If you’re running B2B sales and drowning in spreadsheets or half-baked CRM exports, you know the headache: too many numbers, too little sense. This guide is for sales ops folks, marketers, and anyone who needs real answers about what’s actually happening in their B2B pipeline—without the fluff. We’ll dig into how to use Bullseye’s reporting tools to get clear, actionable insights about your sales stages, what’s worth tracking, and where to ignore the noise.
Why Pipeline Tracking Actually Matters
Let’s get one thing straight: most sales teams overcomplicate pipeline tracking. What you really need to know is simple:
- Where deals are getting stuck.
- Which stages actually predict revenue.
- How fast (or slow) things are moving.
If you can’t answer those with your current tools, you’re not alone. Many CRMs and reporting tools are either too basic (“Here’s a chart!”) or so overloaded with features you need a PhD to set them up.
That’s where Bullseye comes in. Unlike a lot of “all-in-one” dashboards, Bullseye focuses on giving you a dead-simple way to track, measure, and fix your pipeline—without needing a consultant on speed dial.
Step 1: Define Your Pipeline Stages (Don’t Let Software Decide)
Before you start clicking around in Bullseye, make sure your pipeline stages actually reflect how your sales work. Here’s where most teams mess up: they use whatever default stages their CRM handed them. Don’t do this.
What to do instead: - Map your real process. List out every meaningful step a deal goes through, from “New Lead” to “Closed Won/Lost.” Be honest about where things really move forward. - Keep it simple. If you have more than 6-8 stages, you’re probably splitting hairs. It’s way better to have clear, useful stages than to track every tiny micro-step. - Name stages for action, not status. “Proposal Sent” is clearer than “Negotiation.” Action-based names make reporting more useful.
Pro tip: Ask your reps where deals actually stall. If everyone says “Legal Review” is the graveyard, you need to track it as its own stage.
Once you’ve nailed these down, set them up in Bullseye. The tool lets you customize stage names and order—use this. Don’t just accept the defaults.
Step 2: Set Up Bullseye to Track the Right Data
Bullseye’s biggest advantage over generic CRMs is how fast you can get up and running. But don’t just plug it in and expect magic. Here’s how to avoid wasted effort:
- Connect your data sources. Bullseye can pull from your CRM, marketing tools, and spreadsheets. Start with the system where your team actually logs pipeline updates. (If that’s Salesforce, fine. If it’s a shared Google Sheet, that works too.)
- Configure your fields. Only map fields that matter for pipeline tracking: deal value, owner, stage, dates, and basic company info. Ignore the temptation to add twenty custom fields no one will ever use.
- Set up stage change tracking. Make sure Bullseye is logging when deals move between stages. This is what unlocks all the speed, velocity, and conversion metrics later.
What to skip: Fancy integrations you “might use later.” Get the basics working first. You can always add more data after you’re actually seeing useful reports.
Step 3: Get to Know the Key Pipeline Reports (and Ignore the Rest)
Bullseye has a lot of report templates, but let’s be honest: most people only need a handful to actually run their pipeline. Here’s what matters:
1. Stage Conversion Rates
See what percent of deals make it from one stage to the next. If you have a huge drop-off between “Demo Completed” and “Proposal Sent,” you know exactly where to focus.
- Why it’s useful: Highlights bottlenecks and wasted effort.
- What to ignore: Don’t obsess over tiny differences. Look for big gaps (10%+).
2. Pipeline Velocity
How long does a deal spend in each stage? Bullseye breaks this down with simple visualizations.
- Why it’s useful: Slow stages signal either process problems or resource issues.
- What to ignore: “Average” velocity can be skewed by weird outliers. Look at medians or filter out zombie deals.
3. Deal Aging
See which deals have been sitting in a stage for too long. It’s easy to spot “stuck” deals.
- Why it’s useful: Old deals clog up your pipeline and screw up forecasts.
- What to ignore: Not every old deal is dead—sometimes big accounts take longer. Use your judgment.
4. Forecast by Stage
Bullseye can estimate likely revenue based on historical stage conversion rates. Take this with a grain of salt—forecasts are only as good as your data hygiene.
- Why it’s useful: Helps with planning and setting expectations.
- What to ignore: If your sales cycle is super lumpy or you have a tiny sample size, these forecasts won’t mean much.
Step 4: Build a Simple, Actionable Dashboard
Don’t let anyone tell you that you need a 20-widget dashboard to “be data-driven.” With Bullseye, start with one or two views:
- Pipeline health: Current deal count and value by stage.
- Stage conversions: Where deals drop off.
- Deal velocity: How long things are taking.
That’s it. If you’re spending more time tweaking dashboards than talking to your team, you’ve missed the point.
Pro tip: Schedule a weekly 10-minute review. Look for new bottlenecks and celebrate when you fix one. Don’t let the dashboard become wallpaper.
Step 5: Use the Data to Actually Make Changes
Here’s where most teams get stuck. They build fancy reports, but nothing actually changes. Don’t fall for this.
How to drive real improvement:
- Pick one weak spot. Maybe your “Contract Sent” stage takes 3x longer than it should. Focus on fixing that before worrying about anything else.
- Talk to sales reps. The data will tell you where the problem is, but your team knows why it’s happening.
- Try something. Change the process, add resources, or clarify what’s needed to move deals forward.
- Check again next week. Did things improve? If not, try another fix.
Bullseye makes it easy to see if your changes are working—don’t overcomplicate it.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and What to Ignore
Works: - Tracking actual stage movement, not just “open” vs. “closed.” - Using conversion and velocity reports to spot process issues fast. - Keeping dashboards dead simple.
Doesn’t work: - Tracking vanity metrics (like “emails sent” or “touches”). They don’t move deals. - Over-engineering your pipeline stages. More isn’t better. - Trusting forecasts if your data is a mess.
Ignore: - Any “AI” feature that promises to magically fix your pipeline. These are almost always just glorified filters or charts. - Reports that no one reads. If it doesn’t drive an action, drop it.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Don’t wait for perfect data or a six-month rollout. Start tracking the basics with Bullseye, focus on the biggest bottleneck, and keep tweaking. Simple, honest reporting beats fancy dashboards every time. The goal isn’t to have the prettiest charts—it’s to actually move deals forward.