If you work at a B2B company and want your team to actually use product analytics, you’ve probably run into the same problem as everyone else: too many tools, not enough collaboration, and lots of confusion about who’s supposed to be doing what. This guide is for anyone who wants to set up real team collaboration in Smartlook so your product, marketing, and support folks can actually work together—without endless meetings or Slack threads.
Here’s how to get Smartlook working for your B2B team, step by step. I’ll flag what matters, what’s optional, and what to skip.
Step 1: Get Clear on Why You’re Using Smartlook
Before you start inviting the whole company, nail down what you want out of Smartlook. Don’t just “set up collaboration” for the sake of it. Figure out:
- Who needs access? (Product managers, support, sales, execs?)
- What’s the main goal? (E.g., reduce churn, spot bugs, improve onboarding)
- What data is off-limits? (Not everything should be visible to everyone.)
Pro tip: Write this down somewhere. If you skip this, you’ll end up with a mess of “collaborators” who aren’t actually collaborating.
Step 2: Set Up Your Workspace and Projects
Smartlook organizes your data into projects, which sit inside a workspace. For B2B, you usually want:
- One workspace for your company
- Separate projects for each major product or environment (e.g., “Acme Dashboard - Production”, “Acme App - Staging”)
What works: - Keeping your workspace structure simple. Complexity adds confusion fast. - Naming projects clearly (include “prod” or “staging” if needed).
What doesn’t:
- Having one giant “catch-all” project for everything—filtering becomes a nightmare.
- Creating projects for every single minor variation. Overkill.
To do: 1. Go to your Smartlook dashboard. 2. Set up your main workspace (if it doesn’t already exist). 3. Create a project for each product or environment your team needs to track.
Step 3: Invite the Right Team Members
Don’t just hit “invite everyone.” Think about who really needs access, and what kind.
Roles in Smartlook: - Owner: Full control, billing, settings (rarely more than 1-2 people) - Admin: Can manage projects, invite others, change settings - Member: Can view and use data, but not mess with settings
Who to invite (and why): - Product managers: To watch sessions and spot UX issues - Support: To quickly see what users did before submitting a ticket - Engineering: To debug bugs with context - Sales/Success: (Maybe) To see how prospects are using the app
To do: 1. Go to the workspace settings → Team. 2. Enter email addresses, assign the right role. 3. Add a note with the invite about why they’re being added and what you expect from them.
What to ignore:
Avoid “observer” accounts for execs who’ll never log in. Adds clutter, creates security risk.
Step 4: Set Up Permissions and Data Access
By default, Smartlook isn’t super granular with permissions, but you can at least control project-level access. Here’s what matters in B2B:
- Limit sensitive projects to just those who need them.
- Double-check what data is being collected. For example, avoid recording sensitive fields (passwords, personal info).
To do: 1. In each project, check who has access. 2. Use Smartlook’s masking tools (they call them “Privacy settings”) to hide sensitive data. 3. If you’re in a regulated industry (finance, healthcare), consult legal about what can be recorded.
What to skip:
Don’t bother with detailed permission schemes unless you actually have compliance reasons. For most B2B SaaS, simple is safer.
Step 5: Organize Shared Events, Funnels, and Dashboards
Here’s where collaboration actually happens. Don’t let everyone create their own chaos; instead, set up shared:
- Events: Track what matters (signups, major feature use, errors).
- Funnels: See where users drop off in key flows (onboarding, checkout).
- Dashboards: A quick-glance view everyone can reference.
What works: - Naming conventions everyone understands (e.g., “Onboarding Start”, “Onboarding Complete”). - Pinning the most important dashboards. - Regularly cleaning up unused or duplicate events and funnels.
What doesn’t: - Letting each team create their own private set of events/funnels. You’ll get duplicates and confusion. - Over-tracking—if everything’s important, nothing is.
To do: 1. As a team, agree on 5–10 core events and 1–2 funnels to start. 2. Create shared dashboards for each main goal (e.g., “Adoption”, “Bug Reports”). 3. Use descriptions and tags so others know what’s what.
Pro tip:
Set a monthly reminder to review and prune your dashboards and events. Otherwise, Smartlook turns into an analytics junk drawer.
Step 6: Set Up Alerts and Integrations (But Don’t Go Overboard)
Smartlook can send alerts (e.g., when a critical error happens or a funnel drops). You can also pipe data to other tools like Slack, Jira, or CRMs.
What works: - Alerts for real issues (e.g., “Conversion funnel dropped 30% in a day”). - Sending session links to support tools (so agents can see what happened).
What doesn’t: - Alert fatigue. If everyone gets a ping for every tiny event, they’ll start ignoring all alerts. - Integrating with everything—focus on what your team actually uses.
To do: 1. Set up key alerts for major issues only. 2. Integrate with your main tools (but only after you know you’ll use them). 3. Test integrations—don’t assume they just work out of the box.
Step 7: Build a Simple Collaboration Habit
This is the part most teams skip. If you want Smartlook to be useful together, make it part of your team’s routine—not just another dashboard nobody checks.
Ideas: - Add a “Smartlook review” to your weekly team meeting (5 minutes: top sessions, new issues). - When a support ticket comes in, check Smartlook before responding. - Encourage folks to leave comments on sessions or share direct links.
What works:
A lightweight, regular habit—nothing fancy, just consistency.
What doesn’t:
Mandating everyone spend hours digging through session replays. Use Smartlook to answer questions, not to create busywork.
Step 8: Review Security and Compliance (Don’t Skip This)
It’s not glamorous, but it’s necessary. Make sure you’re not recording stuff you shouldn’t. For B2B, clients are often picky about data handling.
Checklist: - Are passwords, PII, and payment info masked? - Who can access session replays? - Is your workspace protected with SSO or strong passwords? - Do you have audit logs enabled, if needed?
To do: 1. Walk through Smartlook’s privacy settings. 2. Ask your IT or security team to review your setup. 3. Document your choices (even if it’s just a Google Doc).
What to ignore:
Don’t obsess over obscure compliance features unless you’re in a regulated industry. Focus on the basics: mask sensitive data, control access, use strong passwords.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Rinse and Repeat
Smartlook is a powerful tool, but only if your team actually uses it. Don’t get sucked into endless configuration. Start small, make it part of your routine, and adjust as you go. If something isn’t useful, kill it. If your team isn’t collaborating, ask why—not just “how do we set this up?”
The best B2B teams keep things simple, focus on a few key workflows, and revisit what’s working every month or two. That’s it. Now go set up Smartlook so your team can spend less time guessing, and more time actually improving your product.