There are many ways to use your data to improve sales performance, but keeping track of sales is an absolute must. While Google Sheets cannot replace a CRM, you can certainly use it to keep track of your leads, sales, and whatever KPIs you wish to focus on. You can create a dashboard that is as simple or complex as you require by adding visualizations or data summaries. Sheets also allows you to share different parts of your spreadsheet with varying levels of permission, and you can use a tool like Layer to automate data flows and access controls.
In this article, you’ll learn how to keep track of sales in Google Sheets by creating your own dashboard, so you can keep overall track of your company’s sales using whatever KPIs you are interested in. You will also learn about Layer’s sales tracking template, which you can use directly or customize to suit your needs.
Why Use Google Sheets for Sales Tracking?
Google Sheets is not only free but also well-integrated with other Google products, like Forms, Drive, Analytics, BigQuery, etc. If you already use Sheets, you may have already used some of its sharing and collaboration features, as well as some of the many add-ons available to connect to platforms like Salesforce.
To learn more about this, check out our related articles on:
How To Use The Google Sheets Salesforce Connector
Whether you need to import, export or update data in Salesforce – with Google’s Salesforce Connector you can integrate Salesforce with Google Sheets.
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How to Track Sales in Google Sheets With Your Own Sales Dashboard?
Follow the steps below to build your own sales dashboard in Google Sheets, using whatever metrics and KPIs you want.
1. Select the data
The success of your dashboard will depend on how well you have chosen the KPIs and how you have chosen to visualize them. Before you start, spend some time thinking about the metrics you can use and what KPIs are most important for your company.
2. Build the master input tab
Add a table where each column contains one of your selected metrics from the previous step.
In order to make things easier for users, you can add data validation to different fields. For example, drop-down menus to ensure standard terminology.
3. Duplicate the input tab
Make as many duplicates of the input tab as you need, usually one per sales rep or sales team. Make sure you name each tab in a way that is easy to identify and reference.
4. Build the Dashboard tab
Add a new tab for your dashboard and decide where and how you want to display each KPI.
5. Add formulas and visualizations
Once you have selected the charts and formulas you need for your KPIs, add them to the dashboard and make sure they are pulling data from all the input sheets.
6. Share your dashboard
Share the input tabs with the people who will be adding new data. To learn more about sharing in Google Sheets, check out our related articles on How to Share Google Sheets and How To Share Only One Tab in Google Sheets.
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READ MORESales Tracking Template in Google Sheets
As you saw in the previous section, it’s possible to build as simple or as complex a dashboard as you want. However, it can be daunting to start from scratch. Fortunately, you have the Layer template available to get you started. The sales-lead-tracking template will save you time and errors, as it already has the formulas you need. That way, you can focus on customizing to fit your company’s needs.
You can download and follow the instructions below to use our free Sales Lead Tracking Template.
- 1. Open the downloaded file in Google Sheets.
- 2. Click on the ‘Info’ tab for instructions and suggestions on using the template.
- 3. Click on the Dashboard tab to see sales KPIs for the company.
- 4. Click on one of the ‘Owner#’ tabs to see the table where sales reps can input their sales data, as well as the data validation features used in different fields.
- 5. The template is easily editable, so you can customize it, add fields and KPIs, and choose whatever visualizations you prefer for your dashboard. By using Layer, you can also schedule Automatic updates and sharing, as well as synchronize data in multiple formats, from multiple sources.
Conclusion
As you have seen, it’s easy to keep track of sales in Google Sheets. You now know how to build your own sales dashboard in Sheets and use our free template to keep track of your sales. You can create a dashboard so that you always have your main KPIs available at a glance.
Using a tool like Layer, you can bring together data from different sources and in different formats, using automated flows to ensure the right data is shared with the right people. Make the most out of your sales data so you can invest your resources on the most promising leads.