Business Tools Blog

Last week I explained Sales Stages.  Having easy to understand definitions is the first step.  Making information accessible to the organization is Step 2.  All Zayo Business Units use the same sales process and the same sales reports.  Our management team is adamant about making sure everyone follows this process.

Dan Caruso, John Scarano, Dennis Kyle and Fritz Hendricks regularly call our account executives to ask about sales opportunities in the funnel.  As long as every salesperson is using salesforce to record all opportunities in the appropriate sales stage, everyone can understand the sales forecast.   Imagine how forecast accuracy improves when sales and management have a clear understanding of our opportunities.

We use Salesforce.com to automate Zayo’s sales process.  If you want to be like Zayo, here’s how to set up the Sales Funnel Report:

Reports Tab, click Create New Custom Report

Step 1: Select the report format

• Matrix Report

• Click Next
   
  

Step 2: Select the grouping for which you would like to calculate summary information

• Row Headings should = Subtotal by Account, Sort Order = Ascending
• Column Headings should = Subtotal by Stage, Sort Order = Ascending

Step 3: Standard Summary Fields

• Select Sum “Amount”

Step 4: Select the report columns

• Opportunity Name
• Amount
• Created Date
• Account Name
• At Zayo, we also have the following custom fields:
  • A-End location
  • Z-End location
  • Product
  • On-net/Off-net
  • Term in Months

Step 5: Report Column Order (use the arrows to change the order)

Step 6: Select your report criteria

• Interval=Close Date
• Duration=This Month
• View=All opportunities
• Opportunity Status=Any
• Advance Fitler
  • Field=Stage
  • Operator=not equal to
  • Value=6-Closed Lost
• Advanced Settings=Show report details

Step 7: Select the Chart Type and Report Highlights

• Chart Type = None
• Select Save as “Sales Funnel Report”

You now have a report that looks like this:  (Account Owner, Customer Name & Account Names are hidden to protect the innocent)