If you run sales for a B2B SaaS or manage a pipeline, you know the drill: Too many tools, spreadsheets everywhere, and still—somehow—nobody agrees on what’s actually happening in the deals. If you’re tired of flying blind, this guide is for you. We’ll dig into how to use Getcabal reporting features to actually see what’s going on in your sales pipeline (instead of just hoping your gut is right).
No fluff, no “AI-powered magic”—just honest, practical steps to make your pipeline make sense.
Step 1: Get Your Data Right (or Don’t Bother)
Before you even open a report, take a hard look at your data. Garbage in, garbage out—no amount of dashboards can fix missing contacts or vague deal stages.
What matters: - Are your deals tracked consistently? If everyone uses “Proposal Sent” differently, reports are worthless. - Do you log activity? If your team’s still emailing from their Gmail, you’ll miss half the story. - Are stakeholders linked to deals? Getcabal shines when buyers and champions are mapped to accounts.
Pro Tip:
Pick ONE person to “own” data sanity. Don’t assume everyone will do it. People skip steps, and it snowballs fast.
Ignore: “Auto-sync” promises. Always check what’s actually being logged.
Step 2: Pick the Right Reports (Not All of Them)
Getcabal has a bunch of reports, but you don’t need all of them. Focus on the ones that actually answer real questions:
- Pipeline Overview: What’s in play, by stage and owner. Good for stand-ups and board slides.
- Deal Progress: Who’s moving forward, who’s stuck, and how long they linger at each step.
- Stakeholder Engagement: See which buyers are actually involved (real people, not just logos).
- Activity Tracking: Meetings, emails, and calls logged vs. what’s expected.
What works: - Use Pipeline Overview for your weekly forecast. Don’t get lost in the weeds. - Deal Progress is your “early warning system” for stuck deals. - Stakeholder Engagement is gold for figuring out where you’re single-threaded.
What to ignore: - Vanity metrics. “Email opens” and “touches” can look impressive, but don’t mean a deal’s moving. - Reports nobody reads. If it takes 10 minutes to explain, skip it.
Step 3: Set Up Pipeline Stages That Make Sense
If your pipeline stages are vague or meaningless, your reports will be too. Here’s how to tighten them up:
- Define each stage clearly. “Discovery” should mean the same thing to everyone.
- Limit the number of stages. More than 6-7, and nobody remembers what’s what.
- Tie stages to real actions. If there’s no clear exit criteria (“demo completed,” “proposal sent”), it’s just noise.
How Getcabal helps:
You can customize stages to match your process, not some generic template. Make them fit how your team actually sells.
Pitfall:
Don’t let “hope” deals linger in mid-pipeline. If nothing’s happened in 30 days, move them out or close them.
Step 4: Use Stakeholder Mapping to Avoid Invisible Killers
One thing Getcabal does well: making who’s really involved in a deal visible. Most deals die because the real decision-maker was never in the room. Here’s how to use this:
- Map all contacts to each deal. Not just your champion—loop in legal, finance, the boss.
- Tag stakeholders by role. Buyer, blocker, influencer, etc.
- Watch for single-threaded risks. If you only know one person, your odds tank.
Pro Tip:
Schedule a monthly “stakeholder audit.” Go through deals and call out the single-threaded ones. Don’t wait for the QBR.
What to ignore:
Don’t obsess over perfect org charts. Focus on who’s actually answering your emails and joining calls.
Step 5: Track and Act on Deal Velocity
It’s not enough to know how much is in your pipeline—you want to know how fast (or slow) it moves. Getcabal’s reports can show:
- Average time in each stage
- Deals stuck beyond the norm
- Stage-to-stage conversion rates
How to use this: - Set a “normal” time for each stage (based on your real data). - Getcabal can flag deals stuck longer than average. Review these weekly. - Use conversion rates to spot leaks. If 70% move from “Demo” to “Proposal” but only 10% go to “Closed Won,” that’s your bottleneck.
Common mistake:
Don’t chase speed for speed’s sake. Some deals are slow for good reason. Focus on stalled deals, not just slow ones.
Step 6: Review Activity Reports, But Don’t Get Distracted
Getcabal lets you see activity by account and rep: meetings, emails, calls, etc. This is handy—but easy to misuse.
What works: - Use activity reports to spot neglected deals. If there’s no touch in 14 days, it’s time to nudge the owner. - Compare activity by stage. Are reps spending too much time on late-stage deals and ignoring new ones?
What to ignore: - Don’t manage by “number of emails sent.” Quality beats quantity. - Don’t use activity as a blunt KPI. If someone’s logging lots of calls but has no deals moving, dig deeper.
Step 7: Build a Simple Dashboard (and Actually Look at It)
Don’t let reporting become another time sink. Build a dashboard that answers your real questions in five minutes or less.
What to include: - Total pipeline by stage - Deals flagged as “at risk” (stuck, single-threaded, low activity) - Key activities this week (meetings, demos, big changes) - Top new stakeholders added (shows progress with real buyers)
Pro Tip:
Make your dashboard the first thing you check Monday morning. If you’re not using it, simplify until you do.
What to ignore:
Don’t add every possible chart. More data isn’t more insight.
Step 8: Share Insights With Your Team—Not Just Leadership
Dashboards and reports aren’t just for your boss or the board. Share them with your team, and use them as a reason to talk about real deals.
- Run pipeline reviews off the dashboard, not off memory.
- Use stakeholder maps in deal reviews—ask, “Who don’t we know yet?”
- Celebrate progress where it’s real, not just where it looks good on paper.
What works: - Make reports part of the conversation, not a gotcha tool. - Turn trends into actions—if deals are stalling at “Demo,” figure out why, together.
Step 9: Iterate—Don’t Set It and Forget It
The first version of your reporting setup won’t be perfect. That’s normal.
- Review reports monthly. Do they answer the questions you actually care about?
- Prune useless charts. Add new ones if you spot blind spots.
- Ask your team what’s missing—they’ll tell you what’s actually painful.
Pro Tip:
Set a calendar reminder to review your reporting every quarter. It’s easy to forget when you’re busy.
Keep It Simple—Then Keep Improving
Sales reporting doesn’t have to be a swamp of spreadsheets and vanity graphs. With Getcabal, you can see what’s really happening in your pipeline—if you keep your data clean, focus on the right reports, and use them to drive real conversations.
Start simple. Use the reports that actually help you run your pipeline. Tweak as you go. Visibility is a muscle—the more you use it, the stronger it gets.