CRM (Customer Relationship Management) is a powerful tool that centralizes all customer data in one place.
But using CRM solely as a place to collect information will not give you the desired results.
The whole idea of using a CRM is not just collecting relevant information but getting actionable insights from it. And using them to your advantage.
That's where CRM reports come into play. Using a CRM report transforms raw data into a narrative of sales performance.
It's a secret weapon to use up all the opportunities and drive growth.
In this article, you learn about the most important types of CRM reports you should start using right now.
A CRM report is an analytics tool in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system that presents data and insights about your customers, sales, marketing activities, and overall business performance.
Many different types of CRM reports exist out there, with each unifying your CRM data in a comprehensive manner.
CRM reports often employ charts, graphs, and digestible visual elements so you get valuable insights into your overall data.
A CRM report sorts your CRM data ways that are relevant to you, enabling you to make data-driven and strategic decisions in your business.
CRM reports help you to:
CRM reports help you to analyze KPIs and evaluate different stages in your business operations.
They can be used to track progress toward sales goals, deal and overall pipeline statuses, revenue forecasts, marketing campaign performance, sales performance, customer satisfaction, and much more.
CRM reports rely on charts, graphs, and other visual elements that are easy to understand and that can be turned into actionable insights.
1. Pipeline Analysis (Sales Funnel) report gives you a comprehensive overview of the sales pipeline's health.
The key metrics of pipeline analysis report include number of deals, total revenue in pipeline, deal stages, conversion rates, average deal size, bottlenecks.
CRM report like that can help you to identify deal opportunities and optimize sales process so you can shift your focus on the weakest areas.
2. Sales Conversion (Win-Loss) report helps you to determine why you lost or won the deals.
The key metrics of sales conversion report can include win and loss rates by lead source, industry, company size, competitor, etc.
This kind of CRM report creates multiple benefits to your sales team, such as accurately pinpointing the most potential niches, evaluating competitor performance, and guiding strategy adjustments.
3. Sales Forecast report predicts revenue generation over your chosen time period.
It can give you the probability of conversion for each lead, estimated deal values, and more useful forecasting insights.
This CRM report is great for estimating your goal achievement, targeting sales, and prioritizing high-value leads.
4. Sales Activity report summarizes actions taken by sales team members and their outcomes.
It helps you to monitor team and individual performance, assess which activities were effective and which ones weren't, identify pain points.
Key Metrics of sales activity report includes calls made, emails sent, meetings held, proposals generated, and more.
5. Lead Source report analyzes your new leads and where they're coming from.
This type of CRM report helps you to identify the most effective lead channels and informs you about your resource allocation.
Lead volume, conversion rates, and revenue generated by each source are among the key metrics of such a report.
It's important to note that there are additional valuable CRM reports you can put to use. They include:
Yann Guilleux, the head of sales at lemlist, has relied on CRM reporting for his daily tasks. He shared some very useful insights on building your CRM report.
According to Yann G., when you're building a CRM report from zero, you have to follow some essential steps:
Every CRM report starts from determining the purpose of your report. Think of what questions do you want to answer, what insights do you want to get, and what metrics do you want to track.
It depends on your overall goal. For example, being sure that your team is doing enough effort to generate pipeline, or making sure each individual in your team is putting enough level of effort to reach the goal.
The most widely used CRM report tracks the amount of activities, like input volume of calls, meetings, or demos. Conversion rate reports are also widely used to track things like not-to-be-missed opportunities, discovery demos, negotiations, and so on.
Moreover, performance CRM reports can help you measure sales team and individual performances.
How you put the CRM report to use is the most important step. Set up key metrics you want to review on a weekly basis and be sure you're on the track with your goal.
This last step is super important. Follow-up your CRM report progress all the time until it becomes a habit.
As an example, that's how Yann's CRM report (he's using HubSpot) that tracks meeting outcomes looks like:
Yann G. argues that it's important to not fall into the reporting just for the sake of it. "Each company is different but you should not have more than 2 dashboards to manage your business," he concluded.
A CRM report is a document generated by a Customer Relationship Management system that presents data and insights about your customers, sales, marketing activities, and business performance.
These reports help you track key metrics, analyze trends, and make informed decisions to improve your business strategies and customer relationships.
By using CRM reports, you can identify opportunities for growth, optimize your sales process, and enhance overall customer satisfaction.
The main purpose of a CRM system is to improve the customer experience.
Executing this objective is the most sure-fire way to see positive results across your business.
When you make improved customer satisfaction the main goal for your CRM, all other objectives work to support this goal.
CRM analysis is the process of examining data stored within a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system to gain valuable insights.
These insights typically include understanding customer behavior, sales patterns, and marketing effectiveness.
By analyzing CRM data, businesses can make informed decisions to improve customer satisfaction, optimize sales strategies, and ultimately drive revenue growth.
G2 Rating | Price | Best for | Standout feature | Con | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.9 star star star star star | $30/mo $75/mo $2,999/mo | Large, distributed sales teams | AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs | Lack of tracking system | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Sales operations and finance teams | Powerful configurability | Limited training resources and complex to navigate | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Mid-market and enterprise businesses | Comprehensive incentive management | Potentially high cost and steep learning curve | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $15/user/mo $40/user/mo Enterprise: custom price | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes | Steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Collaborative teams | Connected planning | Complexity and steep learning curve | |
4.6 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with complex sales structures | Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy | Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts | Simplicity and ease of use | Lack of features like redirection | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | $30/user/mo $35/user/mo Custom: upon request | Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software | Ease of use and adoption | Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs | |
4.8 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights | A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility | Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow | |
4.9 star star star star star | $30/user/mo $50/user/mo | Smaller sales teams | Powerful automation | Lesser user base and average user interface | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Not publicly available | Companies with scalable needs | Automated Commission Calculations | Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app |
PRM Tool | Rating | Feature | Pro | Con | Mobile App | Integrations | Free Plan | Pricing |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.65 star star star star star-half | Org-wide alignment | User-friendly layout and database | Suboptimal as a personal CRM | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-check | Team: $20/month Business: $45/month | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Social Media Integration | Easy contact data collection | No marketing/sales features | square-check | Lack of tracking system | square-xmark 7-day trial | $12/month | |
4.75 star star star star star-half | Block Functions | High customization capability | Not a dedicated CRM | square-check | Limited | square-check | Plus: €7.50/month Business: €14/month | |
N/A | Open-source | Open-source flexibility | Requires extensive manual input | square-xmark | Limited | square-check Self-hosted | $9/month or $90/year | |
3.1 star star star | Simple iOS app | Ideal for non-tech-savvy users | iPhone only | square-check iOS only | Limited | square-xmark 1-month trial | $1.49/month or $14.99/month | |
3.6 star star star star-half | Smart Contact Management | Feature-rich and flexible | Reported bugs | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 7-day trial | Premium: $13.99/month Teams: $17.99/month | |
4.4 star star star star star-half | Customizable Interface | Customizable for teamwork | Pricey for personal use | square-check | Rich | square-xmark | Standard: $24/member Premium: $39/member | |
4.7 star star star star star-half | Integrated Calling | Integrated Calling | Too sales-oriented & pricey | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | Startup: $59/user/month Professional: $329/user/month | |
4.8 star star star star star | Business Card Scanning | Business Card Scanning | Mobile only | square-check | Limited | square-check | $9.99/month | |
4.45 star star star star star-half | 160+ app integrations | Comprehensive integrations | No free app version | square-check | Rich | square-xmark 14-day trial | $29.90/month or $24.90/month (billed annually) |
Capterra Rating | Free Trial | Free Plan | Starting Price (excluding the free plan) | Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan) | Best for | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-check | €15/month/seat billed annually | €792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat | Versatility and free plan | |
4.2 star star star star | square-check 30-day | square-xmark But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations | €25/user/month | €500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI) | Best overall operational CRM | |
4.3 star star star star star-half | square-xmark | square-check Limited to 3 users | Comprehensive incentive management | €52/user/month billed annually | Small-medium businesses and automation | |
4.5 star star star star star-half | square-check 14-day | square-xmark | €14/seat/month billed annually | €99/seat/month billed annually | Sales teams and ease of use | |
4.1 star star star star | square-xmark | square-check Limited 10 users | $9.99/user/month billed annually | $64.99/user/month billed annually | Free plan for very small teams up to 10 |
CRM goal | Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months. | ||||
SMART Breakdown | 1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation). | 2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking. | 3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements. | 4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives. | 5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date. |
Actions | Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation. | Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior. | Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads. | Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up. | Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization. |
Outcomes | Increased sales and revenue | Improved marketing automation ROI | Marketing and sales alignment | Data-driven marketing optimization |