If you’re stuck wrangling messy spreadsheets for your quarterly B2B sales review, you’re not alone. Clear, actionable sales reports are tough to pull off—and if you’re using a tool like Fluint but still not getting what you need, this guide is for you.
I’ll walk through how to use Fluint (without the hype), what actually matters in a sales report, and how to skip the noise so you can walk into your next review with numbers that matter—and a plan that doesn’t sound like wishful thinking.
Why Most Sales Reports Aren’t Actionable
Let’s get this out of the way: most B2B sales reports are 80% fluff and 20% useful. You know the type—dozens of charts, but no clear takeaways. Or worse, they’re so high-level you can’t tell what actually happened.
What you really want:
- A clear picture of what drove (or killed) deals last quarter
- Trends, not just totals
- Pointers to what to fix or double down on
Fluint is built to help with this, but only if you use it right. The default dashboards and auto-generated exports are fine for a quick look, but they won’t get you the sharp insights you need for a quarterly review. That takes a little setup and some clear thinking.
Step 1: Get Your Data House in Order
Before you run any reports, check what’s actually in Fluint. No software can save you from junk data.
Double-check:
- Deal stages: Are they up to date? Dead opportunities clogging your pipeline will throw off every metric.
- Owner assignments: Deals with missing or wrong owners make accountability impossible.
- Custom fields: Are they filled out, or mostly blank? If you’re tracking things like deal source or product type, fill in the gaps now.
- Close dates: Are they realistic, or are you carrying over “zombie” deals quarter after quarter?
Pro tip: Run a quick pipeline health check. If more than 10% of your deals have missing owners or close dates in the past, clean it up before you report.
Step 2: Know What to Measure (and What to Ignore)
Fluint gives you lots of options—don’t get lost in menus. Here’s what’s actually useful for a B2B quarterly review:
Must-haves:
- Pipeline coverage: Total pipeline vs. quota/target—where are you light or heavy?
- Win rates: Not just overall, but by stage, rep, and industry/segment.
- Sales cycle length: How long does it really take to close a deal?
- Deal slippage: How many deals slipped from last quarter to this one?
- Lost reason analysis: Why are you actually losing (or delaying) deals?
Nice to have, if you’ve got the data:
- Average deal size, by segment or product
- Source of closed-won deals (inbound, outbound, referral, etc.)
- Activity metrics: How many meetings, demos, or proposals does a win take?
Ignore (for now):
- Vanity charts (e.g., “calls logged,” unless you know that’s a key driver)
- Overly granular breakdowns (e.g., sales by hour of day)
- Anything you don’t trust the underlying data for
Step 3: Build (or Customize) Your Fluint Reports
Fluint comes with some default reports, but you’ll want to tweak them for real insight.
3.1. Use the “Quarterly Pipeline Review” Template
Fluint’s “Quarterly Pipeline Review” is a decent starting point, but don’t just use it as-is.
- Filter to only show deals created or closed in the quarter in question.
- Group by sales rep, stage, and (if relevant) product line or region.
- Add fields for deal source and lost reason if you track them.
3.2. Customize for Your Team
- Create a saved view for each segment or vertical you care about. Don’t lump everything together if your deals are wildly different.
- Build a “Slipped Deals” report: Filter for deals that were forecasted to close last quarter but didn’t. This is gold for learning what stalled.
- Lost Reason Breakdown: Chart lost deals by reason, but sanity-check the data. If 70% are “Other,” you’ve got a process problem, not a reporting problem.
3.3. Export for Analysis (Optional)
Fluint lets you export to CSV or Excel. If you want to slice and dice further (or create pivot tables, which Fluint is only so-so at), do it here. But don’t over-complicate—fancy charts rarely survive the first tough question in a review meeting.
Step 4: Turn Numbers Into Actions
A report’s only as good as what you do with it. Here’s how to make your Fluint reports actually drive change:
- Spot bottlenecks: Where do deals die or get stuck? Is it always after pricing, or do you lose folks early?
- Rep performance: Who’s converting at each stage—and who needs help? Don’t just look at total closed-won; watch win rate and cycle time.
- Deal slippage: If deals keep slipping, is it forecasting optimism or something systemic (e.g., legal reviews always drag out)?
- Lost reasons: Are the “real” reasons being entered, or just the easiest pick-list option?
Don’t: Fall for “analysis paralysis.” Pick 2-3 themes that really matter, and focus on those.
Do: Pair each insight with a next step. Example: “Win rates on mid-market deals dropped 10% after demo stage—let’s review the demo process and shadow top performers.”
Step 5: Present the Report Without the Noise
Quarterly reviews aren’t about showing off how many charts you can make. You want your team (and your boss) to leave knowing what’s working, what’s broken, and what to do next.
Keep it simple:
- Start with 1 slide or page of key takeaways. This should stand alone.
- Show trends, not just this quarter vs. last. Three quarters is a minimum for any trend.
- Use plain English. “We lost 7 deals because we were too expensive” is better than “Pricing-related attrition increased by X%.”
- Be upfront about data caveats. If lost reasons are shaky, say so.
- End with 2-3 action items, not a laundry list.
Pro tip: Ask yourself, “If I were seeing this for the first time, what would I actually care about?” If it doesn’t pass that test, cut it.
What Actually Works (and What Doesn’t)
Works
- Cleaning your data before running reports
- Focusing on pipeline, win rates, cycle time, and loss reasons
- Customizing Fluint’s reports to match how your team actually sells
- Turning every “finding” into a next step
Doesn’t
- Relying on default reports without tweaking filters or groupings
- Overloading the review with data nobody trusts or understands
- Avoiding the “why” behind lost or slipped deals
- Assuming fancy visuals will make up for weak insights
Avoid These Common Pitfalls
- Rushed data cleanup: If you only clean up before reviews, you’re always playing catchup
- Overcomplicating reports: 5 good charts are better than 20 “maybe interesting” ones
- Ignoring sales rep input: The people in the trenches know why deals really close (or don’t)
- Chasing every metric: Focus beats volume, every time
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Don’t try to build the perfect report on your first go. The real value comes from a repeatable, honest look at what’s happening in your pipeline, and what you’ll do about it. Fluint makes it easier, but it’s still up to you to ask the right questions and keep your team focused on action—not just numbers.
If your first report feels a bit rough, that’s normal. Tighten your process each quarter, involve your sales team, and keep cutting what doesn’t lead to real insight. You’ll be surprised how much you can improve with just a few focused reports and an honest approach.