Dynamic customer relationship management (CRM) systems are usually cloud-based alternatives to off-the-shelf legacy programs with limited capabilities and manual systems of folders that are time-consuming to maintain. CRM dashboards house a wealth of information vital to a company’s activities, performance, goals, and progress.
This article considers CRM dashboards in detail. We show what they should include, ponder the advantages and disadvantages, provide some CRM examples, and give thought to the future of CRM. We’ll also explain why dynamic online CRM platforms like monday sales CRM are infinitely better than older systems.
What is a CRM dashboard?
Many languages have their variations of the adage, “A picture paints a thousand words”. Its pervasiveness can be attributed to one thing — it’s true. One image can convey complex information in an instant, giving busy project managers at-a-glance access to critical data.
The CRM dashboard is that image in a CRM system, providing interested parties with key performance indicators (KPIs) crucial to success. The information is in real-time, which allows for making more informed decisions on an array of current matters, including marketing decisions, employee performance, and customer care.
CRM dashboards visualize business-critical data, providing real-time snapshots of activities, performances, goals, and progress.What should a CRM dashboard include?
A poorly designed CRM dashboard is more of a burden than a boon, so the information it displays has to be useful to the user. It should include the most critical data. While that varies from business to business, some features and data you should expect to see on your CRM dashboard might include:
- Product performance
- Salesperson and marketing performance
- Sales forecasts
- New leads
- Project and schedule data
A CRM dashboard must be visually appealing, with a clean interface making it easy to instantly find important data. It must also be adaptable and include user-appropriate features. Because many team members operate remotely, a CRM dashboard must be easy to use on a phone.
Benefits and limitations of a CRM dashboard
A well-designed CRM dashboard can make it easier for users to meet targets, be aware of potential issues before they become problems, and deliver an overall higher standard of service and outcome. However, nothing is perfect, so let’s compare CRM dashboard benefits and limitations.
Benefits:
- Spot patterns
- Forecast with more accuracy
- Monitor employee activities
- Prioritize and share team goals
- Improve customer care
- Enhance decision-making
- Use data to sell ideas to clients or upper management
- Auto population of critical data
Limitations:
- Output only as good as inputted data
- User risks being dependent on their data if not alert to other sources of information
Now that we’ve discussed the benefits of CRM dashboards, let’s take a look at some examples.
Real CRM dashboard examples — top-reviewed software
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, so the following are our top 10 CRM software programs for dashboards. Instead of going into detail on each, we’ve included the score achieved by each based on reviews from real users on G2.
- monday sales CRM: Managers don’t need coding skills, only knowledge of what they need and the time to use drag and drop to build a unique dashboard. The software’s clear interface and seamless integration with multiple programs, make it a solid choice for all types of businesses. G2 gives it a rating of 4.6 out of 5 stars— the highest in our top 10.
- Nimble: Nimble’s ability to highlight negative comments made on multiple channels, including social media, is popular with customers. (4.5 out of 5 stars)
- HubSpot Sales Hub: Customers like the filtering features, but some find the learning curve too steep. (4.4 out of 5 stars)
- Salesforce Sales Cloud: Automatically assigning referrals to team members is a valued feature, but the software’s considered too complex by some. (4.3 out of 5 stars)
- Pipedrive: The intuitive interface is popular, but unclear set up instructions get criticism. (4.2 out of 5 stars)
- Keap: Automation of business tasks is highly prized, but learning them is a challenge. (4.2 out of 5 stars)
- Nutshell: Connections to Mailchimp and other apps get praise, but the email marketing system is seen by some as subpar. (4.2 out of 5 stars)
- Insightly CRM: It is believed to offer low barriers of entry for small businesses, but support has a poor reputation. (4.2 out of 5 stars)
- Zoho CRM: Being able to add extensions through ZOHO Marketplace is popular with customers, but modifications typically need someone with relevant IT skills. (4 out of 5 stars)
- Sugar Sell: It has enough features to support a company growing from a startup to an enterprise, but customers frequently complain about its nonintuitive and confusing interface. (3.8 out of 5 stars)
monday.com’s CRM dashboards
With monday sales CRM dashboard, you can use colors intelligently to make it easier for eyes to locate and assimilate data quickly from your boards. There’s a wealth of visualization options to tailor the dashboard to personal preferences, such as Kanban columns and Gantt charts. Alternative visualizations include (but aren’t limited to) maps, workflows, and timelines. There is also an abundance of widgets.
A key feature of monday’s CRM dashboard is its shareability. Teams can access the parts of it approved by their managers from their laptops and phones. They can communicate, add comments, edit information, and receive automated and direct notifications.
monday.com’s Dashboard View can be easily customized to suit businesses of all sizes, and there’s a free version for freelancers, startups, and bigger companies who want to road-test its features.
FAQs
What is a CRM dashboard?
It’s a visual snapshot of the most important metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) of a company or a project.
What should a CRM dashboard include?
A CRM dashboard should include features necessary to the company or the project, such as real-time data on sales, employee performances, forecasts, and other KPIs.
Quickly understand your marketing and sales efforts with CRM dashboards
According to crm.org, 91% of companies with 10+ employees use CRM software to drive their business goals, and a Statista report based on a Gartner study found revenue from the CRM market grew by $55 billion between 2010 and 2020.
Both of these figures strongly suggest the industry is growing fast and users are actively benefiting from online CRM, especially dashboards. As this article has shown, using the right CRM software, such as monday sales CRM and its abundance of features, makes it easier to manage the ebb and flow of information that is so crucial to success.
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