If you’re running a sales team (or just trying to keep your pipeline from turning into a black hole), you already know staring at numbers isn’t enough. You need to cut through the noise and figure out what’s actually moving deals forward—and what’s just clogging things up. This is for anyone who wants real answers, not just pretty charts. Here’s how to actually use the Salesforge analytics dashboard to get your pipeline in shape.
1. Get the Lay of the Land: Understand What the Dashboard Tracks
Before you start clicking around, know what you’re looking at. Salesforge’s dashboard isn’t magic—it pulls from your CRM and activity logs. Here’s what most folks will see:
- Pipeline stages: How many deals in each stage (e.g., new lead, qualified, proposal, closed).
- Conversion rates: The percentage of deals moving from one stage to the next.
- Deal velocity: How long it takes for deals to move through each stage.
- Win/loss breakdowns: What gets won, what gets lost, and (hopefully) why.
- Rep activity: Who’s doing what, and how often.
What matters: Focus on the numbers that tell you where deals are getting stuck or dying off. Vanity metrics (like “number of calls made”) are nice for rep dashboards but usually don’t move the needle.
2. Start With the Big Picture
You want to see overall health first. Don’t get lost in the weeds.
- Look at total pipeline value: Is it growing, shrinking, or flatlining month over month?
- Check win rates: Are you closing more deals, or is your team spinning their wheels?
- Spot big swings: Any sudden spikes or drops? Those are worth digging into.
Pro tip: If the dashboard lets you, filter by time period (quarter, month, etc.). Trends matter more than snapshots.
3. Zero In on Bottlenecks
Here’s where most pipelines go sideways: deals pile up somewhere and don’t move. The dashboard should show you a “stage funnel” or similar view.
- Find the stuck stages: Is there a huge drop-off after “demo scheduled”? Are deals hanging out in “negotiation” forever?
- Compare deal counts to conversion rates: Lots of deals in one stage but low conversion? That’s a bottleneck.
- Check deal aging: If deals are aging out in a stage, it’s a sign your process (or team) needs help.
What to ignore: Don’t obsess over the “perfect” funnel shape. Every business is different. The point is to spot the weird stuff, not to match some template.
4. Dig Into Conversion Rates (But Don’t Get Fooled)
Conversion rates are the dashboard’s bread and butter, but they don’t tell the whole story.
- Look for drastic drop-offs: A big gap between “qualified” and “proposal” usually means your initial filter isn’t strict enough—or your pitch is off.
- Check for leaky stages: If you’re losing a lot of deals late in the process, something’s broken (pricing, competition, or internal delays).
- Segment by rep, source, or product: Sometimes the problem isn’t the stage—it’s the lead source or a specific person’s approach.
Watch out: Conversion rates can look better if reps are cherry-picking easy deals or sandbagging. Always sanity-check against deal quality and source.
5. Analyze Sales Velocity: How Fast Are Deals Moving?
Slow deals are usually dead deals. The dashboard should show you average time in stage and overall sales cycle length.
- Identify slow stages: If deals linger in “proposal” for weeks, maybe your quotes are confusing or approvals take too long.
- Compare to benchmarks: Is your sales cycle twice as long as last quarter? Find out why.
- Drill down to individual deals: Sometimes, one or two zombie deals can skew your numbers. Filter them out and see what’s normal.
Pro tip: Fast isn’t always better. Rushed deals can churn later. Look for consistency and a healthy pace—not just speed.
6. Use Win/Loss Insights (If You Trust Your Data)
If your team’s logging reasons for lost deals, congratulations—you’re ahead of most. Look for patterns, not just anecdotes.
- Read “reason lost” notes: Are you hearing “no budget” a lot, or is it “went with competitor”? Patterns matter.
- Segment by product, territory, or source: Maybe one segment has way lower win rates—dig in.
- Don’t overthink small numbers: If you only lose a handful of deals a month, don’t try to draw big conclusions.
Caution: Most reps hate filling out win/loss fields, so take these with a grain of salt. If the data’s lousy, focus on what you can trust (like stage drop-offs).
7. Rep and Team Performance: Don’t Just Look at Activity
It’s tempting to rank reps by calls, emails, or meetings. But activity doesn’t equal results.
- Compare activity to outcomes: Who actually moves deals forward, not just fills out the CRM?
- Spot coaching opportunities: If one rep’s deals get stuck at the same stage every time, that’s a training moment.
- Filter out noise: Some high performers don’t log everything. Don’t punish them for light data if their results are solid.
What to ignore: Don’t get too caught up in activity leaderboards. Focus on results, not busywork.
8. Set Up Alerts and Custom Views (But Don’t Overcomplicate)
Most dashboards let you set up alerts for things like “deals stuck in stage X for Y days” or “win rate drops below Z%.” These can be handy—if you keep them simple.
- Set a few helpful alerts: For example, deals aging out, or big drops in pipeline value.
- Create views for roles: Sales managers need different info than reps. Keep it focused.
- Don’t build a dashboard Frankenstein: The more charts and filters you pile on, the less anyone will use it.
Pro tip: Use the dashboard for regular pipeline review meetings. It keeps everyone honest and focused.
9. Be Skeptical—Double-Check What the Data Really Says
Dashboards are only as good as what goes in. Garbage in, garbage out.
- Cross-check with reality: If the dashboard says you’re crushing it but your bank account says otherwise, trust the money.
- Spot weird outliers: One monster deal can make things look rosier than they are. Look at medians, not just averages.
- Ask “so what?” For every chart, ask what action you’d take based on it. If you can’t answer, ignore that metric.
10. Iterate—Don’t Set It and Forget It
Your pipeline changes. So should how you look at it.
- Review and adjust: Are you tracking the right things? Are new bottlenecks popping up?
- Get feedback from the team: If reps hate the dashboard, find out why. Make it useful, not just pretty.
- Kill unused reports: If nobody looks at a chart for a month, it probably doesn’t matter.
Keep It Simple, Stay Curious
Don’t let a fancy dashboard lull you into thinking you have all the answers. Use Salesforge’s analytics to spot problems, test solutions, and keep asking questions. The best pipelines aren’t perfect—they’re the ones you keep improving, one honest look at the numbers at a time.