If you’ve ever sat through an executive meeting where the dashboards were a mess—irrelevant charts, vanity metrics, endless tabs—you know the pain. This guide is for GTM (go-to-market) leaders, revops folks, and anyone tasked with making sense of data in Lift-ai for execs who just want answers, not noise. We’ll cut the jargon and get you up and running with dashboards that actually help.
Why Custom GTM Dashboards (and Why Bother with Lift-ai)?
Let’s be real: Most “out-of-the-box” dashboards are made for everyone and no one. They’re cluttered, generic, and miss the stuff your execs care about. If your CRO, CMO, or CEO is still asking “What does this mean?” after you share a dashboard, it’s time to get specific.
Lift-ai is a solid platform for building custom dashboards—especially for GTM teams—because it pulls together sales, marketing, and customer data. But like any analytics tool, it’s only as good as the dashboards you build. So, don’t rely on defaults. Let’s make something useful.
Step 1: Figure Out What Your Execs Actually Need
Before you even log in, talk to your stakeholders. Seriously, don’t skip this. You’ll save hours by not building something no one uses.
Ask questions like: - What decisions are you trying to make with this dashboard? - Which metrics matter most for your goals this quarter? - What’s missing from your current reporting? - How often do you want to see updates—real-time, daily, weekly?
Pro Tip: Push for clarity. If someone says “I want to see pipeline health,” ask them to define it. Is it coverage ratio? Average deal age? Stage progression?
What to avoid: Don’t just recreate the same pipeline chart because “that’s what we’ve always tracked.” Focus on questions, not charts.
Step 2: Map Out Your Must-Have Metrics
Now, translate those conversations into a short list of KPIs and supporting metrics. For GTM dashboards, think about:
- Pipeline: Value, velocity, coverage, and movement between stages.
- Revenue: Closed-won, forecast vs. actual, churn/expansion.
- Marketing: Lead quality, conversion rates, campaign ROI (skip vanity metrics like impressions unless your execs truly care).
- Sales Activity: Meetings booked, emails sent, win rates.
- Customer Health: NRR, logo retention, at-risk accounts.
Honest take: The fewer metrics, the better. Most exec dashboards drown in data. Start with 5–8 metrics max. You can always add more once you’ve shipped something that gets used.
Step 3: Get Your Data Right in Lift-ai
Even the slickest dashboard is useless if the data’s off. In Lift-ai, make sure:
- Your CRM and marketing tools are connected (Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, whatever you use).
- Fields are mapped correctly—especially custom fields or non-standard objects.
- Data is syncing on the schedule your execs expect (real-time isn’t always necessary, but “last updated 2 weeks ago” is a bad look).
- You test with sample records—spot-check a few deals, leads, or customers to make sure the numbers line up with what’s in your source systems.
What to ignore: Don’t try to pull in every possible data source “just in case.” Stick to what matters for your initial dashboards.
Step 4: Build the Dashboard (The Fun Part)
This is where you get hands-on. In Lift-ai, open up a new dashboard and add your selected metrics as widgets or tiles.
Here’s how to keep it clean and useful:
- Layout: Put the most important data at the top or in the biggest widgets. If you bury ARR at the bottom, no one will scroll.
- Chart Types: Pick what’s easiest to scan at a glance. For trends, use line charts. For comparisons, bar charts. Don’t get cute with pie charts or 3D graphics—execs hate them, and so should you.
- Filters: Add date filters, segment filters (by team, region, etc.) so execs can drill in without breaking your setup.
- Annotations: Use comments or notes to explain spikes, dips, or anything weird. Don’t make execs guess.
Pro Tip: Build for the “one-slide test.” If you had to screenshot this dashboard and drop it into a board deck, would it make sense without you talking over it?
Step 5: Customize for Executive Consumption
Executives aren’t analysts. They want clarity, not complexity.
- Limit colors and widgets: Too many colors = confusion. Too many charts = nobody knows where to look.
- Add context: If a number is up or down, add a percent change or comparison to target. Otherwise, nobody knows if “$2.1M” is good or bad.
- Group by themes: Instead of a random mix, try sections: Pipeline, Revenue, Marketing, Customer Success.
- Mobile/responsive view: Execs check dashboards on phones or iPads. Preview how it looks on smaller screens.
What works: Simple, clear, and minimal dashboards get used. Busy, “impressive” ones get ignored.
Step 6: Share and Automate Delivery
Once your dashboard’s ready:
- Set up access permissions so only the right people can view or edit.
- Schedule automatic email reports or Slack/Teams alerts—weekly or monthly is usually enough for execs.
- For board meetings, export as PDF or image (test the export; sometimes formatting gets weird).
What to ignore: Don’t overdo real-time alerts. Most execs don’t want a ping every time a deal moves stages. Focus on summaries, not play-by-plays.
Step 7: Collect Feedback and Iterate
After a week or two, ask your execs:
- What’s helpful? What’s noise?
- Anything missing that would help with upcoming decisions?
- Is the update frequency right?
Don’t be afraid to cut stuff that isn’t used. It’s not a failure—it’s just focus.
A Few Pitfalls to Avoid
- Vanity metrics: If it doesn’t drive a decision, ditch it.
- Too much detail: Save the deep dives for operational dashboards, not exec summaries.
- No owner: Assign someone (maybe you) to own dashboard updates. Otherwise, it’ll get stale.
- Ignoring adoption: If no one’s using it, ask why. Sometimes it’s not the data—it’s just that execs have other priorities.
Keep It Simple, Ship It, Then Improve
You don’t need a perfect dashboard on day one. Start with what matters, keep the design dead simple, and get feedback fast. The best GTM dashboards in Lift-ai are the ones that get used, not the ones with the most features.
Don’t stress about making it fancy. Focus on clarity, relevance, and speed. Iterate as your execs’ needs change—and resist the urge to add fluff. Your future self (and your exec team) will thank you.