And for more information on data linking and dynamic shapes, watch the video below or see our complete step-by-step tutorial on how to make a dashboard in Lucidchart.
Hot tips for designing a dashboard for sales
Hopefully, our sales dashboard example will motivate you to try your hand at your own sales dashboard design. But before you get going, here are a few more tips.
1. Define your terms and stick to them
Thereâs so much jargon in sales that it can confuse even the most savvy of salespeople. Even a term like âgoalsâ can mean something different to each person. If by âgoals,â you mean monetary sales goals, then that term should remain consistent throughout your dashboard and sales documents. Consistency will ensure clarity when viewing and interpreting the data on your sales dashboard.
2. Keep it simple
Itâs tempting to want to cram every metric onto your dashboard. But in this case, less is more. Nothing is gained by making a dashboard so overwhelming that no one wants to spend time trying to decipher the numbers. Keep it simple and keep it powerful.
3. Think audience first
If your sales dashboard will only be seen by your sales team, you probably donât want any metrics that have to do with website productivity or how successful your organizationâs marketing efforts areâno matter how interesting that data might be. Keep the dashboard focused on what matters to your sales team most.
4. Simplify large numbers
No one wants to see $20,748,345.23. Instead, say $20 million or almost $21 million. Simplified numbers are easier to digest at a glance and easier to work with when putting them in context. (Theyâre also nicer to look at on a sales dashboard and help prevent visual clutter).Â
5. Choose pleasing colors
You may have a reaction to this: After all, youâre in sales, not in design. But color has a genuine effect on your choices. After all, would you buy a pea-green Ferrari or a hot red one? Similarly, the colors you choose may affect how receptive people are to your sales dashboard and how often they consult it.
When in doubt, stick to your companyâs brand colors, as they were likely chosen by a designer. Itâs important to make your dashboard accessible so that those with visual and other impairments can use it. Use highly contrasting colors, and large text, and make sure images have alt text. (If you need help creating alt text descriptions, try out the AltText.ai and Lucidchart integration to automatically generate alt text for you.)
How to use a sales dashboard for motivation
We mentioned earlier that a sales leaderboard is a type of sales dashboard. The sales leaderboard is great for motivating your sales team. It can display monthly sales, quarterly sales, weekly sales, and more competitive metrics. Consider these ways to use a sales dashboard to motivate your team:
- Encourage healthy competition: The sales profession attracts competitive people, so a sales dashboard can capitalize on that by encouraging your sales reps to compete for the top. Celebrate wins in company-wide updates and recognize your repsâ accomplishments. You could also hold contests, rewarding top sales reps with gift cards, extra time off, or entries into a raffle.
- Set goals: Set personal goals with your reps and use the sales dashboard to help them track those goals.
- Promote transparency: Share your leaderboard beyond your team. Your entire organization should be participating in sales, not just the sales team. So be open about whatâs happening in the sales departmentâitâs great for motivating the entire company and promoting a culture of transparency.
Sales dashboards are truly invaluable resources for sales managers and sales teams. Use them to better understand your whole sales environment, from how well your marketing efforts are paying off to which leads are due to generate the highest sales.Â
With this high-level view, you can better strategize and identify bottlenecks and other potential problems before they undermine your sales efforts. Plus, by using a sales leaderboard, you can motivate your team and help them have an eye toward the future.
