SALES REPORT: HOW TO DO IT AND EXAMPLES - DUDAS - 2025

A sales report is a report that provides an overview of the status of a company's sales activities. It shows the different trends that occur in sales volume over a certain time, but also analyzes the different steps of the sales funnel and the performance of sales executives.

It offers a snapshot of the company's exercise at a specific time in order to assess the situation and determine the best decision to take and the type of action to take.

Source: pixabay.com

The sales report helps to find new potential market opportunities, where the results could be improved.

The information that is conveyed in the sales report will largely feed into the most important sales decisions, such as discontinuing certain products, increasing quotes, paying bonuses, etc.

Creating clear and concise sales reports that show the most important information needed to steer your business out of the bumps and onto a smooth path to continued growth and success is crucial.

How do you make a sales report?

When writing a report, keep the end goals in mind. There are a couple of crucial questions to ask: who are you reporting to and why? After these questions are answered, the report can be easily articulated.

Know the audience

Consider your audience first and ask yourself what information you need. Thus, this will serve as a guide to know what data to provide. The sales report should reflect the needs of each particular audience.

For example, the information that the marketing manager is interested in will be very different from what the CFO is looking for.

The marketing manager will want to know how well the sales reps are capturing the leads that the marketing team offers. You will also want to know which marketing campaigns have the highest conversion rates.

In contrast, the CFO will want all of the sales numbers, along with expenses. You also need accurate sales forecasts.

Choose the correct information

It must be decided which data will give an accurate picture of the performance of the sales team, which will help make the best decisions. The sales report should answer these key questions:

- Are sales targets being met?

- What is the income vs. expenses in the chosen time period? How do current sales compare to previous periods?

- What products and services are sold the most? Which ones don't meet expectations?

- What is the sales forecast for the next month / quarter / year?

- What are the areas of opportunities? Is it time to withdraw from some territory or product line?

Decide the time period

The time frame will help determine the focus of the report. Choosing a specific time period will also allow for more accurate period-to-period comparisons.

For example, an annual report will allow you to review the main trends in the industry, the buying habits of customers, as well as the results of the main marketing initiatives, new product developments and seasonal fluctuations.

Choose the right graphics

How the information is conveyed is as important as the information itself. The main function of a good sales report is to convey information in a way that is easily understandable and actionable.

A bar chart can be much better at showing how much sales of the flagship product have increased in the last five years than simply putting the numbers in a table.

Visual data creation isn't just about making your sales report look pretty. It's also about making the information attractive and easy to understand.

Executive Summary

Top management doesn't always have time to go into details, so you need a summary that lists the most salient points.

This summary can be at the beginning of the report, before entering the data and findings. This is the last thing to be written, as it will summarize the main ideas drawn, and discuss the next steps.

Examples

Contacts report

This report provides a bird's-eye view of the contacts found in the database, as well as detailed views of the industry, last contact date, and other attributes.

This report can help you identify new opportunities, as well as find connections on the web.

Breakdown of Major Clients

This report shows exactly what stage each customer is in in your pipeline. It can also be organized by product or source to compare and analyze several important customer groups and their progress.

To get an accurate reading of where important customers are coming from, the database will need to be integrated with compatible marketing software.

Sales summary

This report is used to measure the progress of sales in relation to objectives, broken down by source, product and sales representative.

It can help you understand which tactics (social media, email, search, etc.) are driving the most sales, and where you need to duplicate your effort.

Sales visibility is especially important in responding to executives and other stakeholders.

A sales summary can also be used to forecast and set new goals, based on current closing rates.

Business report

It is an excellent tool to ensure that you are properly tracking potential customers, as well as sales and their behavior.

This report is a must have for sales and marketing strategies based on customer accounts.

Profit and loss report

A profit and loss report shows in real time the quotes that are closing or being lost. Likewise, which representatives are responsible for those quotes and how their closing rate compares with the industry or with the objectives themselves.

Custom reports

Other indicators that can be included in a custom sales report are the following:

Average listing size

Sales contracts can be priced very differently, depending on a number of factors, but the average size of portfolio quotes must be determined in order to be able to make quick but robust sales strategies and forecasts.

Number of negotiations in process

Not only is it important to know how many quotes are in the pipeline, it is also important to know where they are, when they are expected to close, and the likelihood that they will become sales for the company.

Conversion or closing rate

Determine the average number of open offers required to close a quote, based on historical results.

Sales cycle time

It refers to the average time it takes for a candidate to enter the channel and go through the entire sales process to the closing stage. The faster the sales cycle, the better it will be for the sales team.

References

1. Mona Lebied (2018). 16 Sales Reports Examples You Can Use For Daily, Weekly or Monthly Reports. Datapine. Taken from: datapine.com.
2. Jessica Bennett (2017). 7 Steps to Creating a Sales Report Your Bosses Will Enjoy Reading. Salesforce Blog. Taken from: salesforce.com.
3. Pipedrive Blog (2018). An Introduction To Sales Reporting. Taken from: blog.pipedrive.com.
4. Karri Bishop (2018). 6 Reports Your Sales Reps Need to Be Successful. Hubspot. Taken from: blog.hubspot.com.
5. Mba Skool (2018). Sales Report. Taken from: mbaskool.com.