Salesforce metrics: Top 12 analytics & KPIs you should track

Salesforce has earned its reputation as an industry-leading CRM platform. It streamlines the entire lead generation process, allowing you and your clients to track progress at every stage in the pipeline.

Salesforce metrics use that data to give a comprehensive view of sales performance, a vital component in driving business decisions.

Having access to all that data is a good thing, but it's only useful if you know how to work with it. Staring at a block of numbers isn't the most productive way to spend your time. You need an effective way to interpret and visualize Salesforce CRM analytics, illustrate the bigger picture, and turn it into actionable insights.

If you're looking for a way to cut through the noise and focus on the Salesforce metrics and KPIs that really matter, look no further. This guide covers how to set sales KPIs with your client, the 11 Salesforce metrics worth tracking, how to report on them without overwhelming anyone, and how to build a Salesforce dashboard in a few minutes.

Key takeaways

• All KPIs are metrics, but metrics aren't always KPIs. A Salesforce metric becomes a KPI once it's tied to a specific client business goal.

• Agree on the goal, the funnel stages, marketing's role, and realistic targets before choosing which metrics to track.

• The 11 metrics below follow the full pipeline, from campaigns sent and responses through leads, MQLs, SQLs, and new customers, to win rate, conversion rate, expected revenue, amount won, and amount lost.

• Salesforce's native tabular, summary, matrix, and joined reports cover the basics, but many agencies find they lack the customization and visualization needed to demonstrate agency value.

• The AgencyAnalytics Salesforce integration streams CRM data into white-labeled dashboards and reports alongside over 85 other integrations, with custom reports created in as little as 11 seconds.

What are KPIs in sales?

Before exploring the details of Salesforce data, here's a refresher on sales KPIs, along with a clear definition of a KPI.

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a quantifiable measure that reflects the success of an organization in meeting its strategic goals.

For most clients, sales is a lifeline that keeps their business afloat. It's what drives revenue, fuels agency growth, and pays the bills.

That said, there must be a strategic approach to monitoring sales, or even the steps leading up to it. That's where CRM analytics and sales key performance indicators come in, and it's usually the first thing sales leaders want to see.

Generally speaking, sales key performance indicators are data-driven insights that:

• Drive sound and informed decisions. For example, sales-driven KPIs may prompt a client to:

• Ramp up marketing efforts to drive more revenue

• Hire additional reps to handle an overflow of SQLs

• Reallocate ad spend towards more profitable activities

• Provide an objective measure of sales performance. This is instrumental in determining whether your client's sales arm is contributing to revenue and overall business success.

• Help clients create clear, actionable targets. This gives sales reps tangible goals, which can also be tied to performance incentives (e.g., a bonus or commission).

What are Salesforce metrics?

Salesforce is a powerhouse when it comes to customer relationship management. This cloud-based platform streamlines lead management and helps clients monitor progress throughout the sales cycle.

With so many stages and so much intricacy, it's important to understand what's happening at a data level, especially since sales leaders use this information for decision-making.

That's where Salesforce metrics come in. They're data-rich insights that reflect the effectiveness of your client's sales and marketing efforts.

Are Salesforce metrics the same as sales KPIs?

Yes and no. Remember that there are key differences between a metric vs. a KPI.

A Salesforce metric is a numerical value that represents an aspect of sales and marketing performance. Viewed in isolation, it may lack context and doesn't always align with your client's specific objectives.

A sales KPI is a predetermined, quantifiable measure of performance that directly ties into your client's business goals. That means all KPIs are metrics, but metrics aren't always KPIs.

For instance, if your client's sales team is tracking the number of demos presented each month without a clear link to broader business outcomes (e.g., revenue growth), it remains a sales metric. It provides valuable information about their activity, but it doesn't directly show how they're achieving meaningful results.

To turn that metric into a sales KPI, it must be tied to a specific business goal, like improving the conversion rate of demos into paying customers. Once this link is established, it creates actionable targets and a bridge to business success.

How to decide on sales KPIs

Setting sales key performance indicators ensures that everyone is on the same page and creates a targeted focus. In turn, this empowers your agency to develop tailor-made marketing strategies that achieve the desired outcomes.

Here are four practical steps to decide on the best sales KPIs.

1. Understand what your client wants to achieve

In your client's initial discovery call or 1:1 meeting, get a sense of what they're looking for to guide their overall sales strategy.

To get started, ask insightful questions like:

• What do you want to achieve from your sales and marketing efforts (e.g., generating qualified leads, boosting revenue)?

• Is there a timeline for meeting these goals?

• Do your sales reps have quotas that they're working towards?

• Who is your target audience? Have you developed an ideal customer profile?

• Is there a budget you're working with? Use this to guide your agency pricing strategy and all associated costs (e.g., allocating your client's advertising budget).

• What does your current sales process look like?

2. Outline the sales funnel stages

No two clients are the same, and neither are their sales funnels. Learning the unique phases of their customer purchasing journey will inform your agency's approach to reaching those customers at every stage.

Each sales funnel stage represents a different level of engagement and intent. Some prospects may be browsing around, while others are ready to swipe their credit cards. Defining these stages helps you develop meaningful messaging and relevant performance indicators that show what's happening at every step.

Potential customers are at different stages of the buying cycle. Customers need information to move them to the next buying cycle stage; pushing the right content can do just that. It's all about moving these prospects down your sales funnel–not as quickly as possible, but as efficiently as possible.

Bryan Lozano, Vice President of Operations, Ad-Apt

As a quick refresher, these stages of the buying cycle are:

• Awareness: A prospect becomes aware of your client's products or services (e.g., through social media advertising)

• Consideration: This prospect turns into a lead by engaging with your client's brand and showing interest in some way (e.g., signing up for a product demo)

• Conversion: A lead turns into a customer by fulfilling a desired action (e.g., subscribing to a paid mobile app)

3. Determine the role of marketing

Next, clarify how marketing efforts will contribute to your client's sales goals. The best results are achieved when sales and marketing teams are aligned.

To get the most from this step:

• Decide whether sales and marketing have a shared goal. Marketing is often focused on building brand visibility. However, assigning revenue goals to marketing teams may result in conversion-driven results beyond brand awareness. In turn, this drives more ROI for your client.

• Define which marketing channels will be used to meet sales goals (e.g., landing pages on Google Ads, website signup forms).

• Ensure that a proper attribution system is in place to assign lead conversion credit to either sales or marketing. For example, Google Analytics 4 has built-in machine learning to attribute this information automatically. Verify that GA4 is properly set up to access these insights.

4. Set clear and realistic targets

Now that you've pieced the bigger picture together, it's time to decide on key performance indicators. Establishing growth goals with your client is a critical part of the reporting process. If you don't know what you're aiming for, there's little point collecting metrics at all.

You're already well-versed with the SMART analogy for goal-setting (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely goals). Here's a neat alternative to consider: MASTER your client's sales KPIs.

That means:

• Creating measurable goals and setting benchmarks to compare against (e.g., setting a target for the number of sales calls per quarter based on historical performance)

• Ensuring sales goals are achievable (e.g., aspiring for 100 sales calls per quarter after making 80 sales calls the previous quarter)

• Setting specific sales goals that define targets and expectations (e.g., aiming for 100 sales calls per quarter instead of "as many calls as possible!")

• Letting goals transform your agency and client's teams. Explain the significance and motivate them to hit targets (e.g., emphasizing that 100 sales calls will lead to client success and long-term revenue for your agency)

• Allowing goals to evolve when needed (e.g., aiming for 150 sales calls per quarter instead of 100 following an increase in your client's contract value)

• Aligning sales KPIs with business goals so they're relevant (e.g., deciding on 100 targeted sales calls per quarter, which should lead to a 5% conversion rate and $10K in revenue for your client)

Once you understand your client's objectives, you'll be able to choose which KPIs make the most sense to follow. If your client is interested in improving pipeline growth, for example, your goal might be to improve the sales team's lead conversion rate by 20% in 6 months.

11 most important Salesforce metrics to track

Now that you've established your client's sales KPIs, it's time to track progress with Salesforce metrics.

Salesforce offers a multitude of metrics, and including irrelevant data gets confusing for clients fast. Ensure the analytics you choose relate to your client's objectives and KPIs. If you're trying to improve lead conversion, for example, you'd track lead conversion rates, MQLs, and SQLs rather than everything the platform makes available.

Here are the Salesforce analytics worth your attention, and when to use each one.

1. Number of campaigns sent

Labeled as "Num Sent," this Salesforce metric measures how much marketing correspondence was distributed to your client's existing and potential customers across various channels, including email newsletters, cold calls, and telemarketing.

Use these insights to understand whether your client's marketing campaigns are reaching intended audiences. If they're not, consider:

• Exploring relevant opportunities that would result in a higher lead generation rate (e.g., incorporating more in-person events for locally based clients)

• Addressing any issues that prevent marketing correspondence from being sent to your client's customers (e.g., increasing their Salesforce pricing tier to facilitate mass email sending)

2. Responses

This metric quantifies the number of interactions received from your client's campaigns, such as filling out a website contact form or clicking on an email link.

Use this metric to:

• Analyze which campaigns have the highest customer engagement

• Replicate campaigns that produce a high number of responses

• Understand your client's overall brand growth and whether their messaging resonates

Great emails are a conversation. The only way to assess how what you are saying is perceived is by studying reactions. Whether someone clicks, shares, or replies, these are the "facial expressions" and "words" that tell you how well your conversation is going.

Seth Giammanco, Principal, Strategy and Technology, Minds On Design Lab

When to use it: responses help you show clients how customers are engaging with their campaigns. It's a useful indicator of brand growth and a quick way to check whether the messaging is working.

3. Leads

Leads come in during initial contact with your client's business, such as signing up for an online newsletter. This top-of-the-funnel metric, often used in custom reports, indicates how many leads are in the pipeline but haven't been vetted by you or your client's sales team, so not all of them will be qualified.

Leads aren't built equally, and each client will have different criteria for a good or qualified lead. Even so, keeping track of the number of incoming leads tells you whether marketing efforts are working.

If you observe a low number of leads, consider:

• Creating content with conversion-oriented messaging (e.g., "Take advantage of this limited-time offer!") and adding more CTA buttons if necessary

• Injecting more ad spend to boost online visibility

• Increasing your client's sales initiatives (e.g., presenting a higher number of demos or ramping up calls made)

Actionable metrics give you clear information that you can use to improve your business. For example, the number of sales, or the number of new leads. They give you clear information that you can use to make changes and improve your business.

Guy Hudson, Founder, Bespoke Marketing Plans

When to use it: if your client is looking to grow, tracking the number of leads your marketing efforts are producing is essential. It demonstrates ROI and lets clients see whether campaigns are working. It's also a clear signal of when to pivot. If your strategy isn't producing enough leads, it may be time to reconsider the messaging or increase ad spend.

Keep on the pulse of your client's lead generation activities and report exactly what's happening. Give your clients the data they need to make informed sales decisions–it's all possible on AgencyAnalytics; sign up for a free 14-day trial today.

4. Marketing qualified leads (MQLs)

MQLs are a step beyond regular leads and have been initially assessed by your marketing team.

For example, a lead may have first contacted your client's business via social media. After they filled out a pre-screening questionnaire, your marketing team identified them as an MQL with conversion potential. At this point, they're passed along to the sales team for further vetting.

If you observe a low number of MQLs, it may mean that:

• More ad spend is needed to generate leads (e.g., outbidding competitors on Google Ads)

• Demographic targeting needs refinement, especially if lead quality is also a concern

• Other marketing tactics should be explored (e.g., using keyword-driven Google search ads instead of display ads)

When to use it: MQLs are more likely to convert, so including the number that resulted from a specific campaign is a good way to highlight your agency's accomplishments.

5. Sales qualified leads (SQLs)

SQLs are one step further than MQLs in the lead qualification process, having demonstrated additional conversion potential. At this point, the sales team would have conducted a more in-depth assessment of the lead, considering their purchasing power and other qualification checks.

Keep an eye on this insight and use it to:

• Determine how many MQLs turn into SQLs. Keep an open communication loop to understand whether the team is bringing in high-quality leads, then use these insights to refine marketing strategies and improve the lead hand-off process.

• Identify and nurture the most promising leads. This helps your client's sales team prioritize which leads to focus on, increasing the chances of securing revenue.

• Improve lead response time and the overall lead qualification process. If there's a significant lag, you'll risk SQLs exiting the pipeline.

When to use it: like MQLs, this metric highlights how well each campaign is doing against your client's growth goals.

6. New customers

At the end of your client's lead generation pipeline is "New Customers." This metric represents leads that recently became customers by completing a conversion-oriented action like signing a long-term contract or completing a purchase.

Monitoring new customers is important to:

• Measure your client's success and whether they're en route to achieving growth or conversion rate goals

• See whether there's a significant drop-off before SQLs become new customers. This will pinpoint any areas for improvement, like cutting down lead response time or reducing the average sales cycle length.

• Determine whether sales and marketing efforts are contributing to the bottom line

When to use it: this is a direct way of proving ROI while highlighting campaign-related accomplishments. If the metric had been lagging in the first two quarters, then started to grow in the third quarter after your agency implemented an email marketing campaign, it would show the effectiveness of your strategy.

Access a visual lead generation pipeline and quickly identify any areas for improvement. Show your clients how leads are moving through the sales funnel–explore the Salesforce integration on AgencyAnalytics, free for 14 days.

7. Opportunity win rate

This metric represents the percentage of sales opportunities won and closed by your client's sales team. Generally speaking, Opportunity Win Rate is helpful to:

• Assess whether your client's sales team is effective at converting leads into customers

• Identify any areas for improvement in the deal-closing process (e.g., offering additional training for new sales reps, sharing strategies for improving lead response time)

• Create internal benchmarks for your client's sales team to aspire towards based on historical Opportunity Win Rate data

8. Conversion rate

This metric is a percentage measure of how many leads have successfully converted into new customers. Essentially, conversion rate measures how well customers have moved through your client's sales process.

A high lead conversion rate means your client's sales team efficiently moves leads through the pipeline and closes deals. Conversely, a low lead conversion rate is a cause for further evaluation. Improve this percentage by:

• Identifying where leads drop off before converting

• Paying more attention to micro-conversions (e.g., leads that are requesting a sales call may benefit from more nurturing)

• Running A/B tests on marketing collateral (e.g., email campaigns, landing pages) to determine what drives conversion behavior and optimize where necessary

When to use it: this data point is commonly used in Salesforce reports and gives a clear look at a client's pipeline, allowing your agency to pivot if needed. If conversion rates are decreasing, it may be time to analyze the sales funnel and see where leads are leaving.

Track conversion rate trends and see how your clients perform against historical performance benchmarks. Monitor sales performance and give data-informed recommendations–try it on AgencyAnalytics today! It's free for 14 days.

9. Expected revenue

This metric estimates how much revenue will be generated from successfully closing deals in your client's pipeline. Keep an eye on Expected Revenue to:

• Make forecasts and cash flow projections, which help clients plan ahead

• Decide which deals sales reps should prioritize. For example, a sales rep may deprioritize unqualified leads and focus on a potential enterprise-level deal with recurring revenue potential. That average contract value may also be higher than the monetary value of other deals in the pipeline.

• Evaluate whether there are enough potential revenue-generating opportunities. If not, it may be time to invest in more sales activities, improve existing ones, or focus on moving current leads further down the pipeline.

When to use it: expected revenue is helpful to include when clients are looking for cash flow projections and long-term forecasts. It shows them how their pipelines are growing and which deals their sales team should focus on.

10. Amount won

This metric shows the total revenue your client's sales team has generated from successfully closed deals. It helps your client to:

• Forecast future revenue based on actual cash flow numbers. Over time, it's helpful to compare to Expected Revenue to see whether their predictions have been accurate.

• Base sales quotas and commissions on tangible sales performance

11. Amount lost

On the other hand, "Amount Lost" refers to potential revenue that didn't come to fruition because a deal couldn't be closed. Use this metric to:

• Determine the realistic and financial impact of lost revenue. This could have a trickle-down effect on Expected Revenue and other forecasts.

• Analyze the reasons for lost revenue opportunities and address them where possible. For example, it may mean:

• Cutting down the average sales cycle length

• Improving lead response time

• Removing unqualified leads earlier in the sales process

• Giving more support to prospects with a higher contract value

• Adjust your client's sales strategy if necessary, especially if external factors pop up (e.g., an economic slowdown because of a recession)

When to use it: like expected revenue, amount won and amount lost are good indications of future cash flow and sales success rates.

Quickly reference what's in the lead pipeline and whether your client is on track to hit their revenue goals–use the Salesforce integration on AgencyAnalytics, free for 14 days.

Understanding Salesforce's native reporting options

Salesforce plays a significant role in delivering detailed lead generation data and measuring revenue impact. That said, the interface is a bit complicated, which makes highlighting the most critical insights challenging.

Lead generation can be an overwhelming endeavor for clients. A solid Salesforce report helps clients understand how they're doing, and it demystifies the marketing process. Through these customized reports, you show which areas are doing well and where there's still room for improvement.

Salesforce includes a basic report builder, which creates a native or standard report type. There are four options:

• Tabular reports: These reports show lines of data, like an Excel spreadsheet. To create a tabular report, go to Salesforce's Reports tab, select your report type, select your filters in the report canvas, then go to the Outline tab to choose what you'd like to display. Finally, click Save & Run. You can then export Salesforce reports.

• Summary reports: Summary reports show groups of data, and are the most commonly used. To run a summary report, create a tabular report, then type a field name (like Account Name) in Add Group to create a grouping. You can add additional fields, and when you're ready, click Save & Run.

• Matrix reports: Matrix reports are similar to summaries but let users group by rows and columns. To create a matrix report, first build a summary report, then click a Group Column (like type of account) to add another grouping.

• Joined reports: These reports let users compare data by building two separate reports. To create reports that are joined, go to Start a New Report, click New Report, and choose your report type. Then, change the report format to Joined Report. Any report can be converted to a joined report.

Marketers also use Salesforce's custom report type option, which is created by administrators and tailored to client needs. Salesforce custom report types allow marketers to choose which fields and objects to include.

While the internal reporting options from Salesforce are beneficial, many agencies find that they lack the customization and visualization options needed to fully demonstrate agency value to clients.

Instead of spending countless hours sifting through a heap of data, there's a more time-efficient option: the Salesforce integration on AgencyAnalytics. Within a few minutes, it's easy to parse your clients' data and stream it into intuitive dashboards or reports. Agencies also access white labeled marketing dashboard tools, which let you monitor several campaigns at once while creating automated reports in as little as 11 seconds. That means less tedious manual work and more time to focus on meeting client expectations.

How to build top-notch Salesforce reports

Creating a consistent reporting format is key for building comprehensive reports that connect with client goals. AgencyAnalytics' reporting platform lets you build customized reports with clear visuals and real-time data.

To build an exceptional Salesforce report, keep the following in mind:

• Keep it clear and transparent: A mound of data is overwhelming and confusing. Reports should be concise, well structured, and visually engaging.

• Personalize reports to each client's growth goals: There is no cookie cutter approach when it comes to metrics. Each report should center on your client's sales journey. If you're working with a client trying to increase customer retention, you wouldn't focus on new customer growth.

• Focus on actionable metrics: While data is great, your reports should highlight next steps and include growth recommendations. A trend analysis is also a helpful tool to include.

• Ensure all metrics are relevant and timely: Understand your clients' objectives and report on real-time data.

Reporting shows our clients the results we achieve for them in an easy-to-understand visual. We provide monthly reminders of how we are helping their business grow with these reports.

Denise Bowen, Managing Director, WEB ROI

Here are five more tips for successful Salesforce reporting.

1. Choose how often to send reports

Deciding on reporting frequency allows for better collaboration with your clients while helping create clear reporting deadlines for your team. The AgencyAnalytics Marketing Benchmarks Report showed that most agencies opt for monthly reporting, though some clients may prefer quarterly or bi-weekly reporting.

2. Pick your chart types carefully

Visuals should add clarity to your reports. Add data visualizations like a report chart and graphs to highlight trends, compare historical data, and ensure clarity. If you're aiming to show trends over time, you would go with a line graph over a pie graph.

3. Include goals and annotations

When creating a Salesforce report, it helps to add goals and annotations, or notes, to your template. This provides context to your reporting, allowing clients to better understand the impact of the data. With AgencyAnalytics, add goals and annotations to your reports to demonstrate progress to clients and underscore any additional items that need to be highlighted.

4. Double check your KPIs and metrics

Once you're putting your report together, confirm that the KPIs and metrics are telling an accurate story and properly showcasing key Salesforce data. It's easy to get caught up by vanity metrics, which don't show the full picture. Focusing only on leads isn't enough to tell a client whether a campaign is working. Include how many of those leads are MQLs and SQLs.

5. Stay flexible

While templates do follow a certain format, it's essential to allow room for any necessary adjustments as client goals evolve. If a client decides to shift their focus to customer retention instead of lead generation, your template will need to be flexible enough to reflect that change.

Common challenges to avoid

Creating solid reports is no easy feat. From choosing the wrong metrics to overwhelming the client, there are a variety of common issues even the best marketer faces. Here are the pitfalls to avoid.

Overloading clients with data

Salesforce offers a wide variety of data, and it's easy to put all of it into a report. Not only will this overwhelm your client, it won't show the story you need to tell.

Solution: when building Salesforce reports, choose several key metrics to focus on based on your client's growth goals.

Not adding enough context

Clients aren't marketers. They won't understand why each metric matters unless you explain it to them.

Solution: adding visuals and clear annotations helps avoid any confusion.

Failing to show impact

If you're only showing results without connecting these numbers to your client's goals, you're creating a disconnect with your client.

Solution: connect your client's metrics to their objectives. If your client is concerned about long-term cash flow, your report should include expected revenue and amount won metrics, along with an explanation of how this will affect cash flow.

Opting for manual reporting

Creating reports manually is incredibly time-consuming and intensive. Not only does manual reporting waste billable hours, it increases your chances of making mistakes.

Solution: the AgencyAnalytics automated reporting tool lets you quickly create scheduled reports, freeing your team up to focus on client needs.

How to use AgencyAnalytics to build a Salesforce metrics dashboard

Setting up an AgencyAnalytics dashboard is a breeze. Here's a step-by-step guide to getting started and connecting the Salesforce CRM analytics app to client reports and dashboards.

1. Link your client's Salesforce account to AgencyAnalytics

After signing into your AgencyAnalytics account, head to Integrations on the left-hand menu of the analytics platform. Then, click on Salesforce under the "Analytics" category or "All Collections." Once connected, you instantly enable CRM analytics to be populated into client dashboards and reports.

2. Select a dashboard template

After successfully linking your client's Salesforce account to AgencyAnalytics, go to "Templates" (also on the left-hand menu). Head to the "Sections" tab, then click "Create Template".

You'll then have the option to:

• Start from a template for your agency's CRM analytics (in this case, choosing a pre-built Salesforce dashboard template)

• Clone an existing section, replicating one of your existing dashboards

• Create a custom dashboard if you prefer to build your own

3. Customize the dashboard as needed

After selecting a dashboard, it's time to have fun with it. With AgencyAnalytics, it's easy to customize as needed. You may want to:

• Add annotations directly to your client's dashboard (e.g., explaining why there was a sudden increase in a sales KPI for a particular month)

• Create custom metrics for enhanced CRM analytics and data reporting. For example, you may want to calculate:

• Churn rate

• Lead to opportunity ratio

• Opportunity to win ratio

• Total number of inbound leads across different marketing campaigns

• Toggle with different data visualizations to bring your client's Salesforce KPIs and metrics to life

• Grant 24/7 client login access to dashboards for greater transparency, combining Salesforce CRM analytics with all your data from client marketing campaigns

• Pull in external data using the Google Sheets integration to complement client reports and dashboards, or export data using the Google Sheets app for in-depth analysis

Streamline Salesforce reporting and present intuitive insights

No more getting lost in a Salesforce customer data vortex.

Investing in AgencyAnalytics means having access to white-labeled dashboard and report templates, which saves you from recreating the wheel each time. To sum it up, use the AgencyAnalytics Salesforce integration to:

• Visualize the number of leads you're driving to a client's business, including where that lead currently is in the pipeline

• Track sales opportunities and key sales metrics (like conversion rate, revenue, and number of inbound leads)

• Analyze client accounts at a macro level and identify their top-performing campaigns

• Combine Salesforce metrics with data from other marketing channels, including Google Analytics, Facebook, and over 85 integrations

Use AgencyAnalytics to automate data retrieval, present visual dashboards, and send client reports like clockwork with a professional Salesforce report template. Maximize billable hours and easily create an efficient reporting process–sign up for a free 14-day trial today.