If you’re a B2B sales leader, ops person, or just the “data wrangler” on your team, you’ve probably wrestled with sales reports that take too long to pull and never quite show what you need. You want less spreadsheet hell, more answers you can trust, and maybe you’ve heard about Setsail as a way to automate some of this pain away.
This guide spells out, in real steps, how to build automated sales reports in Setsail—what to actually do, what to skip, and how to avoid common time-wasters. If you want dashboards that people actually use (and don’t dread updating), you’re in the right spot.
Step 1: Nail Down What You Actually Need to Report
Before you log into any tool, get crystal clear on what your sales team needs to see regularly. Skip this, and you’ll end up with dashboards nobody trusts or looks at.
Ask yourself and your team: - What questions do we want to answer? (e.g., “Which deals are at risk?” “Who’s crushing their quota?”) - Who’s this report for? (Execs want different stuff than reps.) - How often do we need this info? (Daily? Weekly? Monthly?) - What’s “nice to have” vs. “must-have?”
Pro tip: Start small. Fancy dashboards are cool, but half of them collect dust. Focus on the metrics that drive real action.
Step 2: Get Your Data Ducks in a Row
Setsail pulls data from your CRM (like Salesforce), email, calendars, and more. The tool can only work magic if your data isn’t a total mess.
Checklist: - Is your CRM data up-to-date? (No ancient deals or “test” accounts littering things?) - Are reps logging activities consistently? (If not, that’ll show up in your reports.) - Do you have admin access to connect Setsail to your data sources?
If any of these are a “no,” fix them first. Otherwise, you’ll spend more time debugging reports than using them.
Step 3: Connect Setsail to Your Data Sources
Time to log in and actually wire things up.
How to connect: 1. Login: Head to Setsail and sign in with your admin account. 2. Integrate CRM: Usually, Setsail has a “Connect CRM” button. Click it, follow the prompts, and authorize it with your Salesforce or HubSpot login. 3. Connect Communication Tools: Link up email, calendar, and maybe Slack. This lets Setsail track real interactions, not just CRM fields. 4. Check Permissions: Make sure Setsail can read (and if needed, write) the data it needs. Sometimes IT locks this down—get ahead of it.
What doesn’t work: If your CRM data is siloed or you have weird custom fields, expect hiccups. Setsail is good, but it’s not psychic.
Step 4: Build Your First Automated Report
Let’s actually create something you can use.
A. Pick a Template or Start from Scratch
- Templates: Setsail offers starter templates for things like pipeline health, activity tracking, and win/loss analysis. These are fine for most teams.
- Custom: If you need something weirdly specific, start from scratch. Just know: the more custom, the more you’ll need to tweak and test.
B. Select Your Metrics
Common (and useful) B2B sales metrics: - Stage-by-stage pipeline (not just “total pipeline”) - Deal velocity (how fast deals move) - Rep activity (calls, meetings, emails per deal) - Engagement signals (are customers actually replying?) - Forecast accuracy (how close are you to reality?)
C. Set Filters
Don’t show everything to everyone: - Filter by team, region, or product line - Exclude deals that are “closed lost,” unless you’re doing win/loss analysis - Set time frames (last week, this quarter, etc.)
D. Choose Visualization
Pick charts that make trends obvious: - Bar and line charts for trends over time - Funnel diagrams for stage progression - Tables for granular details (but don’t overdo it—nobody likes scrolling forever)
What to ignore: Gimmicky charts or “AI-powered insights” that don’t make sense to you. If you can’t explain it in one sentence, skip it for now.
Step 5: Automate Delivery (Let the Robots Do the Work)
Manual reporting is a time sink. Setsail can auto-send reports, so use it.
How to set up automation: - Choose who gets the report (individuals or groups) - Set the frequency (daily/weekly/monthly) - Pick the format (dashboard, PDF, spreadsheet link) - Schedule the send time (Monday mornings are classic, but don’t be afraid to experiment)
Pro tip: Don’t send everything to everyone. Targeted reports get read; generic ones get ignored.
Step 6: Share, Gather Feedback, and Iterate
Your first report won’t be perfect. That’s normal.
What to do: - Share the automated report with your team. - Ask what’s useful and what’s noise. - See if people are actually using it (don’t assume—they’ll tell you if it’s not helping). - Tweak filters, metrics, or visuals as needed.
What doesn’t work: Building a report in a vacuum. If your sales team never looks at it, you’ve wasted your time.
Step 7: Maintain and Improve (Without Becoming the “Dashboard Person”)
Congrats—your report’s live. Now, keep it useful without making it a second job.
Best practices: - Review usage monthly: Who’s opening the report? Is it driving action? - Archive or update old reports: Don’t let dashboards pile up. - Automate reminders: Let Setsail ping you if a report fails or data breaks. - Adjust as your team’s needs change: Don’t be precious—if something’s not working, kill it.
What to skip: Endless “dashboard grooming.” If you’re spending more time tweaking reports than running sales, you’ve missed the point.
Honest Takes: What Works, What Doesn’t
- Works: Automating the basics (pipeline health, activity tracking) saves time and keeps your team honest.
- Doesn’t work: Overcomplicating things with too many dashboards or “vanity metrics.”
- Ignore: Any pressure to build “executive dashboards” before you’ve nailed the basics. Leadership cares about trends, not charts for the sake of charts.
Keep It Simple—And Iterate
Automated reports in Setsail can make your sales team’s life way easier, but only if you keep things focused and honest. Start with reports people actually need, automate the delivery, and don’t be afraid to kill what’s not working.
Less is more. Build, share, tweak, repeat. That’s how you get sales reports people trust—and even use.