If you manage a sales team, you know the drill: everyone claims they’re “crushing it,” but it’s tough to separate the true top performers from the noise. If you’re using Closershq, you’ve got a mountain of sales analytics at your fingertips. But let’s be real—just staring at dashboards doesn’t make anyone better at their job. This guide is for sales managers, team leads, or anyone who wants to actually use analytics to find their best reps (and not just make pretty charts for the next meeting).
Step 1: Get Your House in Order
Before you dive into analytics, make sure your Closershq data is actually clean and consistent. If your reps aren’t logging calls, updating their deals, or following the same process, your data won’t tell you much of anything.
Checklist: - Are all deals being entered the same way? - Are key fields (like deal stage, value, and close date) always filled out? - Does everyone log their calls and emails, or is it spotty?
Pro tip: Pick one day a month to spot-check your data. If people are skipping steps, fix that before trusting any “top performer” lists.
Step 2: Define “High Performing” (Don’t Just Use Revenue)
Here’s the trap: It’s tempting to just sort your Closershq dashboard by revenue and call it a day. But that ignores a lot. Some reps get the best leads. Others close smaller deals but at a much higher rate. Some grind out dozens of calls for every win; others cherry-pick.
Start by asking: What actually matters for your team? A few ideas: - Total revenue closed (classic, but not the full story) - Win rate (deals won vs. deals worked) - Average deal size - Sales cycle length (how fast reps close deals) - Activity metrics (calls, emails, meetings—but beware, more activity doesn’t always mean better results)
What to skip: Vanity metrics like “calls made” or “emails sent” are easy to game. Focus on what drives real results.
Step 3: Build the Right Reports in Closershq
Now’s the time to get into the tool. Closershq has several standard dashboards, but you’ll get the most value by customizing them for your team.
A. Revenue & Win Rate Leaderboards
Set up a leaderboard that shows: - Total revenue closed per rep - Win rate (number of deals won / number of deals worked)
You’ll probably notice some reps who close lots of deals, but at a lower value, and others who close fewer, bigger deals. Both can be valuable—but you need the context.
B. Sales Cycle Analysis
Pull a report that shows: - Average days from first contact to close, by rep
Who’s closing fast? Who’s getting stuck in endless follow-ups? Don’t just reward speed, but look for reps who combine speed and win rate.
C. Deal Pipeline Breakdown
Create a pipeline report grouped by rep: - What’s the average deal value? - How are deals distributed across stages? - Are some reps better at advancing deals, even if they don’t always close?
Pro tip: Use filters to compare new reps vs. veterans, or segment by deal type (new business vs. upsells).
D. Activity Quality Over Quantity
Yes, you can see who’s making the most calls—but also look at: - Call-to-close ratio (how many calls does it take to win a deal?) - Email response rates
If someone’s sending 200 emails a day but never gets replies, that’s not high performance.
Step 4: Watch for Red Flags and Data Traps
Not all “top” reps are actually driving the business forward. Some common traps:
- Cherry-picking: Are certain reps only working the hottest leads? That can make their numbers look great, but it’s not sustainable.
- Sandbagging: Some reps delay logging deals until they’re sure they’ll close, so their win rate is artificially high.
- Activity spam: Logging a ton of pointless calls or meetings to look busy.
How to spot it: - Compare average lead quality or deal source per rep. - Look for outliers—if someone’s win rate is double everyone else’s, dig into their process. - Watch for “end of month” spikes in closed deals.
Step 5: Combine Quantitative and Qualitative Insights
Numbers matter, but they’re not the whole story. After you’ve crunched the data: - Talk to your reps. Ask top performers what’s working for them. - Shadow calls or demos from both high and low performers. Sometimes the best reps are just better at asking tough questions, not just closing fast. - Customer feedback: If you have NPS or satisfaction data tied to reps, factor that in. Closing a big deal that churns three months later isn’t a win.
Step 6: Recognize—and Replicate—What Actually Works
Now that you’ve identified your high performers, use Closershq analytics to dig deeper: - What do their deal notes look like? - How do they follow up? - What’s their mix of new vs. existing business? - Are they collaborating with other teams (like marketing or customer success)?
Don’t just celebrate the top reps—figure out what they’re doing differently, and coach the rest of the team on those habits.
Pro tip: Set up saved reports to track these behaviors month over month. If someone’s performance suddenly drops, you’ll spot it early.
What to Ignore
There’s always some feature or metric that gets hyped up but doesn’t actually tell you much. In Closershq, skip: - “Leaderboard” metrics that only show activity, not results. - Reports that only look good in a board meeting, but don’t help you coach (e.g., charts for the sake of charts). - Any “AI” scoring that isn’t transparent—if you can’t explain how it’s calculated, don’t use it to make decisions.
Step 7: Keep It Simple and Iterate
Don’t build a reporting monster that nobody looks at. Start with 2-3 core metrics, review them every week, and tweak as you learn what actually predicts success on your team.
- Update your dashboards as your sales process evolves.
- Share key findings with your reps—transparency helps everyone.
- If a metric stops being useful, drop it. Don’t get sentimental.
Bottom line: Closershq can surface your top sales talent, but only if your data is clean and you focus on the metrics that actually matter for your business. Keep it simple, stay skeptical of anything that feels like fluff, and remember: the best analytics help you coach real people, not just shuffle numbers around.