How should sales development reporting work?

Sales development reporting is typically one of two things:

1. A black box that nobody can access
2. A mess of random data that requires a mystical interpreter to understand

This isn’t how it has to be.

In fact, transparency and clarity in reporting will generate a host of benefits including the following:

• Ability to identify strengths and weaknesses
• Fewer interruptions & less wasted time generating reports
• Greater understanding of work done, leading to advancements in how it’s done
• No more questions like, “What do they do all day?”

We understand this need for transparency perhaps better than most sales teams. In order to effectively partner with our clients as their remote sales development department, we have to provide answers more readily and clearly than even most internal staff members. 

Our reporting is based on Salesforce.com as our hub, but you can build similar reporting in most advanced CRM tools. 

Here’s our reporting mechanisms:

• CLIENTS: We share real-time lead and activity reporting in a client portal that is accessible 24/7. Our dashboard highlights successes and future pipeline growth with clear insight into the calls and conversations held. Reports are all exportable via CSV. Some clients get automated email alerts when a prospect shows interest in their offer or books a meeting. Some clients have even engaged at a level justifying a sync between our CRM and theirs, meaning they get automatic updates sent to their database directly. 
• SDR MANAGEMENT: Our SDR managers can log in and see dashboard highlighting how many calls were placed across multiple systems and clients, then drill down into each report in greater detail. We include daily, weekly, and monthly reports. This means they always know that reps are hitting the service level agreements set by sales and account management. It also allows for auditing of call recordings, follow up processes, and our meeting confirmation process. 
• SDRs: Our SDRs log in and have list views in Salesforce showing which leads to focus on, starting with those already in their Meeting Scheduled bucket, then those in their Priority bucket, then finally those in their Working bucket. They know the daily activity level required per account and work each accordingly. 
• ACCOUNT MANAGERS: AMs log into the same Salesforce portal as our clients to ensure they see what a client sees. They also use Monday.com to manage projects like new campaign launches. 
• OPERATIONS: Sales ops team members can use Salesforce reports to identify process deviation within a single account or universally. For example, they can look for all leads with a status of Meeting Scheduled with no Meeting Due Date, which is a red flag indicating they need to fix a bug or provide better training for SDRs and SDR Managers. 

Conclusion

As you can see, no one person holds the keys to the kingdom. Everyone involved has insight into the relevant information they need to do their job.