If you’re in sales, marketing, or ops and tired of bouncing between tabs to see how your team’s really doing, this is for you. This guide will walk you through building custom dashboards in Arti—the analytics tool (not the AI artist, not some weird browser plugin)—so you can actually track your GTM (go-to-market) metrics without losing a weekend to setup or a fortune to consultants. I’ll call out what’s useful, what’s a waste of time, and what to skip if you just want results.
What Are GTM Metrics—and Why Bother With Custom Dashboards?
GTM metrics are the numbers that tell you if your sales, marketing, and customer success teams are actually moving the needle. Think pipeline velocity, conversion rates, win/loss ratios, CAC, retention, and so on. These numbers often live in five different tools, and the “standard” dashboards in any tool never match what your team actually cares about.
Custom dashboards let you track what matters to you, in one place, without waiting for ops or IT. But not every tool makes this easy; some dashboards are all flash, no substance. Arti does a decent job of balancing flexibility with not making you want to throw your laptop out the window.
Step 1: Get Your Data into Arti (Don’t Skip This)
Before you even think about dashboards, you need your data in Arti. This is the part where most people get stuck—or gloss over.
How Arti Connects to Your Data
- Native integrations: Arti supports direct connections to most major CRMs (like Salesforce, HubSpot), marketing platforms, and warehouse solutions. Use these if you can.
- CSV/Excel uploads: For data living in spreadsheets (we all have them), you can upload files manually.
- APIs and webhooks: If you’re technical, Arti has an API for custom sources. If you’re not, skip this.
What to Watch Out For: - Garbage in, garbage out. If your CRM data is a mess or your fields aren't mapped right, your dashboards will be useless. Take the time to check field mappings and naming conventions. - Some integrations can take a while to sync or might have limits on the frequency. Set expectations with your team.
Pro tip: Start with one data source and get that working before you add more. Chasing down sync errors across five sources is a rookie mistake.
Step 2: Decide What to Track (Don’t Boil the Ocean)
It’s tempting to throw every metric you’ve ever heard of onto your dashboard. Don’t. Start with a shortlist—think one dashboard for sales, one for marketing, one for execs.
Key GTM Metrics That Actually Matter:
- Sales pipeline: Value, velocity, stage conversion rates
- Lead sources: Where are deals really coming from?
- Win/loss rates: By rep, by segment, by source
- Marketing funnel: MQL to SQL conversion, cost per lead
- Customer metrics: Retention, expansion, churn
What to Ignore (for Now):
- Vanity metrics (e.g., page views, “engagement scores” with no context)
- Anything you can’t define in one sentence
- Data that’s always stale or incomplete
Write down the 5–7 metrics you actually need to make decisions each week. Build around those.
Step 3: Build Your First Dashboard
Now for the fun part. Arti’s dashboard builder is drag-and-drop, but that doesn’t mean you should just drop everything in.
3.1: Create a New Dashboard
- Click “Dashboards” in the sidebar, then “New Dashboard.”
- Give it a name that makes sense (“Sales Weekly Snapshot,” not “Dashboard 1”).
- Set permissions: Don’t share it with the whole company by default.
3.2: Add Your First Chart or Widget
- Click “Add Widget” or “Add Chart.”
- Choose your data source (the one you connected in Step 1).
- Pick the chart type that actually fits the data—bar for comparisons, line for trends, table for lists.
Don’t get fancy yet. If you’re not sure, start with tables and simple bar charts.
3.3: Configure Filters and Segments
- Add filters (date range, owner, region) so you can slice the data.
- Save common filters as defaults for the dashboard.
Pro tip: If you have to explain what a chart means every week, it’s too complicated. Simplify.
Step 4: Refine, Share, and Automate
4.1: Clean Up (Less Is More)
- Remove anything you don’t look at weekly.
- Group related charts together (use sections or tabs in Arti).
- Add short descriptions to each widget—future you will thank you.
4.2: Share With Your Team (But Not Everyone)
- Use Arti’s share or export features to send dashboards to people who actually need them. Don’t CC the world.
- Set up scheduled email reports if people prefer inbox delivery.
What works: Sharing links with “view only” permissions. Keeps things locked down.
What doesn’t: Giving edit access to everyone. Chaos will ensue.
4.3: Automate Updates and Alerts
- Schedule data refreshes so your dashboards are up to date.
- Set up alerts for key thresholds (e.g., pipeline drops below target).
Heads up: Alert fatigue is real. Only set alerts for stuff you actually want to act on, or people will ignore them.
Step 5: Iterate (Don’t Fall in Love With Your First Version)
You’ll realize pretty quickly that some charts are useless and others need tweaking.
- Do: Regularly ask your team which widgets they actually use.
- Don’t: Get precious about your dashboard design. Change it as your needs change.
- Review monthly: Prune outdated widgets and add new ones as needed.
One dashboard that gets used beats five that don’t.
What Arti Does Well—and Where It Falls Short
What Works:
- Arti’s visual editor is genuinely easy for non-technical users.
- Native integrations cover most popular GTM tools.
- Drag-and-drop is fast; you won’t get stuck in configuration hell.
What’s a Hassle:
- Complex calculated metrics sometimes need a workaround (look for “Custom Formula” but expect a learning curve).
- Multi-source data can be tricky if your data isn’t well-aligned. You might need to tidy up your data before you see clean results.
- Permissions are basic—good enough for most teams, but not enterprise-grade.
Ignore the Hype:
- AI “insights” and auto-generated dashboards are mostly surface-level. Stick to hand-building what you know you need.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Custom dashboards in Arti aren’t magic, but they’re a solid way to actually see what’s going on with your GTM teams—without the fluff or endless meetings. Start small, focus on the metrics you really need, and don’t be afraid to tweak things as you go. You’ll get more out of your data (and your team) by keeping things simple and making improvements over time.
If you’re not sure where to start, just pick your top 3 metrics and build from there. The best dashboard is the one you’ll actually look at.