Let’s be honest: most sales reports end up as pretty charts nobody reads, or worse, numbers that just make you feel busy. If you want sales reports that do more than tick a box—ones that help you actually make decisions—this guide is for you. Whether you’re a sales manager, a startup founder, or the “accidental admin” who got stuck with Insightly, I’ll walk you through building reports that show what’s really happening, not just what looks good in a meeting.
First things first: if you’re not familiar, Insightly is a CRM that tries to strike a balance between being powerful and not making you want to throw your computer out the window. Their reporting tools are decent, but you have to know what you’re doing to get real value.
1. Get Clear on What You Actually Need
Before you even open Insightly’s report builder, pause. The fastest way to waste time is to build reports for reporting’s sake. Ask yourself:
- What decisions am I trying to make with this report?
- Who actually needs to see this (and what do they care about)?
- What data do I actually have in Insightly—is it clean, consistent, and up to date?
Pro tip: If your sales team isn’t logging deals or updating stages, no report will save you. Garbage in, garbage out.
Common sales reporting needs:
- Pipeline health (stuck deals, deal velocity)
- Win/loss rates
- Sales by rep, by region, by product
- Forecasting (how much is likely to close this month/quarter)
- Activity tracking (calls, emails, demos logged)
Pick one or two to start. Don’t try to boil the ocean.
2. Understand Insightly’s Reporting Basics
Insightly offers two main ways to report on sales data:
- Standard Reports: Pre-built templates; quick but not very flexible.
- Custom Reports: Build your own using the report builder; takes more effort, but you’ll get what you want.
If you’re brand new, poke around the standard reports first (under the “Reports” tab) to see what’s possible. But for anything actually useful, you’ll likely end up building custom ones.
What works: The custom report builder is solid for slicing and dicing Opportunities, Activities, and Contacts.
What doesn’t: Visualization options are limited. If you want fancy dashboards, you’ll probably need to export to Excel or use a third-party tool.
3. Build a Custom Sales Report (Step-by-Step)
Let’s get practical. Here’s how to build a basic, but genuinely useful, pipeline report.
Step 1: Find the Report Builder
- Go to the “Reports” tab in Insightly.
- Click on “New Report.”
- Choose “Opportunities” (since that’s where sales pipeline data lives).
Step 2: Pick Your Core Data
- You’ll see a long list of fields—don’t panic.
- For a basic pipeline report, select:
- Opportunity Name
- Stage
- Owner (the sales rep)
- Value (Amount)
- Close Date
- Status (Open, Won, Lost)
- You can always add more, but keep it simple to start.
Step 3: Filter Out the Noise
- Use “Filters” to only show what matters.
- Example: Only show “Open” opportunities, or only those closing this quarter.
- You can filter by owner, region, or product line if you want to get fancy.
- If your data is messy (old, dead deals still marked “Open”), now’s the time to clean up—or at least exclude them.
Step 4: Group and Summarize
- Grouping is where things get powerful.
- Group by “Stage” to see where deals are getting stuck.
- Group by “Owner” to see who’s moving deals along.
- Add “Summaries” to total up deal values, count deals, or average deal size.
Pro tip: Only group by one or two things, or your report will turn into a wall of numbers nobody reads.
Step 5: Choose Your Output
- Insightly gives you some basic chart options (bar, pie, line).
- For a pipeline, a bar chart by stage is usually the most helpful.
- If you need to slice data your own way, export to CSV and use Excel or Google Sheets.
Step 6: Save and Share
- Give your report a clear, honest name (“Q2 Pipeline by Stage—Open Deals Only” beats “Custom Report #7”).
- Set permissions—can the team see it, or just you?
- Schedule automatic email delivery if you want to send it out regularly (but don’t spam people).
4. Make Your Reports Actually Useful
Now you’ve got a report, but how do you make it actionable?
- Review regularly—set a time to look at it every week or month.
- Ask “So what?”—what does this tell you, and what should you do about it?
- Spot trends, not one-offs—don’t panic over a single bad week; look for patterns.
- Call out data issues—if you’re seeing weird numbers, chase down bad data or missing updates.
What works: Sharing a live link to a report in your sales meeting keeps everyone honest.
What doesn’t: Emailing PDFs that nobody opens. If people ignore a report, it’s probably too complex or not relevant.
5. Customize for Your Team’s Needs
Every sales team is different. Here’s how to tweak reports to suit yours:
- Custom Fields: If you track something unique (e.g., deal source, industry), add custom fields in Insightly and pull them into your reports.
- Filters by Role: Sales reps care about their deals; managers want to see the big picture. Build separate views if needed.
- Activity Reports: Track calls, emails, and meetings to see who’s really working the pipeline—not just logging deals.
- Lost Deal Analysis: Don’t just report on wins. Build a “Lost Opportunities” report to see why deals are falling through.
Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to delete old or unused reports. Clutter is the enemy of action.
6. Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
- Too Many Reports: Nobody needs 17 dashboards. Focus on a handful that drive action.
- Data Not Maintained: If reps aren’t updating deals, reports are fiction. Set expectations and check regularly.
- Overcomplicating: If you need a manual to read your report, it’s too much. Stick to what matters.
- Ignoring Feedback: If people say a report isn’t helpful, ask why and fix it.
7. When to Ignore the Built-In Tools
Insightly’s reporting is good for most sales teams. But if you hit these walls, don’t be afraid to look elsewhere:
- You need real-time dashboards with drill-downs.
- You want to mash up CRM data with data from other systems (like billing or support).
- You need pixel-perfect, client-ready presentations.
In those cases, export your data and use something like Excel, Google Data Studio, or a dedicated BI tool. Don’t fight the tool—use the right one for the job.
8. Keep It Simple and Iterate
Sales reporting in Insightly isn’t rocket science, but it does take some trial and error. Start with the basics, ask real questions, and don’t get sucked into building reports nobody uses. Simpler is better. You can always add complexity later—just make sure your reports help you take action, not just look busy.
And remember: a report is only as good as the data behind it. If your pipeline is a mess, fix that first. Otherwise, you’re just painting over cracks.
Happy reporting!