If you’re reading this, you probably need clear sales numbers—fast. Maybe your boss wants weekly pipeline snapshots. Maybe you’re tired of sifting through endless tabs and half-baked reports. Either way, you want a custom dashboard in ThorsHammer that actually tells you what’s going on in sales.
This guide skips the sales spiel and gets straight to it: how to set up dashboards that make sense, what to watch out for, and what’s frankly a waste of time. If you’re a sales manager, ops lead, or just the unlucky soul who drew the dashboard straw, this is for you.
1. Get Clear on What You Actually Need
Before you even log in, pause. You don’t want to build a Franken-dashboard with 20 widgets nobody looks at. Here’s how to get specific:
- Ask what decisions you need to make. Are you tracking deals? Rep activity? Forecast accuracy?
- Write down the top 3-5 questions you need answered. Examples:
- Are we on track to hit quota?
- Which deals are stuck?
- Who’s killing it (and who’s not)?
- Ignore vanity metrics. “Emails sent” or “calls logged” might look impressive but rarely drive action.
Pro tip: If a metric doesn’t change how you work, skip it. Focus on what’s actionable.
2. Prep Your Data (Don’t Skip This)
Dashboards are only as good as the data feeding them. Garbage in, garbage out. ThorsHammer is flexible, but it’s not magic.
- Check your sales process. Are stages, owners, and close dates up to date? If not, clean it up first.
- Standardize fields. Make sure rep names, deal stages, and forecast categories are consistent. Typos or custom fields will trip up your filters.
- Import external data if needed. If you’re pulling in data from Excel, Salesforce, or elsewhere, do it now. Use ThorsHammer’s import wizard, but double-check mappings—field mismatches are the #1 headache here.
- Set permissions. Sensitive data? Make sure only the right people can see specific dashboards.
What to ignore: Don’t get sucked into custom field rabbit holes unless you absolutely need them. Start with the basics.
3. Building Your First Custom Dashboard
Finally—some actual building. Here’s how to set up a sales performance dashboard that’s useful and not a cluttered mess.
Step 1: Create a New Dashboard
- Go to the Dashboards tab in ThorsHammer.
- Click “Create New Dashboard.”
- Give it a name you’ll recognize (not “Test 4”).
- Set visibility (private, team, or org-wide).
Honest take: Unless you’re running a huge team, start with private. Share it once you’re happy.
Step 2: Add Widgets That Matter
Typical widgets for sales dashboards:
- Pipeline Value by Stage – Shows if deals are moving or stuck.
- Closed Won/Lost This Month – Tracks what’s actually closing.
- Rep Performance (by revenue or # of deals) – Helps spot outliers.
- Forecast vs. Actuals – Useful if you do any kind of prediction.
- Deal Aging – Highlights neglected deals.
How to add: - Click “Add Widget.” - Pick a visualization (bar, line, pie, or just a table—sometimes boring is best). - Select your dataset (usually “Deals” or “Opportunities”). - Set filters (date range, owner, stage, etc.). - Preview before saving—don’t trust the default!
Pro tip: Start with 3-4 widgets. If you need more, add them later. A wall of charts just gets ignored.
Step 3: Arrange and Resize
- Drag and drop widgets to prioritize what matters most.
- Bigger isn’t always better—put key metrics at the top left.
- Group similar widgets (pipeline, performance, forecasting) together.
What works: Simple layouts, clear headings, and sparing use of color. What doesn’t: Rainbow charts, widget sprawl, or stuffing every KPI “just in case.”
Step 4: Set Up Filters and Drilldowns
- Use top-level filters for timeframes (this week, this quarter).
- Add filters for reps or teams if you want to slice data quickly.
- Enable drilldowns if you want to click into a chart and see deal details.
Watch out: Over-filtering kills context. Stick to the basics until you know what you’re looking for.
4. Share and Automate (But Don’t Overdo It)
Once you’ve got something useful, it’s time to get it in front of others.
Sharing
- Use ThorsHammer’s “Share” button to send dashboards to your team.
- Set permissions—view only, or let others edit.
- For execs, create a simplified version. Less is more.
Automation
- Schedule email reports if folks want regular updates—daily, weekly, or monthly.
- Link dashboards to Slack or Teams if your crew actually checks them.
- Don’t set up more alerts than you can handle. Alert fatigue is real.
Skip: Real-time dashboards for sales usually aren’t worth the hassle. Daily or weekly is enough for most teams.
5. Maintaining Your Dashboard (The Boring, Crucial Part)
Dashboards aren’t “set it and forget it.” If you don’t touch them, they’ll get stale and people will stop trusting the data.
- Review quarterly. Are the charts still relevant? Are people using them?
- Tweak filters and widgets as your process changes.
- Purge unused dashboards. If nobody’s looked at it in a month, archive it.
- Check for data drift. New fields or changes in sales stages? Update your widgets.
Pro tip: Ask your reps for feedback. If they’re not using it, find out why—usually, it’s too complex or not answering the right questions.
What’s Worth Ignoring
Not everything that glitters in ThorsHammer is gold. Here’s what you can usually skip:
- “Gamification” widgets. Leaderboards and badges sound fun but rarely change behavior.
- Hyper-granular attribution. You don’t need to know the exact source of every deal unless marketing is paying you to.
- Trying to make dashboards do forecasting for you. Use them to spot trends, not to run your whole sales strategy.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
The best dashboards aren’t the prettiest—they’re the ones your team actually uses. Start simple, fix what isn’t working, and don’t be afraid to ditch what nobody cares about. ThorsHammer can do a lot, but you’re better off with a few clear metrics than a sea of noise.
Build, test, get feedback, repeat. That’s really all there is to it. Good luck—and remember, the goal is to spend less time reporting and more time selling.