If you’re running a sales team, you know the pain: too many tools, too much noise, and not enough clarity about what’s really working. Atriumhq promises to help by giving you dashboards that pull all your sales data into one place. But out of the box, you’ll get a generic setup. If you want dashboards that actually help your team close deals (instead of dashboards that just look pretty in meetings), you’ll need to get your hands a little dirty.
This guide is for sales managers, ops folks, and anyone who wants to build dashboards in Atriumhq that your team will actually use.
1. Know What Matters (Don’t Just Measure Everything)
Before you even log in, stop and think: what really helps your team sell? The biggest mistake people make with dashboards is tracking everything just because they can. You'll end up with a wall of charts nobody looks at.
Start by listing out the real questions you want to answer, like:
- Are reps hitting activity targets (calls, emails, meetings)?
- Which deals are stuck and need a nudge?
- Who’s falling behind on pipeline coverage?
- Which lead sources actually convert?
Write these down. If your dashboard doesn’t help answer them, it’s just noise.
Pro tip: Ask your team what would help them—not just what you want to see.
2. Get Your Data Ducks in a Row
Dashboards are only as good as the data behind them. Atriumhq pulls in data from your CRM (think Salesforce, HubSpot), calendars, and email. But don’t assume it’s all set up perfectly.
- Check your integrations: Make sure Atriumhq is connected to your main CRM and any other sources you care about. Errors here mean garbage in, garbage out.
- Clean up old data: Outdated owners, duplicate contacts, or bad pipeline stages will make your dashboards useless or, worse, misleading.
- Map fields correctly: If you use custom fields in your CRM, double-check they’re syncing in Atriumhq. Otherwise, those metrics won’t show up.
Reality check: If your CRM is a mess, fix that first. No dashboard tool can save you from dirty data.
3. Build Your First Custom Dashboard
Here’s where most people get overwhelmed by options. Atriumhq gives you a bunch of templates, but you’ll want to build something that fits your team.
Step 1: Navigate to Dashboards
- Log in to Atriumhq.
- Click on Dashboards in the main nav.
- Hit Create Dashboard (sometimes called “New Dashboard” — the UI changes from time to time).
Step 2: Choose the Right Starting Point
You can start blank or use a template. Templates are fine for ideas, but don’t just accept them as-is.
- If you start blank: You’ll pick each metric/widget yourself. Good if you know what you want.
- If you use a template: Strip out anything irrelevant. Don’t pad the dashboard with nice-to-have charts.
Step 3: Add Metrics and Widgets
Now, drop in charts, tables, and metrics. Common (and actually useful) ones for sales dashboards:
- Activity metrics: Calls, emails, meetings per rep.
- Pipeline health: Pipeline coverage ratio, deal aging, stuck deals.
- Conversion rates: Lead-to-opportunity, opportunity-to-close.
- Forecasting: Quota attainment, expected revenue by close date.
Don’t: Add a chart just because it looks cool. If nobody can explain what it means, delete it.
Pro tip: Limit each dashboard to 5-7 widgets. More than that, people tune out.
Step 4: Customize for Your Team
- Filters: Apply filters by team, region, or rep. Nobody wants to see a dashboard that mashes together the whole org if they’re only responsible for SMB West.
- Timeframes: Set logical timeframes (this week, this month, quarter). Rolling metrics are nice, but don’t obsess—pick what your team uses to measure success.
- Visibility: Make sure the right people see the right dashboards. Atriumhq lets you set permissions—don’t blast everyone with dashboards they don’t need.
4. Make It Actionable
Dashboards aren’t just for managers to stare at during pipeline reviews—they should drive action.
- Highlight problems: Use conditional formatting or alerts for metrics that are off track (e.g., deals stuck >30 days).
- Add goals or targets: Don’t just show activities; show how they compare to targets. “25 calls” means nothing if the goal is 50.
- Explain why it matters: Add short notes or descriptions to widgets. Atriumhq lets you add context—do it. “Pipeline coverage = pipeline / quota. Aim for 3x.”
Pro tip: Use the dashboard live in meetings. If people don’t talk about it, it’s not helping.
5. Share and Automate (But Don’t Overdo It)
You can share dashboards in Atriumhq via links, scheduled emails, or embedding in other tools.
- Share wisely: Don’t spam the whole sales org every morning. Pick key dashboards for the right folks.
- Automate reports: Set up weekly or monthly email digests if that’s useful. But remember—more emails don’t mean more insight.
What to ignore: “Real-time” dashboards are a nice idea, but most sales teams don’t need minute-by-minute updates. Daily or weekly is plenty.
6. Review and Iterate
No dashboard is perfect out of the gate. Plan to tweak yours every month or quarter.
- Ask for feedback: What’s confusing? What’s missing? What’s ignored?
- Kill unused widgets: Ruthlessly prune anything nobody looks at.
- Update targets and metrics: As your team changes, so should your dashboards.
Reality check: Fancy dashboards don’t close deals—good sales habits do. Use dashboards as a tool, not a crutch.
7. Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
- Too many dashboards: If you have more than three per team, you have too many.
- “Vanity metrics”: Big numbers that don’t drive action—ignore them.
- Ignoring adoption: If reps can’t find value in the dashboard, it’s wasted effort.
- Not updating: A dashboard with stale goals or broken widgets is worse than none at all.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Keep It Useful
Don’t get sucked into building dashboards that impress your boss but confuse your team. Start with what matters, keep it tight, and be ready to adjust. The goal isn’t a pretty dashboard—it’s a sales team that knows what to do next.
Build, use, tweak, repeat. And don’t be afraid to delete anything that isn’t pulling its weight.