If you’re in sales ops, a founder, or a manager who actually wants to know what’s happening in your sales pipeline (not just get another shiny chart for the board deck), this guide is for you. Sales dashboards can be a mess of half-useful numbers and laggy graphs, but when set up right, they can actually help you spot issues before they become disasters—and show you what’s actually moving the needle.
We'll walk through how to use Salesfinity dashboards to get real, usable insights from your sales pipeline. No fluff, no buzzwords—just what works, what doesn’t, and how to get started.
Why bother tracking your sales pipeline anyway?
Here’s the thing: most sales teams have some kind of dashboard. But unless you know what to look for, they turn into a graveyard of “data for data’s sake.” If you want to:
- Catch deals before they stall or vanish
- Help reps focus on the right actions
- Actually forecast with some accuracy (not just wishful thinking)
- Spot bottlenecks before your quarter is in the tank
...then you need to track your pipeline well. Dashboards can help, but only if you’re honest about what matters and ignore the rest.
Step 1: Decide what you actually want to measure
Before you log into Salesfinity and start clicking around, stop and ask: What’s the real question you’re trying to answer? Here are the most useful things to track for most B2B sales teams:
- Pipeline volume: How many deals are in each stage? (And is that enough to hit your goals?)
- Deal velocity: How long do deals spend in each stage? Where do they get stuck?
- Conversion rates: What percent move from stage to stage? Where do you lose the most?
- Deal size and mix: Are you chasing big whales or a lot of small fish?
- Forecast vs. reality: Are your “committed” deals actually closing?
Pro tip: Ignore “activity” metrics (calls made, emails sent) unless you know they directly tie to results. They’re easy to game and don’t tell the real story.
Step 2: Set up your Salesfinity dashboards for clarity (not vanity)
When you log in to Salesfinity, you’ll see a bunch of default dashboards. Most of them are fine, but you’ll want to tweak or create your own:
2.1. Build your core pipeline dashboard
Start simple. You want a dashboard that shows:
- Total pipeline value, broken down by stage
- Number of deals in each stage
- Average deal size
- Weighted pipeline (probability-adjusted)
How to do it in Salesfinity:
- Go to the Dashboards section.
- Click “New Dashboard” and select “Sales Pipeline.”
- Choose your date range (quarter-to-date is a good default).
- Add widgets for each metric above. Drag them into an order that makes sense to you.
What to ignore: Don’t clutter this view with team leaderboards, activity logs, or “top products sold.” Keep this dashboard focused on the flow of deals through your pipeline.
2.2. Create a velocity and bottleneck view
This is where things get interesting. You want to see:
- Average days deals spend in each stage
- Stages with the most deals stalled (and for how long)
- A list of deals that have been stuck longer than your average
How to do it:
- In Dashboard settings, add the “Stage Duration” widget.
- Set up filters to highlight deals stuck 2x longer than average.
- Create a table view listing these “problem” deals for easy follow-up.
Why this matters: It’s easy to miss stuck deals when you’re only looking at totals. This view surfaces the real blockers in your process.
2.3. Conversion rate breakdown
This one’s about tracking how many deals actually make it from start to finish.
- Add a funnel visualization: show drop-off rates between each stage.
- Add conversion rate widgets for key steps (e.g., “Demo to Proposal,” “Proposal to Closed Won”).
- Make it easy to filter by rep, deal size, or industry (whatever matters most to your business).
What to ignore: Don’t get hung up on micro-conversions (like “email opened” or “call returned”). Focus on the big, revenue-driving transitions.
Step 3: Use filters and segments to get real insights
Dashboards look pretty, but the real power is in slicing the data:
- By rep: See who’s moving deals fastest (and who’s stuck).
- By deal size: Are bigger deals getting stuck more often?
- By source: Do inbound vs. outbound deals perform differently?
- By age: Are old deals clogging things up?
In Salesfinity, you can use the filtering panel to quickly switch between these segments. Don’t overcomplicate it—pick 2-3 slices that tie to your strategy.
Pro tip: If you’re constantly re-slicing data to answer the same questions, save those views as custom dashboards for quick access.
Step 4: Spotting red flags (and what to do about them)
Now that you’ve got dashboards that actually mean something, what should you look for?
Common warning signs:
- A bulge in late-stage deals: A bunch of deals piling up in “Proposal Sent” but not closing? That’s a sign your process is breaking down, or reps are sandbagging.
- High drop-off at one stage: If 70% of deals die at “Discovery Call,” either your qualification criteria is off or your presentation needs work.
- Lots of old deals: If your dashboard is full of deals older than your sales cycle, it’s time to clear them out or get real about their chances.
What NOT to worry about:
- Short-term dips: One slow week or a rep on vacation isn’t a trend. Look for patterns, not blips.
- Cosmetic “wins”: Don’t celebrate pipeline growth if it’s all in early stages or full of unqualified leads.
Step 5: Forecasting (without kidding yourself)
Forecasting is where most dashboards go to die. Here’s how to make your Salesfinity pipeline forecasts actually useful:
- Use weighted pipeline (deal value x historical close rate by stage), NOT just rep gut feeling.
- Compare “committed” vs. “best case” deals—are reps being realistic?
- Track forecast accuracy over time. If you’re always missing high or low, adjust your assumptions.
In Salesfinity:
- Set up widgets for forecasted revenue using stage probabilities.
- Add a chart showing historic forecast vs. actual closed revenue—see how good (or bad) you really are.
Honest take: No dashboard will make forecasting perfect. But a clear view of your pipeline, combined with a little skepticism, will get you closer to reality.
Step 6: Review and act—don’t just stare at the numbers
The point of tracking all this isn’t to have a pretty dashboard. It’s to spot problems and take action:
- Schedule a weekly pipeline review (15-20 minutes tops).
- Focus on stuck deals and stages, not just totals.
- Ask “what’s the next step for each at-risk deal?”—not “how much is in the pipeline?”
Pro tip: If your dashboards aren’t prompting you to actually do something, they’re just digital wallpaper.
What works, what doesn’t, and what to ignore
- Works: Simple, focused dashboards tied to real sales outcomes. Regular reviews. Honest conversations about what’s working and what’s stuck.
- Doesn’t work: Overcomplicated dashboards, vanity metrics, or tracking every possible data point “just in case.”
- Ignore: Activity counts, pretty charts that don’t change your actions, or “data-driven” insights that don’t make sense on the ground.
Keep it simple. Iterate.
You don’t need a dashboard for everything, and you definitely don’t need to track every metric anyone ever thought of. Start with what matters, keep your dashboards simple, and tweak as you learn. The best sales teams use dashboards to spot problems early and focus their energy—not to impress anyone with their data chops.
Build your Salesfinity dashboards to answer the questions you actually care about, review them regularly, and don’t be afraid to cut what isn’t useful. Less noise, more action. That’s the whole point.