CRM reporting: A powerful tool to track sales performance

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) reporting is integral to any business that wants to maintain a good customer relationship. It allows businesses to track customer interactions and use that data to improve customer service.

It is important to note that CRM reporting is not a one-time event; it’s a continuous process. This is because customer needs and expectations change over time, so businesses must be agile in their approach to customer service.

In this article, we will discuss tips on creating effective CRM reports. We will also discuss why CRM reporting is essential for the business and the five types of CRM reports every business needs.

Let’s first review why businesses should spend time tracking customer interactions.

Why is CRM reporting essential for your business?

CRM reporting provides valuable insights into the sales team’s performance and helps managers make data-driven decisions.

By tracking key metrics such as the number of sales calls made and the number of deals closed, managers can gain a clear understanding of their team’s sales activity and identify areas for improvement. Let’s go over the benefits of CRM reporting in more detail.

1. It helps you understand what’s going on in the business

CRM (customer relationship management) reporting can help you understand what is going on with your business by providing detailed insights into your customer interactions and behaviors. With CRM reporting, you can track key metrics such as customer acquisition, retention, and churn, as well as identify trends and patterns in customer behavior. This information can be used to improve your marketing and sales efforts, optimize customer service, and drive business growth.

For example, you can use CRM reporting to:

• Track your customer acquisition and customer retention rates to see how well you are retaining and acquiring a new customer
• Identify key trends and patterns in customer behavior, such as which products or services are most popular or which marketing channels are most effective at driving sales
• Monitor customer satisfaction and loyalty, and identify areas where you can improve the customer experience
• Analyze sales performance, including conversion rates and sales cycle length, to identify opportunities for improvement

By regularly reviewing and analyzing CRM data, you can gain a better understanding of your business, your customers, and the factors that drive success. This can help you make informed decisions, allocate resources more effectively, and ultimately drive business growth.

2. The data helps you make a strategic decision

CRM or Customer Relationship Management reporting data can provide essential insights to help make strategic business decisions. Recently, Harvard Business Review analyzed the significance of CRM reporting and outlined a few repercussions of poor CRM reporting.

They included points like lack of clarity around definitions related to CRM and its functions, sales reps not updating, and haphazard ways of tracking the outcomes versus predictions. Incomplete CRM reporting or worse — a lack of a CRM reporting system can deliver poor information and lead to decisions that may not reflect the business’s best interest.

By tracking critical customer data, you can decide how to focus your efforts and resources, gain insight into customer needs and preferences, and maximize customer relationships.

This data can be used to identify areas of opportunity and growth such as identifying untapped markets or customer segments that you can target with your products or services, better tailor services to meet customer needs, allocate resources more efficiently, and develop targeted strategies to increase customer loyalty and value. With the right CRM software, companies can obtain data in real-time to guide strategic decision-making.

3. Managers can track the performance and make changes whenever necessary

CRM reporting data can enable managers to track their performance, identify sales trends, and respond quickly to changing customer demands. With access to sales reports, managers can compare activity in past sales and accurately forecast future sales.

When reports are broken down into specific categories, managers can see which products sell the most and which areas need more attention. This can help managers identify any weaknesses and make changes to improve performance. Additionally, managers can analyze customer interactions to improve customer relations and build loyalty.

Overall, access to CRM reporting data can give managers greater visibility into customer activity and sales performance, allowing them to make timely decisions that will improve their business results.

4. It helps investors understand how well their investments are used

CRM (customer relationship management) reporting data can help investors understand their return on investment. By understanding customer needs, preferences, and behaviors, investors can assess the health and effectiveness of their assets.

Additionally, CRM reporting data can provide investors with insights into the current and future trends of the organization. By understanding where customer relationships are headed and what features and services are most popular, investors can make more informed decisions about which investments to make and which ones to avoid.

As of now, you’re probably aware of how important CRM reporting is for your business. But with this realization — you can easily get confused about how many CRM reports are there and which one is crucial for your business. So, we created a list of five CRM reports you should be using in your business.

5 types of CRM reports every business must use

1. Customer service reports

Customer service CRM reports provide insights into the effectiveness of your customer service operations. These reports typically include data on customer interactions, such as the number of customer inquiries, the average response time, and the resolution rate.

CRM reports can help you to understand how well your customer service team is performing and identify areas for improvement. For example, if you notice that the average response time is longer than you would like, you may need to implement strategies to improve the speed of your customer service.

CRM reports can also provide valuable insights into your customer’s needs and preferences. For example, you may notice that a particular type of customer inquiry is more common than others or that specific customers are more likely to reach out for support. This information can help you tailor your customer service efforts and provide better customer support.

By regularly reviewing these reports, you can ensure that your customer service team is providing the best possible support to your customers.

2. Sales performance report

Sales performance CRM reports provide insights into the performance of a company’s sales team and can identify sales patterns and trends. You can generate this report using data from a CRM.

Sales performance CRM reports typically include the number of generated leads, the number of sales, generated revenue, the average value of a sale, and the conversion rate. They may also include data on the individual sales representative’s performance, such as their number of calls, meetings, and closed deals.

A sales performance CRM report may reveal that a particular sales representative consistently outperforms their peers or that a specific product generates the most revenue.

These insights can help businesses to make informed decisions about their sales strategies and optimize their sales processes. For example, you may allocate more resources to the product generating the most revenue or provide additional training to the sales representative who is outperforming their peers.

3. CRM pipeline analysis report

A CRM (customer relationship management) pipeline analysis report helps businesses understand the progress and status of their sales opportunities. It typically includes data on the number and value of sales opportunities at each stage of the sales process, as well as the expected close date for each opportunity.

By analyzing this data, businesses can identify trends and patterns in their sales pipeline, and make informed decisions about how to allocate resources and optimize their sales efforts. For example, they may use the report to:

• Identify bottlenecks or delays in the sales process, and take steps to address them
• Determine which sales opportunities are most likely to close, and allocate more resources to those opportunities
• Identify patterns in the types of opportunities that are most successful, and focus on targeting similar opportunities in the future
• Monitor the overall health of the sales pipeline, and identify opportunities to improve the efficiency and productivity of the sales team

To create a CRM pipeline analysis report, businesses typically use data from their CRM system, which includes information on all sales opportunities and the various stages of the sales process. The report may also include data on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates, average deal size, and sales cycle length. By regularly reviewing and analyzing this data, businesses can gain a better understanding of their sales pipeline and take action to improve their sales performance.

4. Revenue forecast report

A revenue forecast CRM report is a document that predicts the expected revenue of a business over a certain period. This forecast is typically based on data from the company’s CRM. The revenue forecast CRM report typically includes several key elements, including:

• The period covered by the forecast: This could be a specific month, quarter, or year, depending on the company’s needs
• The revenue forecast for each period: This is a prediction of how much revenue a business expects to earn during a specific time period
• The assumptions used to generate the forecast: This could include assumptions about the number of new customers the company will acquire, the average revenue per customer, and other factors that could affect the company’s revenue
• The drivers of revenue growth: This could include factors such as new product launches, partnerships, or marketing campaigns expected to drive revenue growth
• Key risks and uncertainties: The revenue forecast CRM report should also include any potential risks or uncertainties that could impact the company’s revenue, such as changes in the market or competitive landscape

Overall, a revenue forecast CRM report is a valuable tool for businesses to help them plan and manage their sales revenue. By using data from the company’s CRM system and making informed assumptions, businesses can create realistic and actionable forecasts that can guide their decision-making and help them achieve their revenue goals.

5. Sales activity report

A sales activity CRM report is a document or tool that summarizes the sales activities and outcomes of a business or sales team. This report typically includes information such as the number of sales calls made, meetings held, leads generated, and deals closed.

It aims to provide a high-level overview of a team’s sales performance and identify areas for improvement. This can help managers track their sales team’s progress and make data-driven decisions about how to optimize their sales efforts.

A sales activity CRM report typically includes a variety of metrics, including:

• Number of sales calls made: This metric tracks the total number of sales calls a team has made over a given period. This can help managers to see how active their team is and identify trends in their sales activity.
• Number of meetings: This metric tracks the total number of sessions a team has held over a given period. This can help managers to see how many opportunities their team is pursuing and identify areas for improvement in their sales process.
• Number of leads generated: This metric tracks the total number of leads a team has generated over a given period. Managers can see how effectively their team develops new business and identify opportunities to improve their lead-generation efforts.
• Number of deals closed: This metric tracks the total number of deals a team has completed over a given period. This can help managers to see how successful their team is at converting leads into paying customers and identify areas for improvement in their sales process.

A sales activity CRM report can provide valuable insights into a team’s sales performance and help managers make data-driven decisions about optimizing their sales efforts.

How to create CRM reports with monday.com?

monday.com is a Work Operating System (Work OS) that allows users to create and manage custom CRM reports. Its CRM platform is specifically designed for sales teams and includes a range of features that help sales teams manage their leads, opportunities, and accounts, and track the progress of their sales efforts. Some of the key features of Monday sales CRM include:

• Lead and opportunity tracking: monday.com sales CRM allows sales teams to track and manage their leads and opportunities in a single, centralized location. They can add notes, set reminders, and track the progress of each lead or opportunity through the sales process.
• Reporting and analytics: It includes a range of reporting and analytics tools, which can help sales teams track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates and sales cycle length.
• Account management: It includes tools for managing customer accounts, including contact and account information, as well as any notes or comments related to the account.

To create a CRM report with monday.com, follow these steps:

Step 01: Log in to your monday.com account and select the project you want to create a CRM report for.

Step 02: Click on the “Reports” tab in the top menu and select the “Create a report” option.

Step 03: Select the “CRM” report type and choose a name for your report.

Step 04: Select the data source for your report. You can use data from a specific board, pulse, or multiple boards and pulses.

Step 05: Select the columns that you want to include in your report. You can choose from a variety of standard and custom columns, such as “Status,” “Due date,” “Lead source,” and more.

Step 06: Use the filters and sorting options to refine the data included in your report. For example, you can filter by date range, status, lead source, or other criteria.

Step 07: Click on the “Create Report” button to generate your CRM report. Your report will be automatically updated with the latest data from your project, and you can view, share, and export it as needed.

Overall, monday.com makes it easy to create custom CRM reports and track the performance of your sales team. By using this tool, you can gain valuable insights into your sales activity and make data-driven decisions to improve your sales process.

Leverage CRM reports to improve customer satisfaction

Maximize your sales and drive business growth with the power of CRM reporting! Whether you’re a small business owner or part of a larger team, a customer relationship management (CRM) system can provide valuable insights into your customer interactions and behaviors.

If you’re not already using CRM reports, consider giving monday sales CRM free trial a try – it offers a range of features that can help you effectively manage your sales and marketing campaigns. If you are already using CRM reports, let us know which ones have been most effective for your team.