Let’s be honest—most dashboards are either a cluttered mess or they look pretty but tell you nothing useful. If you’re trying to track your go-to-market (GTM) performance, you need something that’s actually useful, not just another “lead funnel” with meaningless numbers. This guide is for anyone who’s tired of faking it for the weekly exec review and wants to build a custom dashboard in SecondBody that actually helps you make decisions.
No fluff, no “data-driven paradigm shifts.” Just a clear walkthrough to get you off the default templates and into a dashboard that’s yours.
Why Custom Dashboards (and Not Just the Default Stuff)?
Here’s the deal: Default dashboards are built for everyone, which means they fit no one. Your GTM needs aren’t the same as the next company’s. If you care about real pipeline velocity, lead quality, or campaign ROI, you have to build it yourself.
What you get with a custom dashboard: - Only the metrics that matter to you (not your boss’s boss’s boss) - A layout that matches how you work - Faster insights—no more clicking around lost in tabs
What to skip: - Vanity metrics (number of clicks, unless you’re actually optimizing for them) - Overly complex charts nobody understands - “Because the template said so” widgets
Step 1: Get Clear on What You Actually Need to Track
Before clicking a single button, ask yourself—what’s really important for your GTM motion? This isn’t a trick question, but you’d be surprised how many people skip it.
Start with: - What questions do you need answered every week? - Where have you been blindsided in the past? - What does your team complain about not knowing?
Common GTM metrics that are actually useful: - Qualified leads by source (not just “leads”) - Sales cycle length by segment - Pipeline coverage (do you have enough to hit your number?) - Conversion rates at each funnel stage - Marketing-sourced revenue vs. sales-sourced
Pro tip: Don’t track everything. Track what you’re willing to act on. If you can’t explain why a number matters, don’t put it on your dashboard.
Step 2: Get Your Data Sources Connected (for Real)
SecondBody makes a lot of noise about its integrations—and to be fair, they’re better than most. But no tool is magic. If your data is garbage going in, your dashboard will be garbage coming out.
Here’s what you need to do: 1. Identify where your GTM data lives: CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot), marketing automation (Marketo, Pardot), ad platforms, spreadsheets, etc. 2. Connect those sources in SecondBody: Use their built-in connectors; avoid manual uploads if you can. 3. Check your permissions: Make sure you’re pulling the data you actually need, not some half-baked subset. 4. Clean up your data first: If you have duplicate leads or inconsistent fields, fix them before building the dashboard. Otherwise, you’ll just spend time debugging later.
What doesn’t work: - Hoping the integration “just works” if your CRM is a mess - Connecting everything just because you can (stick to what you’ll use)
Step 3: Create a New Custom Dashboard
Now for the fun part—or at least, the less boring part.
- Go to the Dashboards section in SecondBody.
- Click “Create New Dashboard.” Don’t use the “GTM Template”—that’s what everyone else is doing.
- Name it something you’ll recognize. (Not “GTM Dashboard v3 FINAL.”)
- Choose a blank layout. You want full control, not a template dictating your layout.
Pro tip: Think about who will look at this dashboard. If it’s just you, be messy. If it’s for a team or leadership, keep it clean and obvious.
Step 4: Add Only the Widgets You Actually Need
SecondBody offers a lot of widget types—charts, tables, funnels, leaderboards, maps, and so on. Don’t get distracted.
Here’s a good starting lineup for GTM: - Funnel Chart: Tracks your lead or opp flow (e.g., MQL → SQL → Opportunity → Closed Won) - Table: List of top deals by stage or segment - Line or Bar Chart: Trend of pipeline value over time - Pie or Donut Chart: If you must, use for segment breakdowns—just don’t overdo it - Single Metric Widget: For critical KPIs (pipeline coverage, win rate, etc.)
What to ignore: - World maps (unless you’re truly global and it matters) - “Sentiment” charts that just confuse people - Anything that updates so slowly it’s useless in meetings
Pro tip: Less is more. You can always add a widget later.
Step 5: Set Up Filters and Segmentation
Tracking “all leads” is pointless. You want to slice things by what actually matters—region, segment, campaign, rep, etc.
How to do it: - Add filters to each widget (e.g., “Show only opportunities from North America”) - Use date filters to compare this quarter vs. last quarter - Create segments that match your sales or marketing process
What works: - Filtering by sales team to spot coaching needs - Breaking out by channel to see where real pipeline comes from
What doesn’t: - Oversegmentation—if you need a PhD to understand the chart, you’ve gone too far
Step 6: Set Up Alerts (But Don’t Overdo It)
SecondBody lets you set up alerts or notifications. This is handy, but it’s easy to go overboard.
Set alerts for: - Pipeline dropping below a certain threshold - Win rate falling off a cliff - Major swings in lead volume
Skip alerts for: - Every single lead that comes in - Minor fluctuations you don’t actually care about
Honest take: Most people set too many alerts and end up ignoring all of them. Set one or two that would actually make you take action.
Step 7: Share and Automate
You built a dashboard—don’t keep it to yourself.
- Share with your team: Set permissions so people can view (or edit) as needed.
- Set up scheduled emails or Slack notifications: SecondBody can send snapshots or updates, but only do this if people will actually read them.
- Automate data refreshes: Make sure your dashboard pulls the latest data automatically. Manual refreshes are a pain and nobody remembers to do them.
What works: - Sharing a link before meetings so people can dig in - Using the dashboard live in GTM meetings to drive decisions
What doesn’t: - Spamming everyone with daily updates - Sharing dashboards with people who don’t care
Pro Tips for Making Dashboards People Actually Use
- Keep it simple. If you need to explain every chart, it’s too complex.
- Update regularly, but not obsessively. Weekly refreshes are fine for most GTM teams.
- Review what’s working every month. If nobody’s looking at a widget, kill it.
- Don’t use dashboards to hide bad news. Use them to spot issues early and fix them.
Quick Reality Check: What SecondBody Does Well (and Where It Fails)
What works: - Connecting to most common GTM data sources is fast and reliable - Drag-and-drop dashboard builder is genuinely easy to use - Sharing and permissions are straightforward
What doesn’t: - Deep customization (colors, branding) is limited—don’t expect miracles - Data lag can be an issue if your source systems are slow - If your data is a mess, SecondBody won’t clean it up for you
The Bottom Line
Building a custom dashboard in SecondBody isn’t rocket science, but it does take a bit of upfront thinking. Start small, keep it focused, and don’t fall for the temptation to track everything “just in case.” The most useful dashboards are the ones people actually use—and the only way to get there is to keep things simple and improve as you go. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Iterate, ditch what isn’t working, and focus on what helps you make real decisions.