Salesforce provides a variety of powerful reporting and dashboard tools to help you measure your sales performance and track your progress.
But if you’re not using these features to their fullest potential, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve your sales strategy. In this article, we’ll show you how to get the most out of Salesforce reports and dashboards. We’ll cover everything from setting up custom reports to creating dynamic dashboards that give you real-time insights into your sales pipeline.
So whether you’re just getting started with Salesforce or you’re looking for ways to take your reporting skills to the next level, this article is for you. Let’s get started!
Understanding Reports and Dashboards
Reports and dashboards are an essential part of any Salesforce organisation. They provide insights into your sales data so you can make better decisions about your business. But understanding and leveraging these tools can be tricky.
That’s where this guide comes in. We’ll provide an overview of what reports and dashboards are, and how you can use them to get the most out of your Salesforce investment.
Designing Reports and Dashboards
When it comes to designing reports and dashboards in Salesforce, there are a few best practices you should keep in mind. To start with, keep your reports and dashboards simple and easy to read. You want to make sure that all of the information is easy to see at a glance.
In addition, use standard Salesforce fonts and colours whenever possible. This will help to ensure that your reports and dashboards are visually consistent with the rest of your Salesforce interface.
Finally, make sure that your reports and dashboards are updated on a regular basis. The information they contain is only useful if it’s accurate and up-to-date.
Building and Deploying Reports and Dashboards
Now that you understand the different types of reports and dashboards and the data that they can contain, it’s time to learn how to build and deploy them.
First, let’s start with reports. When you build a report, you’ll first need to choose the type of report you want to create. You can select from standard or custom reports, Matrix Reports, Tabular Reports, or Summary Reports.
Once you’ve chosen the type of report, you’ll need to specify the data that you want to include. You can either select from a list of standard fields or build a custom report using the Report Builder.
Next, you’ll need to choose the layout for your report. You can use one of Salesforce’s standard layouts or create your own custom layout.
Finally, you’ll need to specify the filters and criteria for your report. This will determine the data that is included in your report.
When you’re finished building your report, it will be saved in your personal folder in Salesforce. You can then deploy it to your organisation by selecting a group of users who will have access to it.
Testing and Optimising Reports and Dashboards
Once you have built your reports and dashboards, it’s time to test them out to make sure they are providing the data you need. Don’t forget that you can use fields, filters, and formulas to customise reports and dashboards to get just the information you need.
However, testing is not a one-time activity – it should be an ongoing process. As your business evolves, your reports and dashboards may need to be tweaked or even rebuilt from scratch in order to stay up-to-date. Make sure to build in time for testing and optimising regularly.
Lastly, as you create dashboards for different areas of your business (e.g., marketing performance, sales funnel analysis), don’t forget about the importance of having a centralised dashboard that shows all key performance metrics in one place. This will make it easier for everyone in the organisation to stay on top of their KPIs.
Automating Reports and Dashboard Distribution
If you’re already creating reports and dashboards, the next step is automating the distribution of these documents to reduce manual processes. With Salesforce reports and dashboards automation, you can schedule your reports and send them to the right people or departments, so they get notified when the latest version is ready.
This way, everyone can stay updated on their KPIs and take advantage of the insights provided by Salesforce. You can customise who gets which documents and when so that everyone has the information they need when they need it. And with this automated process in place, tracking your growth goes from an arduous task to an effortless one.
Adopting Data Governance for Quality Results
When it comes to getting the best results from Salesforce Reports and Dashboards, implementing data governance is key. Data governance is a set of rules and processes that ensure the accuracy and quality of your Salesforce data, allowing you to maximise your return on investment (ROI).
Data governance should include user access controls, as well as a plan for how reports are created and shared with users. You should also establish protocols for maintaining data quality – such as regular reviews and checks for errors – and for protecting it against unauthorised access.
It’s also important to clearly define roles and responsibilities for each team member, so everyone knows who is responsible for what, including reporting tasks like running reports or creating new dashboards. Finally, make sure all users understand why data governance is important and how they can help maintain the accuracy of the data.
Conclusion
When it comes to Salesforce reports and dashboards, following best practices is key to ensuring you’re getting the most out of your data. By formatting your reports correctly and using the right tools, you can make sure your data is easy to understand and provides valuable insights into your business.
So what are the best practices for Salesforce reports and dashboards? Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Make use of graphs and charts to display your data.
- Use filters to narrow down your data and find the information you need.
- Group your data to see how different aspects of your business are performing.
- Export your data to share with others or use it for further analysis.
- Use dashboards to quickly and easily view your most important data.
Following these tips will help you create beautiful and informative Salesforce reports and dashboards that will help you make better business decisions.
Smplicity specialises in Digital Transformation and Change Management. Implementations and customisations include Salesforce Sales Cloud, Salesforce Service Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement, Salesforce Experience Cloud, Salesforce CPQ, and Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud.