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We live in the age of data. “Big data," “data analytics," “data mining,” and “data science” are buzz words that have become commonplace in the past few years. Hundreds of companies exist to try and turn raw data into actionable data.
As a leader in a rapidly growing software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup and as a Salesforce user, I have seen firsthand how the excitement from finally having complete and reliable data can quickly turn into concern that the “data fire hose” is now spraying out of control, soaking managers and employees as they try to grab hold and make sense of which way the data is telling them to go.
So the question not only is how do you get control of this data, but how do you get your employees to engage with and understand the data. The following five tactics can help you create and maintain dashboard and reports that can actually drive winning behaviors:
To help our teams stay focused on their goals, we decided to install large flatscreen televisions in very visible places around the office so that each team can see how close they are to their individual and team goals during the day. Even though each screen only shows three or four components that track activity-based metrics by employee or team, there’s something about seeing their names on a big screen that motivates them to step up their game.
Warby Parker only sells prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. The average Walmart store sells 120,000 different items. While the purpose of a dashboard is to get a glance at more than one metric at a time, resist the urge to fill up all 20 component slots—especially on a dashboard that is supposed to drive behavior. Specialize each dashboard around a specific topic and ask, “How can I simplify this dashboard” not “What else can I fit on here?” We believe that the amount of times an employee will check a dashboard each day is inversely related to the number of components on that dashboard.
Salesforce enables you to use the filters “my” and “all” to designate which set of records will display when you run a report. In turn, you can setup a dashboard to “run as logged-in user” so that the data in the dashboard adjusts based on which user is viewing it. This means that you only have to build it once and it can work for all of your employees simultaneously by displaying only records they own. This makes it simpler for your employees to find and utilize as everyone on the team uses the same dashboard, even though they can’t see each other’s data.
Even with dashboards in your team’s face all day, it’s a constant struggle to help everyone stay aware of where they’re at and what they need to do in their remaining time to accomplish their goals. As email somehow gets viewed regardless of how much is going on, try scheduling one of your activity-based reports (i.e. web-demos set by rep today) to be sent out from Salesforce by email each day during the middle of the day. The middle of the day allows some time for activities to show up and for enough time on the back end for reps to increase their activity to hit their goal.
Our teams gather around their dashboard screens each morning to review the day, check-in on their monthly performance metrics, and receive training from their managers. The more you feature your dashboards and reports in frequent, important meetings, the more your employees will realize that the dashboards are here to stay.
About the author
Nick Sorensen is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of American HealthCare Lending, the nation’s premier Patient Financing company and creators of the Financing as a Service™ model.
Hear more from Nick Sorensen and others on this topic by joining us TODAY, May 27th, at 10 am PST / 1 pm EST for a free webinar. Click the button below to register.
