Build a Sales Dashboard From Scratch in clariBI

A good sales dashboard answers three questions every morning: Are we on track to hit our number? Where is the pipeline strong and where is it weak? What needs attention today? This tutorial builds a complete sales dashboard in clariBI from an empty canvas to a shared, auto-refreshing tool your sales team will actually use. No prior clariBI experience required.

What We Are Building

By the end of this tutorial, you will have a dashboard with:

• KPI cards showing revenue, pipeline value, win rate, and average deal size
• A revenue trend chart tracking monthly performance against quota
• A pipeline stage chart showing deal flow and conversion rates
• A sales rep leaderboard with key metrics per person
• A deal aging table highlighting stale opportunities
• Automated daily refresh from your data source

The whole process takes about 60-90 minutes for the initial build. After that, the dashboard maintains itself.

Step 1: Connect Your Sales Data

Your sales data likely lives in one of these places:

• CRM database: If you use a CRM that stores data in a PostgreSQL or MySQL database you can access directly, connect it as a database data source. See the PostgreSQL connection walkthrough for detailed steps.
• CRM export: If you export data from your CRM as CSV files, upload them as file data sources. See the CSV tutorial for the upload process.
• Product database: If your sales data is in your application database alongside product data, connect to that database and work with the relevant tables.

For this tutorial, we will assume you have connected a data source that contains:

• A deals or opportunities table with fields like: deal_name, deal_value, stage, close_date, created_date, owner, and status (won/lost/open)
• Optionally, an activities table with sales actions (calls, emails, meetings) linked to deals

Step 2: Plan Your Metrics

Before building anything, define the metrics that belong on this dashboard. For a sales team, the essential metrics are:

Step 3: Create the Dashboard

1. Navigate to Dashboards in the left sidebar
2. Click Create Dashboard
3. Name it: "Sales Dashboard — [Your Team Name]"
4. Select the data source(s) you connected in Step 1

Step 4: Build the KPI Cards (Top Row)

The top row should provide an instant health check. Add four KPI cards:

Revenue Card

Use the AI assistant or the visual builder to create a KPI card showing:

• Metric: Sum of deal_value where status = 'won' and close_date is in the current month
• Comparison: Same metric for the previous month (shows month-over-month change)
• Target: Your monthly revenue quota (if you have a goals table, connect it; otherwise, set a static target)

Ask the AI: "Show me total closed-won revenue this month compared to last month as a KPI card."

Pipeline Card

Ask: "Show me total pipeline value for open deals as a KPI card with comparison to last month."

Win Rate Card

Ask: "Calculate win rate as won deals divided by won plus lost deals this quarter, shown as a percentage KPI card."

Average Deal Size Card

Ask: "Show average deal value for won deals this quarter as a KPI card."

Step 5: Build the Revenue Trend Chart (Middle Row Left)

Create a line chart showing monthly closed-won revenue over the last 12 months:

Ask: "Show me monthly closed-won revenue for the last 12 months as a line chart."

Enhance it by:

• Adding a target line showing the monthly quota
• Adding a forecast line for remaining months based on current pipeline
• Using a title that is a finding: "Revenue on pace to exceed Q3 target by 8%"

Step 6: Build the Pipeline Stage Chart (Middle Row Right)

Show the current pipeline broken down by stage:

Ask: "Show me the number of open deals and total value at each pipeline stage as a horizontal bar chart."

This immediately reveals where deals are concentrated and where the pipeline might be thin. If 80% of pipeline value is in early stages and the quarter is half over, that is a warning signal.

Step 7: Build the Rep Leaderboard (Lower Row Left)

Create a table showing each rep's key metrics:

Ask: "Create a table showing each sales rep with their closed-won revenue this quarter, number of deals won, win rate, and average deal size, sorted by revenue descending."

This serves as both a leaderboard and a diagnostic tool. If one rep has a high win rate but low revenue, they may need help pursuing larger deals. If another has many deals but low win rate, they may need help with qualification.

Step 8: Build the Deal Aging Table (Lower Row Right)

Create a table of open deals sorted by how long they have been in the current stage:

Ask: "Show me all open deals with deal name, value, current stage, owner, and days since last stage change, sorted by days descending."

Highlight deals that have been in the same stage for more than 30 days — these are stalled and need attention. A deal stuck in "proposal sent" for 45 days is not progressing on its own.

Step 9: Arrange the Layout

Organize the dashboard following the inverted pyramid: most important information at the top, increasing detail as you scroll down.

• Row 1: Four KPI cards (Revenue, Pipeline, Win Rate, Average Deal Size)
• Row 2: Revenue trend chart (left) + Pipeline stage chart (right)
• Row 3: Rep leaderboard (left) + Deal aging table (right)

Keep it to one screen if possible. A sales manager should be able to assess the state of the business in 30 seconds by looking at the KPI cards, then spend another 2 minutes scanning the charts and tables for anything that needs action.

Step 10: Set Up Filters

Add interactive filters that let users customize their view:

• Time period: This month, this quarter, this year, custom range
• Sales rep: Filter to an individual rep's deals (useful in 1:1 meetings)
• Deal size: Filter by deal value range (separate enterprise from SMB analysis)
• Product/segment: If you sell multiple products or serve multiple segments

Filters make one dashboard serve multiple purposes. The VP of Sales sees the full team view. Individual reps filter to their own deals. The CEO filters to enterprise segment only.

Step 11: Share and Set Permissions

1. Click Share on the dashboard
2. Add the sales team as viewers (they can see and filter but not edit)
3. Add the sales manager as an editor (can modify the dashboard)
4. Generate a direct link for bookmarking

For broader sharing, you can enable public link sharing so that people without clariBI accounts can view the dashboard in read-only mode. See the dashboard sharing documentation for all sharing options.

Step 12: Configure Alerts

Set up alerts for conditions that need immediate attention:

• Pipeline value drops below 3x the remaining quarterly quota
• A deal worth more than $50K has been in the same stage for 14+ days
• Weekly closed-won revenue falls below 80% of the weekly target

Alerts turn the dashboard from a passive display into an active management tool. You do not need to check the dashboard every hour — it will tell you when something needs attention.

Maintaining the Dashboard

Weekly

• Use the dashboard in your team meeting as the single source of truth for sales performance
• Review alerts that fired during the week and discuss responses

Monthly

• Check that the data source connection is healthy and data is refreshing properly
• Update quota targets if they change
• Ask the team: is there a metric missing that would be useful?

Quarterly

• Review which metrics the team actually uses versus which they ignore
• Remove or replace unused charts
• Update the dashboard for any changes in sales process or team structure

A sales dashboard is not a project with an end date — it is a living tool that evolves with your team and your business. The 60-90 minutes you invest today saves hours of manual reporting every week and gives your sales team the visibility they need to make better decisions, faster. Start building, get it in front of the team, collect feedback, and iterate.