If you’re running a sales team or doing outbound calls yourself, you already know the drill: activity for the sake of activity means nothing. What you care about is whether those calls are actually leading somewhere. This guide is for anyone who wants to actually understand how their outbound calling is going—no guessing, no wishful thinking, just clear data and honest analysis. We’re going deep on how to track and analyze outbound call performance using Frontspin dashboards, with all the practical know-how you won’t find in the marketing materials.
1. Get Your Call Data Flowing
Before you can analyze anything, you need to make sure your call data is being logged correctly in Frontspin.
What to check: - Automatic Call Logging: Make sure calls made through Frontspin are being auto-logged. If your reps are dialing outside the platform, you’ll have holes in your data. - Call Dispositions: These are the labels your team attaches to each call—“Connected,” “Voicemail,” “No Answer,” “Meeting Set,” etc. If these aren’t being filled out, your reports will be useless. - Data Sync: If you’re syncing Frontspin with your CRM (like Salesforce), confirm there’s no lag or data mismatch.
Pro Tip: Garbage in, garbage out. If your reps are skipping dispositions or logging calls after the fact, your numbers will always be off. Make the process as easy as possible—ideally, they shouldn’t have to leave Frontspin to log anything.
2. Find (or Build) the Right Dashboards
Frontspin comes with its own dashboards, but they’re only as good as the reports you actually use.
The Standard Dashboards
Out of the box, you’ll usually find dashboards for: - Call Activity: Number of calls per rep, team, or time period - Connect Rate: Percentage of calls that reach a live person - Call Outcomes: How many calls led to meetings, callbacks, etc. - Talk Time: Total and average call lengths
These are all fine, but don’t just accept the default. Decide what actually matters for your team.
Customizing Dashboards
Don’t be afraid to tweak: - Filters: Group by rep, team, lead source, or date. - Views: Sometimes you want raw counts; other times, you want percentages or trends. - KPIs: If all you track is “calls made,” reps will make a lot of pointless calls. Track what actually moves the needle (meetings set, qualified leads, etc.).
What to ignore: Vanity metrics. It’s tempting to pat yourself on the back for “dials per day.” But if your connect rate is garbage and nobody’s booking meetings, that number is just noise.
3. Track the Metrics That Actually Matter
Here’s where most teams get tripped up: tracking everything instead of the stuff that really tells you how you’re doing.
Metrics Worth Your Time
- Connect Rate
- What it is: % of calls that reach a live person
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Why it matters: Low connect rates mean you’re burning time. Consider changing your call times or your lists.
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Conversion Rate
- What it is: % of connects that result in a next step (meeting, demo, etc.)
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Why it matters: This tells you if your pitch is working, not just your dialing.
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Call Outcome Ratios
- What it is: Breakdown of call dispositions
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Why it matters: If “No Interest” is 70% of your connected calls, something’s off—either your list or your approach.
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Talk Time
- What it is: Average call length
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Why it matters: Super-short calls usually mean gatekeepers or hang-ups. Longer isn’t always better, but very short is rarely good.
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Follow-up Rates
- What it is: How often reps follow up as scheduled
- Why it matters: Outbound is rarely “one and done.” Consistent follow-up is key.
Metrics to Be Wary Of
- Total Dials: Easy to inflate, easy to fake productivity.
- Total Talk Time: Long calls aren’t always good calls.
- Call Notes Quality: If you’re measuring this, you’re probably micromanaging.
4. Set Up Regular Reviews (and Actually Use Them)
Dashboards won’t fix anything unless you look at them—and act on what you see.
How to Review
- Weekly Team Reviews: Surface trends (connect rate dropping? Reps struggling to book meetings?)
- 1:1s: Use data to coach, not to micromanage. “I see your connect rate is solid, but your conversion is lagging. Let’s dig into call recordings.”
- Self-Review: Encourage reps to check their own numbers. No one wants to be blindsided in a meeting.
What to Watch For
- Sudden Spikes or Drops: Did someone change your lead list? Is there a new objection cropping up?
- Consistent Underperformers: One bad week happens. A month of bad weeks? Time to coach or adjust.
Pro Tip: Don’t just focus on the “bottom” performers. Sometimes, your top rep is burning through your best leads or taking shortcuts. Use the dashboards to spot weird patterns, not just low numbers.
5. Dig Deeper: Trends, Coaching, and Real Improvements
The real value isn’t in the dashboard—it’s in what you do with the info.
Spotting Trends
- By Time of Day: Are connect rates higher at certain hours? Shift your call blocks.
- By List Source: Is one lead list outperforming others? Time to double down—or kill a dud list.
- Over Time: Are conversion rates trending up after new training? Or did things dip after a process change?
Coaching with Data
- Pull up call recordings tied to specific outcomes. If a rep’s conversion is low, listen to a few real calls—don’t just guess.
- Share best practices from top performers and learn from the outliers. Sometimes a “weird” approach actually works.
Don’t Fall for Dashboard Theater
It’s easy to spend hours slicing and dicing data and never actually change anything. Data is useless unless you take action. Pick one or two things to work on each month, and actually test them.
6. Common Pitfalls (and How to Avoid Them)
- Over-relying on automation: Auto-logging is great, but it can miss context. Spot-check call notes or recordings occasionally.
- Letting data pile up: Don’t wait for a “quarterly review.” By then, it’s too late to fix the problem.
- Ignoring rep feedback: Sometimes, the data says “make more calls,” but your team knows the real problem is bad leads or a broken script.
- One-size-fits-all targets: Not every rep, list, or campaign is the same. Adjust goals as you learn what works.
7. Simple, Actionable Next Steps
- Audit your current setup: Make sure every call and disposition is logged, and dashboards reflect what you actually care about.
- Pick two KPIs that matter: Don’t drown in data. Focus on connect and conversion rates for a month.
- Review, adjust, repeat: Use regular check-ins to tweak your process. Don’t be afraid to drop what’s not working.
If you take nothing else from this: Start simple. Track what matters. Don’t chase every shiny metric or get lost in endless dashboard tweaks. The goal isn’t to have the prettiest charts—it’s to make better calls and close more deals. Iterate as you go, and let the data drive actual improvements, not just reports for the sake of reports.