If you’re using Freshworks, you’ve probably heard a lot about “data-driven decisions.” That’s great—except, let’s be honest, staring at dashboards doesn’t magically make problems disappear. This guide is for people who want to actually use Freshworks analytics dashboards to spot issues, see what’s working, and cut through the noise. Forget the hype—let’s talk about what’s useful, what isn’t, and how to get answers you can act on (without wasting half your day clicking around).
Step 1: Know What You Want To Fix (or Improve)
Before you even open a dashboard, ask yourself: what’s the question you’re trying to answer, or the problem you’re trying to solve? Randomly poking around graphs is a one-way ticket to confusion.
Common goals: - Are support requests taking too long? - Is the sales team dropping the ball after a demo? - Are customers ghosting you after onboarding?
Be specific. “I want to improve customer satisfaction” is too broad. “I want to know why our CSAT dropped last month” is something you can look for.
Pro tip: Write your question down. If you can’t say what you want to know in one sentence, you’re probably not ready for analytics yet.
Step 2: Get Oriented with Freshworks Dashboards
If you’re new to Freshworks, here’s what you need to know:
- It’s not just one dashboard—there are dashboards for sales, support, marketing, and more. Each product (like Freshdesk or Freshsales) has its own analytics section.
- Default dashboards show the basics: ticket trends, sales pipelines, agent performance, etc.
- Custom dashboards let you pick exactly what you want to see, but you’ll need to build them.
What’s worth exploring: - Overview dashboards: Start here. They give you the “big picture” so you know where to dig deeper. - Filters: Use these to slice by date, team, region, or product. Otherwise, you’ll be swimming in data you don’t need. - Export options: Sometimes it’s faster to export to Excel or Google Sheets for real analysis. Don’t be afraid to do it.
What’s usually a waste of time: - Staring at “vanity metrics” like total tickets if you don’t know what’s driving them. - Clicking every chart “just in case” it’s interesting.
Step 3: Zero In On the Right Metrics
Not all metrics are created equal. Some look impressive but don’t tell you much. Here’s a straight-up take on what’s worth paying attention to—and what isn’t.
If you’re in Support (Freshdesk/Freshservice):
Focus on: - First response time: How quickly are customers getting an answer? - Resolution time: How long does it actually take to solve issues? - Ticket volume by type: What’s causing the most headaches? - CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score): Are people happy with the help they get?
Ignore (most of the time): - Total tickets: This goes up and down for a million reasons and doesn’t tell you if you’re doing better or worse. - Tickets by channel: Unless you’re changing how people contact you, this is just trivia.
If you’re in Sales (Freshsales):
Focus on: - Deals by stage: Where are deals getting stuck? - Conversion rate: How many leads actually become customers? - Sales cycle length: Is it taking longer to close deals? - Lost deal reasons: What’s costing you sales?
Ignore (usually): - Number of emails sent: Activity isn’t the same as progress. - Pipeline value: If you’re not winning deals, a big pipeline doesn’t matter.
If you’re in Marketing (Freshmarketer):
Focus on: - Campaign performance: Which emails or ads are actually getting responses? - Lead sources: Where are your best leads coming from? - Attribution: Can you tell what’s driving revenue, or just clicks?
Ignore: - Impressions: If no one’s converting, impressions are just noise. - Clicks without context: A high click rate is meaningless if no one buys.
Pro tip: Pick 2–3 metrics that match your goal. Don’t try to act on everything at once.
Step 4: Build or Customize Your Dashboards
Default dashboards are fine for a quick look, but if you want real answers, you’ll need to tweak things.
How to get started: 1. Clone an existing dashboard—don’t start from scratch if you don’t have to. 2. Remove widgets that don’t matter. Less is more. 3. Add custom filters—like region, agent, product, or time frame. 4. Drag and drop widgets to put the most important stuff up top.
When should you build a custom dashboard from scratch? - When your team asks the same “why” question every week and the default views can’t answer it. - When you want to track a specific project, campaign, or customer segment.
What works:
- Simple dashboards: Four charts that everyone understands beat twenty that no one looks at.
- Scheduled email reports: Set up Freshworks to email you a PDF or link every Monday. If you’re not looking at it, you know it’s not useful.
- Annotations: Add notes to explain jumps or dips. Future-you will thank you.
What to ignore:
- Animation and fancy chart types. Pie charts are almost always a bad idea for comparisons.
- Trying to show everything. If your dashboard looks like a cockpit, you’re overdoing it.
Step 5: Dig Deeper When You See Weirdness
Spot something odd—like a spike in tickets or a drop in conversions? Don’t just shrug and move on.
How to troubleshoot: - Drill down: Use filters to break it out by team, product, or time. Did the problem start after a new release? - Compare time periods: Are you really seeing a trend, or just a one-off blip? - Ask the team: Sometimes, the data just reflects reality—a big customer came on board, or someone was out sick.
Don’t trust every chart: Analytics can’t read minds. If a number looks off, double-check your filters and data sources. Garbage in, garbage out.
Pro tip: Keep a running list of “weird data moments.” Patterns will pop up faster than you think.
Step 6: Turn Insights Into Action (And Track If It Worked)
All the dashboards in the world are pointless if nothing changes. Once you spot something, do something about it.
- Set a goal: “We want first response time under 2 hours.”
- Make a change: Shift schedules, start a new campaign, adjust your process.
- Monitor the impact: Did the number move the way you wanted? If not, try something else.
What works: - Tight feedback loops—look at your dashboards weekly, not once a quarter. - Sharing dashboards with the team so everyone’s pulling in the same direction.
What doesn’t work: - Setting a metric and forgetting about it. - Blaming the data when you don’t like the answer.
Step 7: Watch Out for Common Pitfalls
Analytics dashboards are helpful, but they’re not magic. Here’s what trips people up:
- Analysis paralysis: Don’t fall into the trap of waiting for “perfect data.” Good enough is good enough.
- Chasing every blip: Not every up or down is a trend. Look for patterns, not noise.
- Over-customizing: You don’t need a dashboard for everything. Focus on what drives decisions.
And remember: If you’re spending more time updating dashboards than acting on them, you’ve lost the plot.
Keep It Simple & Iterate
Don’t let dashboards become another thing you “have to check” but never use. Start simple, pick one or two key questions, and check in regularly. If something isn’t helping you make a decision, cut it. The best dashboards are the ones you actually look at—and act on. Everything else is just decoration.