If you’re running a sales team, you probably already know it’s not enough to just “track numbers.” You need to know who’s actually selling, who’s coasting, and what’s really moving the needle. Enter Smartwinnr — a tool that promises to give you detailed sales performance reports. But the real question is: can it cut through the noise and show you what matters?
This guide is for sales managers, ops folks, and anyone else who wants practical, step-by-step advice on getting real value from Smartwinnr’s reporting. No fluff, no vague dashboards — just what works, what to skip, and how to make the most out of your team’s data.
Step 1: Understand What You Actually Need to Track
Before you even log in, get clear about what you want out of your reports. Smartwinnr offers a lot of bells and whistles, but more data isn’t always better. Here’s how to focus:
- Start with your goals: Are you tracking new revenue, pipeline activity, training progress, or all of the above?
- Map reports to actions: If you can’t act on what a report tells you, it’s just noise.
- Avoid “vanity metrics”: Don’t get distracted by numbers that look impressive but mean nothing (looking at you, “number of logins per week”).
Pro tip: Make a shortlist of 3-5 metrics you actually care about. Write them down. This will save you hours later.
Step 2: Set Up Your Sales Team in Smartwinnr
If your team isn’t set up right, your reports won’t be worth much. Take five minutes to check your Smartwinnr user list:
- Add all reps and managers: Make sure everyone is in the right team or region.
- Double-check roles: Smartwinnr reports are only as good as your org structure. If people are in the wrong group, your numbers will be off.
- Update permissions: Only give admin/reporting rights to folks who need them. Too many cooks spoil the data.
What works: Keeping your team list clean and up to date. It makes everything downstream easier.
What doesn’t: Ignoring org changes. If you don’t track new hires, leavers, or role changes, your reports will quickly get out of sync.
Step 3: Launch or Sync Your Sales Activities
Smartwinnr can pull in data from activities like quizzes, contests, training modules, and even CRM data (depending on your setup). Here’s what matters:
- Choose relevant modules: Don’t try to track everything. Focus on what drives sales performance — calls, meetings, closed deals, etc.
- Integrate with your CRM: If you’re using Salesforce or another CRM, set up the integration. Manual entry is a pain and prone to errors.
- Tag your activities: Use clear, consistent naming for campaigns and contests. “Q2 Pipeline Push” is better than “April Stuff.”
Skip: Tracking minor or one-off activities unless they genuinely impact your goals. More data just clutters the picture.
Step 4: Generate a Detailed Performance Report
Now for the main event: building a report that actually tells you something useful.
4.1 Navigate to the Reporting Hub
- Head to the main dashboard and look for the “Reports” or “Analytics” tab. (Label may change, so don’t panic if it’s called something slightly different.)
- From here, you’ll see options like “Leaderboard,” “Quiz Results,” “Contest Performance,” and so on.
4.2 Choose the Right Report Type
Don’t just click the first shiny chart you see. Pick a report that matches your goal:
- Leaderboard: Who’s on top — and who’s falling behind.
- Activity Summary: Volume of key sales activities.
- Knowledge/Training Report: Who’s completed required learning.
- Custom Report: Combine filters (like region, tenure, product line) for deeper insights.
What works: Starting with a leaderboard, but drilling down to see what’s driving high or low performers.
What doesn’t: Relying only on summary stats. The real value is often in the details (e.g., which activities top reps are actually doing).
4.3 Set Your Filters
- Date range: Don’t just look at “All Time.” Pick a meaningful window (like this quarter or month).
- Team or region: Filter by relevant groups. No sense comparing apples and oranges.
- Activity type: Narrow it down to what matters — deals closed, calls made, training completed.
Pro tip: Save your favorite filter sets so you’re not re-inventing the wheel every time.
4.4 Drill Down to Individual and Team Data
- Click on any rep or team to see their breakdown. Look for patterns: Are they strong in one area but weak in another?
- Use the “export” feature (usually CSV or Excel) if you want to slice and dice the data further, or share it outside of Smartwinnr.
What works: Comparing top and bottom performers side by side. It’s often more actionable than staring at averages.
What doesn’t: Micromanaging off a single bad week. Look for consistent trends, not one-off dips.
Step 5: Make Your Reports Actionable
A report is only useful if it helps you make a decision or drive a change.
- Highlight gaps: Show where training, coaching, or process tweaks are needed.
- Set targets based on real data: Not just gut feel or last year’s numbers.
- Share insights, not just raw data: Add 2-3 bullet points on what you learned from the report when sharing with your team or leadership.
Pro tip: Schedule a regular (monthly or quarterly) review of these reports with your team. Don’t just email out a spreadsheet and hope for the best.
Step 6: Automate and Schedule Reporting (But Don’t Overdo It)
Smartwinnr lets you set up automated report emails or dashboards, which sounds great — until you’re drowning in unread notifications.
- Automate only what you need: Set up scheduled reports for key metrics, not everything.
- Pick the right frequency: For most teams, weekly or monthly is plenty. Daily is usually overkill unless you’re tracking a short-term contest.
- Regularly review what’s being sent: If nobody reads a report, kill it.
What works: One or two automated reports that actually get opened and acted on.
What doesn’t: Spamming your team with every possible chart. You’ll just train them to ignore it all.
Step 7: Iterate and Adjust
You won’t get your reporting perfect on the first try. That’s normal.
- Ask for feedback: What do your reps and managers actually find useful? Cut the rest.
- Adjust filters, metrics, and report types: As your team or goals change, so should your reports.
- Don’t chase “perfection”: Aim for actionable, not exhaustive.
Pro tip: Revisit your shortlist of key metrics every quarter. If a report isn’t helping you make a better decision, replace or drop it.
What to Ignore (and What to Watch Out For)
Let’s be honest: every reporting tool tries to wow you with dashboards and “insights.” Here’s what’s worth skipping:
- Don’t obsess over aesthetics: Pretty charts are nice, but clarity beats eye-candy every time.
- Don’t track what you don’t control: Metrics that aren’t tied to your team’s actions are just noise.
- Don’t overcomplicate: If a report takes longer to interpret than to act on, it’s too complex.
And a quick caution: Smartwinnr’s data is only as good as what’s fed into it. Garbage in, garbage out. Make sure your integrations and inputs are clean.
Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Generating detailed performance reports in Smartwinnr isn’t rocket science, but it does take some thought. Start simple. Focus on what actually moves your sales team forward. Ignore the fluff, automate only what matters, and don’t be afraid to tweak your approach as you go. You’ll spend less time wrestling with dashboards — and more time actually improving sales.