What to Track (and How to Act on It) in Glass, Ceramics, and Refractories
Sales intelligence dashboards give leaders instant visibility into what’s happening in the field. But too many distributors build reports that are too high-level—or worse, disconnected from execution.
A strategic dashboard should answer: “Where are we winning?”, “Where are we falling behind?”, and “What needs attention this week?”
The Essential Sales Intelligence Dashboards
Quote Conversion Funnel
Quotes issued → Quotes followed up → Deals won
Filter by product type, rep, region
Detect weak handoff points or quoting bottlenecks
Margin Alert Dashboard
Flag any quotes below minimum target GP%
Show margin erosion trends by rep, account, and freight region
At-Risk Account Tracker
Based on order frequency, quote activity, and support tickets
Red/yellow/green health status with notes from account managers
Forecast Accuracy Heatmap
Reps or regions with 20%+ variance vs. plan
Filters by forecast horizon (30-, 60-, 90-day)
Top Lost Deals (with Reasons)
Summary of closed-lost opportunities over the past 90 days
Reason codes: price, lead time, spec mismatch, etc.
New Product Sales Traction
Track adoption of newly launched SKUs
Combine win rates with feedback for product managers
Tools That Enable Real-Time Sales Intelligence
Power BI or Tableau with ERP integration
Salesforce or HubSpot with CPQ & margin data
Custom CRM widgets (Zoho Analytics, InsightSquared)
Keys to Dashboard Adoption
Keep views role-specific: sales reps vs. managers vs. execs
Use visual alerts and drill-downs, not just raw tables
Review weekly in 15-minute standups
Tie dashboard KPIs to bonus plans or team performance goals
Final Word for Executives
Dashboards don’t just report performance—they direct attention. Build the right views, review them frequently, and your sales team will spend more time winning—and less time guessing.
