Learn How to Use The Sales Manager Dashboard

This guide provides practical advice on using the Sales Manager Dashboard to assess pipeline coverage, identify pipeline risks, and improve confidence in hitting sales targets.

It summarises key ideas from our full best practice article and highlights how sales managers can use pipeline quality metrics, target comparisons, and dashboard insights to make better day-to-day decisions.

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Why This Matters

Having a large pipeline does not necessarily mean you have enough quality pipeline to hit your sales targets. Without clear visibility of deal quality, timing, ownership, and expected revenue, forecasts can quickly become unreliable. The Sales Manager Dashboard brings these measures together so managers can identify risks early, focus their attention where it matters most, and take action before a target is missed.

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Key Insights

• Validate pipeline quality before relying on coverage: Review opportunities due to close this month and next month for repeated close-date changes, long periods without stage changes, and excessive time in the pipeline. These metrics can highlight deals that are unlikely to close as forecast.
• Compare weighted pipeline with target: Use closed-won revenue and weighted pipeline together to determine whether the team has enough expected revenue to meet its target. A negative variance indicates that action may be required to close the gap.
• Look beyond the headline pipeline number: Analyse pipeline by stage and salesperson. A pipeline dominated by early-stage opportunities or concentrated heavily with one salesperson may indicate additional forecast risk.
• Look ahead, not just at the current month: Regularly assess next month’s and the quarter’s pipeline coverage so that potential shortfalls can be addressed before they become urgent.
• Use pipeline insights to drive action: When coverage is insufficient, identify opportunities to bring forward, generate additional pipeline through existing customers, or increase lead-generation and business-development activity. When coverage is sufficient, focus on progressing and closing the right deals.

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How To Apply This

1. Validate the opportunities.
   Start with the deals scheduled to close this month and next month. Review close-date changes, days open, stage changes, and other indicators of pipeline quality. Remove or challenge stale opportunities that could be inflating your coverage.
2. Assess coverage against target.
   Compare closed-won revenue and weighted pipeline with the relevant sales target. Review the results by team member, stage, and owner to identify where the biggest risks or opportunities sit.
3. Take targeted action.
   For coverage shortfalls, create or accelerate suitable opportunities and strengthen future pipeline-generation activity. For sufficient coverage, concentrate on close plans and the high-impact deals that will determine whether the target is achieved.

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Read The Full Article

For a deeper dive, including examples and detailed guidance, read the full blog:

Master Your Pipeline Coverage with the Sales Manager Dashboard

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Related Guidance

• How To Measure Sales Pipeline Coverage With Confidence
• Measure Sales Pipeline Size With These 4 Vital Dashboard Charts
• How To Compare Your Sales Funnel With Quota In Salesforce
• 3 Proven Ways To Boost Pipeline Quality You Can Start Today

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