

In this scenario, you're on track to exceed quota if weighted pipeline closes as expected.

Forecast by close date

Not all pipeline will close this period. Segment forecast by close date:

Create report: "Deals closing this month (by stage)."

Metrics:

• Sum of deal amount
• Segmented by: Deal stage

Filters:

• Close date is this month
• Deal stage is not Closed Won or Closed Lost

This shows how much should close this month from each stage.

Example:

• Negotiating stage: £40k (high probability these close)
• Proposal stage: £60k (medium probability)
• Demo stage: £30k (low probability - might slip to next month)

Your conservative forecast counts only Negotiating stage deals. Your aggressive forecast counts all of them. Reality usually lands between.

Best case / Most likely / Worst case scenarios

Create three forecast scenarios:

Best case: All deals with close date this month close successfully.

Calculation: Sum of all open deal amounts where close date is this month.

Most likely: Weighted pipeline forecast (deal amount × stage probability).

Calculation: Sum of (deal amount × probability) for all deals closing this month.

Worst case: Only deals in late stages (Negotiating, Contract sent) close.

Calculation: Sum of deals in stages with >60% probability closing this month.

Present these three scenarios to your manager during forecast calls. This shows you've thought through multiple outcomes rather than giving one number you're overconfident about.

Forecasting is a skill that improves with practice. Track your accuracy and learn from misses.

Record your forecasts

At the start of each month/quarter, document your forecast in a spreadsheet or note:

Date: 1 December 2025Forecast period: December 2025Most likely forecast: £48kBest case: £65kWorst case: £35k

Save this record. Don't change it mid-month.

Compare forecast to actuals

At period end, compare what you forecasted to what actually closed:

Date: 31 December 2025Actual closed: £42k

Forecast accuracy: £42k / £48k = 87.5% accurate

If you consistently forecast ±10% of actuals, you're accurate. If you're off by 30-50%, you're either too optimistic about deal closure rates or bad at qualifying.

Analyse forecast misses

For periods where forecast was significantly wrong, analyse why:

Revenue came in below forecast:

• Which deals you expected to close didn't close?
• Why didn't they close? (Slipped to next month? Closed-lost? Still in negotiation?)
• Were close dates unrealistic from the start?
• Did you overestimate deal probabilities?

Revenue came in above forecast:

• Which unexpected deals closed?
• Why weren't they in your forecast? (Deal moved faster than expected? New deal appeared and closed quickly?)
• Are you being too conservative in forecasting?

Document learnings. Adjust next month's forecast methodology based on what you learned.

Improve probability calibration

If you consistently over-forecast (actuals are 70% of forecast), your stage probabilities are too optimistic. Reduce them:

• If you set Proposal stage at 40% probability but only 25% of Proposal deals actually close, reduce Proposal probability to 25%.

If you consistently under-forecast (actuals are 130% of forecast), you're too conservative. Either:

• Increase stage probabilities
• Include more deals in your forecast (counting deals further out)

Calibrate probabilities quarterly based on what actually closes. This gradually improves forecast accuracy.

Forecast accuracy as a skill

Accurate forecasting is valuable:

• Leadership trusts your numbers
• You make better decisions about where to focus (if forecast is short, work harder on closing existing deals vs prospecting for new ones)
• Compensation planning (know what commission you'll earn)

Treat forecasting as a skill to develop, not a bureaucratic exercise. Each month, try to forecast more accurately than last month.

Your personal dashboards and forecasting tools are now complete. Pipeline dashboards show deal status and where your opportunities are concentrated, activity metrics track the behaviours that drive results, revenue forecasting shows whether you'll hit quota based on current pipeline, and forecast accuracy tracking helps you improve predictions over time.

These tools transform sales from guesswork into data-driven performance management. You know each morning whether you're on track, which deals to prioritise, and how much activity you need to hit your targets. No more surprises at month-end when your manager asks why you missed quota.

You've now completed the full Sales Hub configuration. Your account is set up for efficient daily work, your pipeline reflects reality, your activities are tracked consistently, your meeting schedulers remove booking friction, your sales tools accelerate closing, your pipeline management keeps deals moving, and your dashboards show exactly where you stand.

Use these tools daily, and you'll close more deals faster while spending less time on administrative tasks.

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