If you wish to get insights on the sales performance of your team, creating a sales report is a no-brainer.
However, because many teams are not in the practice of creating them regularly, getting started might seem a little tricky.
Here, we’re outlining a step-by-step process on how businesses can create sales reports to improve their sales performance.
Key takeaways
- How to write sales reports. Use reporting software to create an effective sales report with an opening and closing note, sales highlights, and future predictions/targets.
- Report timelines. Sales reports don’t have a strict, predefined timeline. You can measure sales when you run a campaign or for a specific period.
- Follow-up questions. Learn how to structure a sales report, what a good sales report looks like, and what the objectives are for a typical sales report.
1. Write a cover/intro letter
In a cover letter, you may benefit from adding highlights about the report, such as your goal for creating this report or the results you’ve obtained from it.
Use the personalized message feature to act as a cover letter.
When sending the document to the client, click “Send via email.”
Add in the recipient’s name, name the document, and add in a personalized message/intro letter.
For example, here’s what your intro letter for a sales report can look like:
2. Add monthly highlights
Go to your Reporting tab and click on Data Analytics.
Filter the analytics by dates (e.g., last 7 days, last month, last year, or custom), workspaces (i.e., clients), creators, or document type.
This feature will allow you to check critical data points such as how many sales leads were converted, how much time it took to convert a lead, or which resources (and how many) you had to send to a prospect to convert them.
3. Share results
Divide content into individual sections, or keep clients engaged by providing visualizations in your report.
Use content fields (e.g., images, videos, text, tables, checkboxes, etc.) to make your reports more engaging.
You can even divide your document using Page Breaks or by creating individual blocks of text.
And if there are particular graphics or sections you use for most reports you write, you can add them to your content library and access them whenever you need.
4. Identify next steps
Once you have shown your clients all the need-to-know insights vis-a-vis sales, you can then provide ideas on how to improve their sales processes.
You can get insights about process bottlenecks and sales documentation through PandaDoc’s document analytics.
From your dashboard, click on Document > Analytics to get these insights.
5. Add a closing note
When it comes to the end of the report, add in a closing note to indicate to the client how much you’ve appreciated writing this report and, should there be any doubts or feedback, they can send those back to you and you’ll answer them promptly.
Click on “Add Content” to include a new page for the closing note.
Select “Text” from the Content Fields and write a quick thank you and showcase to them that you’re open to any questions/feedback.
How often do you create sales reports?
There really are no hard and fast rules as to when sales reports can be created.
In most instances, businesses typically create weekly sales reports, monthly sales reports, quarterly sales reports, or yearly sales reports.
You can either increase or decrease this time frame based on your individual requirements.
For example, you might be running a discount on your product and would want to analyze the sales you made during that time period.
Improve your sales performance with PandaDoc
As a salesperson, creating sales reports is just one part of your job description.
We understand that, in reality, you’ve got countless more tasks to do (many of which can frankly be automated).
While the tasks like sending emails, follow-ups, quotes, contracts, and whatnot seem minor at first glance — they eventually add up, taking a huge chunk of time from your working hours, and leaving you less time to focus on things that actually require your full attention.
But what if we said there’s a way to automate all these tasks?
You can send emails, create template-based responses, sign contracts, share quotes, keep tabs on deals, access user analytics, and unlock a library of templates, simply by subscribing to PandaDoc.
Sales teams that use our solution have reported seeing a 36% increase in their close rates, and you can get the same results for your team as well.
To know more about PandaDoc’s offering, arrange a free 15-minute product demo with our professionals!
Frequently asked questions
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A daily sales report summary is a synopsis of the sales activities that happened in your business over the course of one day. The report can be one-page long and you can also share any highlights.
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Sales reports help provide insights on how a business is operating and what its strengths and weaknesses are at the time of the report. This helps sales managers optimize their processes and make data-backed decisions.
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A report is usually accompanied by a cover letter at the beginning and a small conclusion at the end. Good reports are structured with proper headings, correct formatting, page numbering, and line spacing, all of which makes them easier to read.
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A good sales report is one that is simple to read, informative, data-driven, and has useful visuals and graphics. They’re also well-structured and free of any grammatical errors.
Disclaimer
PandaDoc is not a law firm, or a substitute for an attorney or law firm. This page is not intended to and does not provide legal advice. Should you have legal questions on the validity of e-signatures or digital signatures and the enforceability thereof, please consult with an attorney or law firm. Use of PandaDocs services are governed by our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Originally published January 24, 2017, updated September 22, 2023
