If you’ve ever sat through a sales report that’s 30 slides too long and 20 slides too fluffy, you know the pain. Executives don’t want noise—they want actual insights that help drive decisions. If your company uses Bellasales and you need to make its reports executive-friendly for B2B, this guide’s for you. I’ll walk you through what works, what doesn’t, and how to cut straight to the stuff that matters.
Why B2B Execs Hate Most Sales Reports
Let’s set the stage: executive leaders want to know what’s working, what’s stuck, and where to focus. They don’t want a data dump. If your Bellasales reports are full of raw tables and generic charts, you’re making them do the thinking. Worse, you risk losing their attention—fast. So, let’s talk about how to create reports that execs will actually read and use.
1. Know What Your Execs Actually Care About
Before you even open Bellasales, talk to the people who’ll use the report—or at least their chief of staff. You want to know:
- What’s the one question they need answered?
- Which metrics do they use to make decisions?
- How much time will they actually spend reading? (Usually: not much.)
Don’t guess. If you can, ask them directly: - “What’s the one sales metric that keeps you up at night?” - “Do you want the numbers, trends, or just the red flags?”
Pro tip: Most execs want “what changed” and “why”—not a list of every deal.
2. Pick the Right Bellasales Report Type
Bellasales comes with a bunch of report templates. Here’s what to use (and what to skip):
- Pipeline Overview: Good for quick health checks. Use it, but keep it focused.
- Forecast vs. Actuals: Execs love to see how reality matches up to the plan.
- Account Growth / Churn: Crucial for B2B. Don’t bury this in a sea of minor accounts.
- Top Opportunities: Useful if you summarize, not if you just list 50 deals.
Skip:
- “Everything” Exports: No one wants a 20-tab spreadsheet.
- Per-rep leaderboards: Fun for sales contests, not for exec strategy.
- Overly granular activity logs: No one cares how many calls were made if revenue’s flat.
3. Customize Fields and Filters—Don’t Just Use Defaults
Bellasales lets you tweak what data shows up. Defaults are generic; your execs are not.
How to Do It:
- Custom Fields: Add fields that matter (e.g. “Industry Segment,” “Deal Risk Level,” or “Key Decision Maker”).
- Filters: Only show deals above a certain size, or accounts in a specific region/vertical.
- Group By: Try grouping by “Strategic Accounts” or “New vs. Existing Business.”
What to ignore:
Don’t show every field “just in case.” If you’re not sure what a field means, execs won’t, either.
4. Build Your Own Executive Dashboard
The Bellasales dashboard builder is your friend—if you keep it simple.
Key widgets for an exec dashboard:
- Quarterly Pipeline vs. Target: Visual, with color-coding for “on track”/“off track.”
- Top 10 Accounts (by revenue or risk): Short and sweet, with context.
- Deal Slippage: Show deals that pushed or shrank, not just wins.
- Funnel Conversion Rates: If you can get it, show where deals are getting stuck.
- Churn and Upsell: For SaaS/B2B especially, execs want to see both.
Setup tips: - Use big, readable charts. No one wants to squint. - One page, no scrolling if possible. - Every widget should answer a real question (“Are we on track?” “Where are we losing?” “Which customers need attention?”).
5. Use Custom Calculated Fields (But Don’t Go Overboard)
Bellasales lets you create calculated fields—think: “Win Rate by Industry” or “Average Deal Cycle (days).” Use these with restraint.
- Good: “% of pipeline from strategic accounts.”
- Good: “Year-over-year growth for top 5 customers.”
- Bad: “Weighted, trended, forecast-adjusted, exponential something-or-other.” If you can’t explain it in one sentence, skip it.
Pro tip: Test your calculations before sharing. Nothing kills credibility like a formula error in front of the CFO.
6. Add Context—Not Just Data
Raw numbers are fine, but execs need context. For each section of your report, add 1-2 lines explaining the “so what.”
- If pipeline is down, add a note: “Enterprise segment saw delayed budgets; mid-market steady.”
- If churn is up, explain why: “Competitor X undercut pricing in Q2.”
Bellasales lets you add text notes to dashboards and reports. Use them.
What to avoid:
Don’t editorialize or spin. If something’s bad, say it’s bad. Execs appreciate candor.
7. Automate Delivery & Control Access
Once you’ve built a report that works, automate it. Bellasales can schedule reports to go out via email or Slack. Just:
- Set up a cadence (weekly, monthly).
- Limit access to just the execs (and maybe their direct reports).
- Include a link to the live dashboard for those who want to dig deeper.
Caution:
Don’t send reports to everyone “just in case.” Sensitive data spreads fast, and execs hate surprises.
8. Review, Trim, and Iterate
Here’s the honest truth: your first report won’t be perfect. Schedule a quick review after the first run-through.
- Ask for feedback: “What did you skip? What was missing?”
- Drop anything they didn’t look at.
- If something’s confusing, fix it or cut it.
Keep the report lean. If your execs want more, they’ll ask. If they want less, they’ll zone out. No shame in starting simple and improving.
Things That Sound Fancy, But Don’t Help
- Predictive AI Scores: Unless your execs trust the model (and most don’t), this is a distraction.
- Heatmaps of rep activity: Fun for sales managers, not useful for strategy.
- Word clouds from CRM notes: They look impressive and mean nothing.
If something doesn’t tie directly to money in/money out, or risk/opportunity, skip it.
Real-World Pro Tips
- Use real language in your report labels. “Biggest deals in danger” beats “Weighted Pipeline Opportunities.”
- Don’t bury the lead. Put the most important chart or number at the top.
- If your data is messy, flag it. Better to admit “Data for Q1 incomplete” than fudge the numbers.
- Keep a “parking lot” slide or widget for questions you can’t answer yet. Shows you’re on it—and that you’re not hiding anything.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Customizing Bellasales reports for exec-level B2B insights isn’t about building the fanciest dashboard or cramming in every metric. The real win is to cut through the noise, deliver only what matters, and make it easy to see what’s working and what’s not. Start simple. Get feedback. Iterate. Your execs (and your sanity) will thank you.