Exec Summary

• Why aren’t you getting the right insights from your data?
• And once you clean it up, it turns to crap again in a few months?
• Our metrics are only as good as our processes
• Either the processes are ineffective
• or our reps aren’t following them

Example: To Fix Close Rates We Need To:

• Identify our qualification process
• Document that process clearly
• Implement it into our CRM
• Train the team on that process
• Drive adoption of that process
• Monitor the data every week
• Coach reps to qualify each deal
• Continue through a full sales cycle

For Every Metric You Need To:

• Start with process, not reports
• Manage the process
• Then manage the metrics
• Start with an Executive Scorecard
• Get your own Executive Scorecard Template
• Get a free strategy consult

Over the last 15 years I’ve spent almost every day building, analyzing, and presenting Salesforce reports, either for my own company or other executive leaders.

99% of these conversations have been the same:

• CEO’s top priority is “getting visibility into the business”
• It’s the one and only thing they care about in Salesforce
• This often means multiple dashboards across the business

A huge exercise ensues, trying to refine these reports; rearchitecting data, exporting it, cleansing it, re-importing it, and then going back and forth numerous times with stakeholders.

All of this work – and it’s most often a complete waste of time.

6 months later, no one is even looking at these dashboards. I have even been guilty of this myself, as recently as last year.

The Data is Usually Garbage

The reason this so often fails is that the data is garbage. At first, we think we can fix it, so we spend a lot of time massaging the data to get the reports right. We go back and forth numerous times but then we hit a wall.

Despite spending 5X more time on this than expected, the data still isn’t there and we have to move on to other things. Other times, we get it right, but then a month or two later the data is garbage again and we’re back to square one.

Let me share a more specific example…

We want to see our Close Rates. In 5 mins we spin up a report and BAM! We have our Close Rate!

It’s 7.8%. Shit!

What the hell is going on? We start looking at deals. This one had one call.  That one, we never met any of the key decision makers. Okay, this is obvious, we aren’t qualifying deals properly. No problem. We can fix that.

Maybe we go deal by deal and eliminate a bunch of them from the report and get our Close Rate to a respectable 27%. Maybe. But what will this look like in 3 months if we stop here?

Get The Process Down to Get the Data Right

Our Close Rate is artificially low for one or two simple reasons; We do not have an effective process to qualify deals and/or our reps are not following that process.

To fix this, we need to:

• Identify our qualification process
• Document that process clearly
• Implement it into our CRM
• Train the team on that process
• Drive adoption of that process
• Monitor the data every week
• Coach reps to qualify each deal
• Continue through a full sales cycle

If we’re selling enterprise deals, we should have our report in a year. No big deal! Right?

Each Metric and Process Takes Time to Get Right

So, it just took us an entire year and we now have qualified deals. Our Close Rate should be accurate, but what else do we want to track?

Things like:

• Sales Cycle
• Average Sales Price
• Stage Duration Rates
• Lead Conversion Rates
• Stage Conversion Rates

That’s the basic list for sales. What if we have an SMB team and an Enterprise team?

What about marketing?

• Attribution
• SALs Generated
• SQOs Generated
• MQLs Generated
• Revenue Generated
• MQL Conversion Rate
• All of the above by Lead Source

And outbound?

• Activities
• SQOs Generated
• Revenue Generated
• Qualified Meetings Booked

And, let’s not forget Customer Success:

• Referrals
• Expansion
• Onboarding
• Customer Health
• Net promoter Score
• Renewal Rates (Churn)

We now have a list of dozens of metrics to track.

Start With Process, Not Reports

Most Salesforce Admins will just build these reports when asked. Then you’ll have the enviable task of banging your head against a wall for the next few years asking “Where did we get this number from?”

So, instead of building reports, we have to start with the process.

If we want to track New Business first, for example, we need to nail the process, train the team and get them executing it so consistently that it becomes muscle memory.

You’ll know this is working when, as I experienced as an AE at Salesforce, the team is coaching each other and doesn’t even need management’s help to follow the process.

Manage The Process

Anyone who has ever attended any training for anything knows it usually goes in one ear and out the other.

We’re not talking about training here. We’re talking about practice, every single day.

In our Qualification Process example, that means that every new deal that enters the pipeline gets scrutinized. Managers coach each new rep on every deal until they’re confident they have it down. When a deal enters the pipeline and it’s not really qualified, it’s a coaching moment, and reps quickly learn when to enter deals into the pipeline and when to hold off.

Then Manage The Metrics

Okay, now that our reps are off to the races – and they clearly understand how to qualify a deal – we can loosen the reins a little bit. We can ease up and just look at the metrics to see if they can maintain it.

We go over these metrics in 1:1s, team meetings, pipeline reviews and forecasting. If reps are executing, it’s simple – their Close Rate looks great, where else do they need help?

They might improve Close Rate even further or there may be more opportunity in increasing ASP, shortening the Sales Cycle and/or building more pipeline, setting more meetings, improving outbound response rates, etc. There are lots of things to improve and it’s hard to improve them all at once.

Choosing Our Battles (Starting With A Simple Exec Dashboard)

This is a LOT of work, right? Yep! Well, it’s one reason we have managers, to help the team execute the process every single day.

But, we have to choose our battles. Our team can only do so much at once.

When we work with new clients that want a giant set of dashboards in the first month, we suggest they start with an executive dashboard that has the most critical reports. Limiting to ~15 or 20 top leading indicators allows for a tight focus on priorities. Simultaneously, we work on defining the process and driving adoption to audit and get accurate data for those reports.

Here’s an example of an Executive Scorecard Template. The top row represents our lagging indicators (main KPIs) while the following rows reflect the leading indicators for that KPI:

You would update actual data in the “Data Tab” of the Executive Scorecard Template, like this:

The Data Tab is linked to the Scorecard Cover. We also recommend making a copy of the Data Tab to archive a previous week if you want the ability to look back.

Click here to get an editable copy of the Executive Scorecard Template.

If you need help creating and implementing your executive scorecard, why not have us do it for you?

Once we have that executive dashboard humming, with the team executing the process that supplies it with accurate data, we can start to go deeper and fix more granular areas of the business.