If you’re on a business development team, you know the pain of wading through dashboards stuffed with useless charts and vanity metrics. You want to see relationship trends, track pipeline progress, and spot real opportunities—not stare at generic reports that don’t help anyone close a deal. This guide is for folks who want to squeeze actual value out of their CRM dashboards, not just tick a box for management.
Let’s get into how to build dashboards in Introhive that people will actually use, with none of the fluff. I’ll walk through the steps, share what works, call out what to avoid, and help you get to a dashboard that helps you sell, not just “report.”
Why Custom Dashboards Matter (and What to Ignore)
Before you start dragging widgets onto a canvas, it’s worth asking: what do you actually need to see? Most out-of-the-box dashboards are designed to look impressive, not to be useful. Here’s what to focus on:
- Signal over noise: Only show data that helps you make decisions or take action.
- Relationship insights: Surface who’s talking to whom, and where the connections are weak or strong.
- Pipeline health: Make it easy to see deals at risk, stalled opps, and new leads.
- Ignore what doesn’t drive action: If nobody uses a metric to change behavior, leave it out.
Pro tip: Ask your team, “When was the last time you made a decision based on this dashboard?” If the answer is “never,” cut it.
Step 1: Get Clear on Your Team’s Real Needs
Custom dashboards are only as good as the questions they answer. Before you even log in, talk to your business development team. Find out:
- What do you check every morning to know if you’re on track?
- Which clients or deals are slipping through the cracks?
- Where do you waste time hunting for information?
- What do you wish you could see in one place?
Forget about what the software can do for a minute. Get specific about what your team actually wants to see.
What works: Short, focused dashboards that answer a handful of real questions.
What doesn’t: Trying to cover every possible metric “just in case.”
Step 2: Audit What Introhive Tracks Out of the Box
Now, open up Introhive and take a hard look at what’s already there. Introhive is great at surfacing relationship data—email volume, meeting frequency, contact strength, and so on. But out of the box, it tries to be everything to everyone.
- Look at the default dashboards. Which widgets do people actually use?
- Identify which fields and metrics are reliable (and which are spotty or out of date).
- Make a list: keep, tweak, or toss.
Don’t be afraid to delete. Clutter is the enemy of insight.
Step 3: Map Out Your Must-Have Metrics
Here’s where you get practical. Based on your team’s input and what’s available in Introhive, decide what absolutely needs to be on your dashboard. For most business development teams, the essentials are:
- Relationship strength: Who are your strongest contacts? Where are the gaps?
- Recent activity: Emails sent, meetings booked, calls made—broken down by client, team, or time period.
- Deal pipeline: What’s coming up, what’s stalled, and what’s closed.
- Referrals and introductions: Who’s opening doors for you, and where do you need to nudge someone?
Be ruthless. More than 6-8 widgets and you’re just making a new mess.
Step 4: Build Your Dashboard in Introhive
Time to get your hands dirty. Here’s how to build a custom dashboard in Introhive (as of early 2024):
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Go to the Dashboards section.
Usually, there’s a “Create New Dashboard” button. If not, look for a plus (+) or “Customize” option. -
Choose your layout.
Start simple: 2-3 columns, not a wild mosaic. It’s not a Pinterest board. -
Add widgets.
Drag and drop the visualizations you need. For business development, focus on: - Relationship mapping (contact strength, connection history)
- Activity timelines (recent emails, last meeting dates)
- Deal pipeline summaries (open, won, lost)
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Referral tracking (who’s bringing in new business)
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Set filters and date ranges.
Make sure people can filter by their own accounts, regions, or teams. Default to “last 30 days” or “this quarter”—nobody cares what happened two years ago. -
Name your dashboard and save.
Give it a name your team will recognize, like “BD Team Daily” or “Key Accounts Pulse.” Avoid the classic “Dashboard 4” mistake. -
Share with your team.
Make sure permissions are set so everyone who needs it can see (and use) the dashboard.
What works:
- Keeping layouts clean and uncluttered
- Using clear, simple labels
- Defaulting to actionable time frames
What doesn’t:
- Overcomplicating with too many filters
- Stacking similar widgets just to fill space
- Relying on metrics nobody trusts
Step 5: Tweak, Test, and Get Feedback
Even the best plan won’t survive first contact with reality. After your dashboard is live:
- Watch how the team uses it for a week.
- Ask them what’s confusing or missing.
- Notice if people keep switching back to spreadsheets or old reports.
Make changes fast. If a widget isn’t pulling its weight, yank it. If people love a particular view, make it bigger and more prominent.
Pro tip: Schedule a 15-minute check-in every month. Dashboards are never really “done.” They’re living tools.
Step 6: Avoid Common Pitfalls
Here are a few traps to watch out for, based on hard-won experience:
- Vanity metrics: Just because you can track it doesn’t mean you should. “Total emails sent” sounds impressive but means nothing without context.
- Analysis paralysis: Too much data is worse than too little. People tune out when faced with a wall of charts.
- Dashboard sprawl: Resist making a new dashboard for every possible view. If you need 10 dashboards, you probably need to rethink your approach.
- Ignoring data quality: If the data feeding your widgets is garbage, the dashboard is, too. Make sure your team is updating CRM records and logging activity—otherwise, it’s all just pretty pictures.
Step 7: Use Your Dashboard to Drive Action
This is the part most teams skip. A dashboard isn’t a trophy—it’s a tool to spark conversations and decisions. Here’s how to make sure it actually gets used:
- Start team meetings by glancing at the dashboard. What stands out? What needs attention this week?
- Use insights to follow up on cold leads, revive stalled deals, or thank someone for a key intro.
- Encourage reps to flag outdated or missing data right from the dashboard view.
The best dashboards don’t just inform—they prompt action. If yours isn’t, it’s time for another tweak.
A Few Extras Worth Trying (But Don’t Overdo It)
If you’ve nailed the basics and want to experiment, here are a couple of features in Introhive that can add value (if used sparingly):
- Relationship scoring: Use Introhive’s algorithms to highlight accounts where your influence is fading or growing. Don’t get too hung up on the exact number—look for changes and trends.
- Automated alerts: Set up notifications for big shifts, like when an account goes dark or a new relationship pops up. Just don’t flood your team with emails—they’ll tune them out.
- Integration with CRM tasks: If possible, link dashboard insights directly to follow-up actions in your main CRM. That way, nobody has to copy-paste reminders.
Again, these are only useful if they help you take action. If you’re just adding bells and whistles, skip it.
Keep It Simple, Review Often
Building a useful custom dashboard in Introhive isn’t rocket science, but it does take some discipline. Start with what your team really needs, cut the clutter, and don’t be afraid to change things up as you go. The best dashboards are the ones people actually use—so keep it simple, review often, and don’t let it turn into another digital junk drawer. Stick to what works, ignore what doesn’t, and you’ll have a dashboard that actually helps your business development team get the job done.