Dealing with sales metrics is a bit of a paradox. Everyone wants to see the numbers, but when you actually send a report with all those metrics, nobody pays attention.
The sales metrics themselves aren’t the problem, though. It’s the way you’re reporting them that’s flawed.
It’s challenging to pay attention and get insights from all that data, especially when you use traditional tools like Tableau, Excel, and the like.
The people who look at your sales metrics want insights and context. They don’t have a lot of extra time to spend digging for those insights in an overcrowded field of raw data or a wall of explanatory text.
You need a way to draw out the insights yourself, to really make sure people pick up what you’re putting down.
It’s totally possible to deliver sales metrics in a format that gets your leadership team to sit up and pay attention. Here’s how.
Why sales metric reports fail
To summarize the problem, most reporting formats push the bulk of the work onto the audience.
Just think about how much mental energy it took for you to sift through your most recent sales metrics. You probably ended up squinting and leaning into your screen or bringing the page to your face to search for information.
That’s because the traditional formats sales teams use to report their metrics are just vehicles for data — they aren’t designed to be easily consumed.
Spreadsheets and text reports
Spreadsheets are just miles of numbers with little or no context. Text reports do their best to visualize information with charts and graphs, but space constraints force tiny text and cluttered layouts.
Data screenshots
Similarly, screenshots are no good at highlighting information. People still have to search the screen for context or work hard to draw their own insights.
Presentations
Presentations are a more workable option, but even with a talented presenter, this type of presentation usually takes way longer than necessary. You risk a lot of glazed-over eyes.
Business intelligence tools
Even business intelligence tools like Tableau fall short. These tools are designed to curate and aggregate data. They strip away extraneous information, but people still have to put a lot of focus into reading and interpreting the data.
It’s not that these tools are totally useless. They have their place. They just need a little help from video.
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Concise, actionable reporting is better for everyone
The overarching theme here is that traditional reporting formats require a lot of time, effort, and energy to understand. People need concise, actionable reports that they can easily draw value from.
This is where video picks up the ball and runs with it. Video lets you do most of the heavy lifting for your audience, so you can deliver all the insights and value in a way that’s quick, memorable, and impactful.
How video reports help your executive team
Executives are busy people (if you’re an executive, you know). Video-based reports help them where they need it most: their calendar.
Less wasted time
Detailed metrics are useful for the leadership team in certain contexts. But most of the time, executives need key, high-level insights that help guide their strategic decisions.
A short video draws these valuable insights out of the sales data, so execs get what they need in far less time. Plus, there’ll be no need to waste valuable meeting time on recaps and summaries for those few (or many) who didn’t have time to sift through the raw data.
Brief everyone in one go with a single video.
Fewer miscommunications
Our brains remember 95% of information we see on a video, compared to about 10% when we read a text.
With a video summary of the sales metric data, you’ll get fewer requests for clarification and help finding information. That equates to fewer emails and less time indirectly spent on meetings and reports for both you and the executive team.
Fewer missed messages
Sales metric videos get more attention than static reports.
In fact, more than half of executives say they would rather get information by watching a video than reading text.
Your sales metric videos are less likely to get missed in the email inbox or instant message flow, meaning you’ll have far fewer issues with people calling to ask if you sent that report or showing up for a meeting saying they never got the sales numbers.
How video reports help your sales team
This type of clear, actionable communication doesn’t just benefit the c-suite. If your execs have a better handle on the sales metrics, it has a positive effect on your sales team, too.
Better sales team and executive team alignment
In most organizations, the executive team and sales teams feel pretty far apart. There’s not much direct interaction, and the flow of information is spotty at best.
The clearer you are about your sales metrics, and the more context you give those metrics, the more your execs will understand the worth of your sales team and the challenges they face in the current market.
When they understand the day-to-day life of your sales team, the execs are more likely to give you the resources and support you need.
A shared understanding for better decision making
When everyone is aligned — all the way from the leadership team up top to the sales reps on the ground — your sales team is less likely to feel blindsided by major decisions that come down from above.
You’re all working from a solid foundation and a shared understanding. There’s less of a gap between what the sales team thinks they need and what leadership sees as the right course of action.
How to make an impact with video
Now that you understand why sales metric videos are important, it’s time to dig into how to make those videos in the most impactful way.
Deliver the information your audience needs
One of the most common and most costly mistakes in communication is saying what you want to say, instead of what your audience actually needs to know.
When you create your report videos, consider what decisions the executive team needs to make based on the metrics. Delivers the information they need to make the most informed decisions.
Create short, abridged versions of your more detailed resources
Dense resources like spreadsheets will always be part of your metrics reporting. Don’t throw these legacy tools out the window.
The best way to use video is to create a summary that highlights the most valuable insights. Consider this a companion resource to yoru most detailed assets. Point viewers to the full data set at the end of your video.
Use a template to keep yourself on track
We recommend using video templates — like one of the hundreds of templates available in Biteable Teams. A template acts like guide rails for your videos to keep you from over-communicating.
A template also creates a consistent style and tone so people know what to expect when they open one of your video reports.
Disperse your video in multiple platforms
Don’t just email a link to your video and call it a day. Different people on your team will engage more in different platforms. Cast a wide net and disperse your videos in email, Slack, on your company intranet — any platform your team uses to communicate.
Pro tip: If you create your video in Biteable Teams, you can disperse it on multiple platforms with a single, trackable link. Head back to your analytics dashboard to see how many people clicked on the link and how many watched to the end of the video. If engagement is low, resend the video on a different platform or with a more urgent message.
Include a call-to-action
Always let people know what you want them to do once they finish watching your sales report video. It doesn’t have to be pushy or aggressive. Just include a clickable button that says “Read the full report” or “Contact me if you have questions”.
A clickable call-to-action goes a long way toward creating clarity and engagement with your report.
Bring your performance reporting to life with Biteable Teams
Gathering and interpreting data on sales metrics is challenging. But creating a video to share those metrics is a breeze if you do it in Biteable Teams.
Branded scenes and professionally designed video templates handle scene composition, pacing, and visual effects. An easy-to-use platform makes adding your information simple. Customize your video as much or as little as you like, then send it to your team with a single, trackable link.
Biteable Teams is the shortest route to making an impact with sales metrics.