Unlocking the full potential of Close CRM reporting features can significantly boost your sales team's performance. In this guide, we’ll explore how you can effectively use Close CRM's reporting tools to gain insights into your sales organization, coach your reps more effectively, and ultimately double your team's performance.

Understanding Close CRM Reporting Features

The Reports tab in Close CRM is a powerful tool that provides various options to help you monitor and analyze your sales activities. By effectively utilizing these features, you can gain a clear understanding of what’s happening within your sales team and identify areas for improvement.

Customizing Your Activity Overview

The first step to effective reporting is customizing your activity overview. Navigate to the Reports tab on the left-hand side of Close CRM. Here, you can add and organize columns that are most relevant to your sales activities. Make sure to select the columns in the order you want them to appear. Key metrics to monitor include total duration, average duration, outbound calls, manual emails sent, and sent text messages. By organizing these metrics, you’ll have a comprehensive view of your sales activities and can easily identify trends and areas for improvement.

Analyzing Sales Team Performance

Monitoring call duration and average call duration is crucial for understanding your sales team's performance. Total duration provides insight into how much time reps spend on the phone, while average duration helps assess the quality of conversations. An increase in outbound calls without a corresponding increase in average duration might indicate ineffective outreach. Comparing week-over-week data allows you to identify patterns and make informed decisions. For example, if you notice a drop in talk time, you can investigate the reasons and take corrective action.

Using the Explorer Tool

The Explorer tool in Close CRM is excellent for analyzing specific metrics and generating graphs. It allows you to visualize data over time, making it easier to spot trends and patterns. You can analyze responses to application questions and see how they correlate with sales performance. Tracking call duration and outbound calls over time helps you understand how your team's activity is evolving. The Explorer tool helps you understand the bigger picture and make data-driven decisions to enhance your sales strategy.

When to Move Data Outside Close CRM

While Close CRM's internal reporting features are robust, there are times when you might need more granular data. This is where external reporting tools come into play. For basic external reporting, you can use Zapier to send data from Close CRM to Google Sheets. This setup allows you to create dashboards and visualize data in a more customizable format. For larger volumes of data, MySQL databases are more robust. They offer quicker data retrieval and better handling of extensive datasets.

Setting Up External Dashboards

To set up an external dashboard, use Zapier to trigger data transfer from Close CRM to Google Sheets or a MySQL database. Organize your data into tables that reflect your custom activities and relevant metrics. Build dashboards that provide a clear view of your sales performance. External dashboards allow you to customize reports according to your brand’s specific needs, providing deeper insights into your sales data.

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Custom Activities and Their Importance

Custom activities in Close CRM are essential for generating accurate reports. They allow you to track specific actions taken by your sales reps and ensure that all relevant data is captured. Define the activities you want to track, such as calls booked, deals won, and proposals sent. Include necessary details like lead owner, lead source, and activity type to enhance your reports.

Creating Effective Dashboards

Identify the metrics that matter most to your brand. Track how many proposals your team sends out, measure the effectiveness of your proposals, monitor the number of deals closed, and assess the rate at which prospects fail to show up for scheduled calls. These metrics help you understand your sales process's efficiency and identify areas for improvement.

Conclusion

Utilizing Close CRM's reporting features effectively can transform your sales team's performance. By customizing your activity overview, analyzing key metrics, using the Explorer tool, and setting up external dashboards, you can gain valuable insights and drive significant improvements. If you need assistance optimizing your Close CRM account, consider setting up a call with our team to ensure you have the right data to guide your sales strategy.