How to create and analyze sales cadence reports in Ebsta

If you manage a sales team (or answer to one), you know that “activity” stats only tell you so much. What actually matters: Are your reps following up in a way that moves deals forward? That’s where sales cadence reports come in. If you’re using Ebsta and want to go beyond surface-level dashboards, this guide is for you.

We’ll walk through how to create, customize, and—most importantly—actually make sense of sales cadence reports in Ebsta. No fluff, no buzzwords, just what you need to get value (and maybe even impress your VP).

1. What Is a Sales Cadence Report (and Why Should You Care)?

Let’s get clear on this: a sales cadence report tracks how, when, and how often your team is reaching out to prospects. It covers the touches—calls, emails, LinkedIn messages, and so on—over a sales cycle.

Why bother? Because random outreach rarely works. Consistent, well-timed follow-ups do. Cadence reports show which reps are sticking to the plan, where prospects drop off, and what’s actually driving responses.

What Ebsta does well:
Ebsta pulls real activity data straight from your CRM and your reps’ email/calendars, so you get a much more honest view than whatever your reps remember to log.

What to watch out for:
Not every touch is equal. A “touch” could be a personalized call or a generic mass email. Ebsta can show you the numbers, but you’ll still need to dig into quality.

2. Setting Up the Basics in Ebsta

Before you can analyze anything, you need to make sure Ebsta is set up to track the data you care about.

Step 1: Connect Ebsta to Your CRM

  • Make sure your Salesforce (or other supported CRM) is properly integrated.
  • Grant permissions so Ebsta can track email/calendar activity. (If you skip this, your reports will be thin or just plain wrong.)
  • Double-check that your team is actually using the tools in their daily workflow.

Pro tip:
If you’re not seeing data populate, don’t waste time troubleshooting alone. Ebsta’s support is decent—reach out early.

Step 2: Define Your Cadence Steps

  • Decide what “touches” count: e.g., outbound call, personalized email, LinkedIn DM, etc.
  • Make sure your team knows what to log (and that Ebsta is actually tracking these automatically).
  • Set realistic benchmarks. If your sales cycle is long, a 3-touch cadence might not cut it.

What matters:
It’s easy to get carried away with fancy sequences, but stick to what your prospects actually respond to. More touches ≠ better results.

3. How to Create a Sales Cadence Report in Ebsta

Once you’ve got your data flowing, you can actually build a report that tells you something useful.

Step 1: Navigate to Cadence Reporting

  • In Ebsta, head to the “Cadences” or “Reporting” section—naming varies slightly depending on your setup.
  • Look for a “New Report” or “Create Report” button.

Step 2: Choose Your Cadence (or Build a New One)

  • You can build reports for existing cadences (like “Outbound Prospecting – Q2”) or create a new cadence to track.
  • Select the cadence you want to analyze.

Step 3: Pick What to Measure

Here’s where most people get lost in the weeds. Focus on:

  • Touchpoints per prospect: How many times do reps reach out, and through which channels?
  • Timing between touches: Are reps following the planned schedule, or are there big gaps?
  • Reply/engagement rates: Which steps actually get a response?
  • Drop-off points: Where do prospects stop responding?

Don’t bother tracking every possible field “just in case.” Start with a few, add more only if you find gaps.

Step 4: Filter & Segment

  • Filter by rep, team, deal stage, or industry—whatever makes sense for your org.
  • Segmenting helps you spot if one team or rep is off-track, or if certain customer types respond differently.

Step 5: Set Timeframes

  • Look at recent data (last 30/60/90 days) to spot trends.
  • Don’t obsess over single weeks—sales cycles are rarely that tidy.

4. Making Sense of the Data: What to Look For (And What to Ignore)

Here’s where most reports go to die: endless screenshots, no real insight.

What’s useful:

  • Cadence consistency: Are your reps sticking to the prescribed timing and steps?
  • Response rates by touch: Which steps get the best results? (If your third email always gets replies, maybe it should be your first.)
  • Drop-off analysis: Where do prospects disappear? Is it after a certain channel or message?
  • Rep-specific trends: Is someone skipping steps but still closing deals? Maybe your cadence is too rigid.

What to ignore:

  • Raw activity volume: More calls/emails doesn’t mean more pipeline.
  • “Touches” without context: If your team’s blasting non-personalized emails, that’s not a success—just noise.
  • Overly granular time slicing: Unless you’re running an A/B test, daily or weekly breakdowns often just create noise.

Pro tip:
Don’t let “data-driven” turn into “data-drowning.” Focus on the patterns that actually line up with won deals or meetings booked.

5. Acting on Your Findings

A report means nothing if it doesn’t change what you do next.

  • Refine your cadence: If certain steps never get a response, cut or rework them.
  • Coach your team: Use real examples. “Hey, Jane, your LinkedIn follow-ups have double the reply rate—let’s have the team try your approach.”
  • Test new ideas: Don’t overhaul your entire cadence at once. Try small tweaks (e.g., swap email #2 and #3) and measure the impact.
  • Share wins and findings: Transparency helps. If a rep finds a step that works, get everyone on board.

What doesn’t work:
Endless meetings about the “data.” Make a change, measure it, and move on.

6. Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Even with good tools, it’s easy to get this stuff wrong. Here’s what to watch out for:

  • Garbage in, garbage out: If reps aren’t using email/calendar integrations, your data will be useless.
  • Chasing vanity metrics: High activity but no deals? You’re tracking the wrong thing.
  • Overcomplicating your cadence: More steps = more confusion. If your team can’t remember the sequence, prospects won’t either.
  • Ignoring outliers: Sometimes a single deal closes after one call. Don’t rebuild your entire process for an exception.

7. Quick Reference: Building a Useful Cadence Report in Ebsta

Here’s the cheat sheet:

  1. Connect Ebsta to your CRM and communication tools.
  2. Define what counts as a “touch.”
  3. Set up your cadence (steps, timing, channels).
  4. Create a new report for your chosen cadence.
  5. Pick key metrics: touches, timing, replies, drop-offs.
  6. Filter by rep, team, or segment.
  7. Analyze the patterns and act on what you find.
  8. Tweak, repeat, and keep it simple.

Keep It Simple and Iterate

The best cadence report is the one you actually use. Start simple, focus on what moves the needle, and revisit your process every quarter. Ebsta’s reporting can absolutely help—if you don’t get lost chasing every shiny dashboard.

Remember, your goal isn’t to check a box for “reporting.” It’s to give your team a clear, repeatable path to more closed deals. Don’t overthink it.