DRAFT Sales manager workflows for Outreach Reporting

Overview

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As a sales manager, one of your primary focuses is to manage your team's activities and overall content performance. To help you get started, we’ve rounded up the key workflows every sales manager needs when using Outreach reporting to uncover data-driven insights on pipeline, rep workload, and objections.

Check out our opportunity management, pipeline generation, and forecasting guides for managers and sellers for more workflows.

For a detailed look at the various reports Outreach offers to sales managers, check out our Reporting 101 and Reporting 201 Office Hours.

Table of contents

• Workflows for the Sales Execution Report
• Workflows for the Team Performance Report
• Workflows for the Sequence Report

Workflows for the Sales Execution Report

The Sales Execution Report provides a holistic view of the impact of sales activities on the business by tracking key metrics (activities, interactions, meetings). It enables frontline managers and revenue leaders to assess changes in key metrics over time and identify the key drivers of pipeline generation to optimize their sales funnel and increase win rates.

Review key period-over-period changes in metrics

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Sales Execution
2. At the top of the page, find the button that says Compare: and select Compare timeframes
3. At the top of the page, find the button that says Date range vs. Date range.
   • Adjust the Timeframe to the date range of your current period. The default option is set to MoM comparison.
   • Select Compare with > Previous period
   • Click Apply
4. In the upper right-hand side of the page, find the Filter button and filter by teams or users, as applicable.
5. You're now viewing the high-level metrics for your organization compared to a previous period:
   • Prospects contacted: Total number of unique prospects contacted via email, call, meeting, or task (either inbound or outbound)
   • Prospects responded: Total number of unique prospects who replied to an email or answered a call. NOTE: Manually marked sequences as "replied" by a rep are not counted in this metric
   • Prospects invited: The total number of unique prospects who received a meeting invite (regardless of whether or not the invite was accepted)
6. Dig into the data using the Expand all button below the Filter button. Here, you can view rich data on the activity, interactions, and details for each metric. Learn more here.

Compare team-over-team performance to see key performance differences between teams

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Sales Execution
2. At the top of the page, find the button that says Compare: and select Compare teams. 
3. You'll then be prompted via a pop-up to choose teams. Select teams to compare from Team A and Team B  dropdowns. Hit Apply.
   NOTE: If you want to compare more then two teams, follow these instructions.
   
4. Adjust the timeframe using the Date to date range button.
5. You're now viewing the high-level metrics for your organization compared to a previous period:
   • Prospects contacted: Total number of unique prospects contacted via email, call, meeting, or task (either inbound or outbound)
   • Prospects responded: Total number of unique prospects who replied to an email or answered a call. NOTE: Manually marked sequences as "replied" by a rep are not counted in this metric
   • Prospects invited: The total number of unique prospects who received a meeting invite (regardless of whether or not the invite was accepted)
6. Dig into the data using the Expand all button below the Filter button. Here, you can view rich data on the activity, interactions, and details for each metric. Learn more here.

Workflows for the Team Performance Report

The Team Performance Report allows managers to look at inputs by reps or teams to determine what is leading to positive outcomes. Frontline managers can track teams and reps against KPIs like meetings booked, engagement frequency, and prospects sequenced and uncover actionable insights to coach reps with in-the-moment, specific actions to improve performance. 

Review call activity on the Calls Overview tab to surface metrics that will

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Team Performance.
2. At the upper left-hand side of the page, find the button that says Team and select Calls from the dropdown menu.
3. If applicable, select the time period you are interested in, This Month or Last Week, for example.
4. Review the graph and metrics at the top of the page for a high-level overview of your team's call performance. You will see the following metrics and should compare them to your organization-wide goals:
   • Total calls: All attempted calls made and logged through Outreach. This includes all calls logged through Outreach and is not limited to logged calls connected to a known prospect.
   • Calls via sequences: The number of calls placed due to a sequence step.
   • Answered rate: Percentage of total calls with a call disposition mapped to an answered call type. 
   • Total time on calls: Total time spent on calls made through Outreach. 
   • Average duration: Average time spent on calls made through Outreach.
5. To review these metrics at a team or user level, scroll down the page and toggle between Users and Teams.

Review overdue tasks to see if a rep is managing the work generated by adding people to sequence

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Team Performance.
2. At the upper left-hand side of the page, find the button that says Team and select Tasks from the dropdown menu.
3. Find the Filters button in the top right-hand corner of the Team Performance: Tasks section. Add the following filters:
   • Users > Rep name
4. If applicable, select the time period you are interested in, This Month or Last Week, for example.
5. Scroll down the page to the Users section and find the Overdue tasks column to see the number of overdue tasks for the rep.
6. Compare this number with Total tasks. If this number is high, investigate further by using filters like due date to see if reps are logging tasks in the CRM or if tasks are overdue and need cleaning up.
7. Check in with your rep and ask the following questions to help them get back on track:
   • Why do you think you have so many overdue tasks?
   • Are you having technical issues?
   • How are you logging tasks?

Review skipped tasks to see if reps are following designated workflows

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Team Performance.
2. At the upper left-hand side of the page, find the button that says Team and select Tasks from the dropdown menu.
3. Find the Filters button in the top right-hand corner of the Team Performance: Tasks section. Add the following filters:
   • Task state is > Skipped
   • Users > Rep name
4. If applicable, select the time period you are interested in, This Month or Last Week, for example.
5. Scroll down the page to the Users section and find the Skipped tasks column to see the number of overdue tasks for the rep.
6. Compare this number with Total tasks. If this number is high, look for patterns such as:
   • Are these high-priority personas being skipped?
   • Is there a sequence that accounts for most of the skipped tasks?
   • How old is the data?
7. Check prospects to see if they are in several sequences with call steps. If there are multiple calls within your date range, they may have been skipped for this task, but contacted regardless. 

Make sure reps are hitting their meeting targets with the Team Performance report

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Team Performance.
2. Select the time period you are interested in, This Month or Last Week, for example.
3. Review the graph and metrics at the top of the page for a high-level overview of the selected team's or user's performance. You will see the following metrics and should compare them to your organization-wide goals:
   • Cumulative meetings booked: Total number of calendar invites sent, regardless of if they were accepted, broken down into Current totals and End of Month Forecast, which is the total number of projected meetings that will be booked by the end of the time period selected in step two. This forecast is calculated by Outreach machine learning and based on the team’s current trend and rep activities.
   • Prospects added: Total number of prospects added into a sequence
   • Prospects contacted: Total number of unique prospects contacted outbound or inbound via email, call, meeting, or task
   • Meeting conversion rate: Percentage of unique prospects contacted who were invited to a meeting
   • Contacts per prospect: Average number of inbound or outbound emails, meetings, calls, or tasks across all contacted prospects.
   • Emails delivered: Total number of emails delivered to prospects
   • Outbound calls: Total number of attempted outbound calls made and logged through Outreach.
   • LinkedIn tasks completed: Total number of LinkedIn tasks completed
   • Other tasks completed: Total number of other tasks completed
4. Scroll down the page past the graph to the Users section. This view lets you quickly review meetings and activity metrics to see if reps are hitting their goals. Use the following metrics to see:
   • Cumulative meetings booked: If reps are hitting their meetings target
   • Prospects contacted: If reps are hitting their prospects' contacted goal
   • Meeting conversion rate: How reps are performing against org goals

Use email sentiment to help reps improve their outreach

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Team Performance.
2. Select the time period you are interested in, This Month or Last Week for example.
3. Use step four of the meetings target workflow above to flag reps needing additional support. 
4. To drill in deeper, you can review email sentiment insights. To do so, scroll to the top of the Team Performance page and select the Email Sentiment button. This view allows you to look more deeply at the emails reps send with high-level metrics such as total replies, positive sentiment percentage, objection percentage, unsubscribe percentage, referral percentage, and more. You’ll want to focus on the Objections column.
5. Click the percentage in the Objections column associated with reps who aren’t hitting their meetings goals or are experiencing a high objection percentage and review:
   • Type of objection: See how prospects are objecting to emails sent, broken down by objection type
   • Email messages: Read through responses to identify potential coaching opportunities
6. Once you’ve reviewed email sentiment and identified coaching opportunities, schedule a time with your rep 1:1 to go over feedback. You can use these workflows to help get you started. 
7. You may also want to use the information uncovered in this report to help draft supplementary content to support your team. For example, if you notice a high percentage of Financial objections, you may want to create an email template your team can leverage to help overcome this specific objection.

Identifying content that is performing well using the Team Performance report

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Team Performance.
2. Adjust the time period to This Month or Last Week, whatever is most important to your review.
3. Scroll down to the Users section of the Team Performance report and identify reps who are performing well and booking meetings by looking for reps who hit their goals for the following metrics:
   • Cumulative meetings booked: Reps who meet their meetings booked goals are likely using content that leads to meetings
   • Meeting conversion rate: A high conversion rate signals reps are using content that leads to meetings
4. With these rep's names in mind, navigate to the Sequence Performance report in the Reports tab.
5. Find the Filters drop-down at the top right of the Sequence performance page header. Click to open the filters tab and find reps identified in step three in the Users section.
6. Adjust the date range beside the Filters button as needed.
7. Scroll down the page to the What Sequences Drive Better Outcomes section and begin reviewing the sequences these reps are using. Metrics to review would be:
   • Meetings booked: Identify what type of meetings are being booked broken out by meeting type.
   • Prospects added: Review which prospects are being added to sequence broken out by seniority.
   • Email open rate: Identify which types of prospects are opening emails broken out by seniority.
   • Email reply rate: See how prospects respond to emails sent by sentiment.

Workflows for the Sequence Report

Identifying content that is performing well using the Sequence Performance report

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Sequence Performance.
2. Adjust the time period to This Month or Last Week, whatever is most important to your review.
3. Scroll down to the Users section of the Team Performance report and identify reps who are performing well and booking meetings by looking for reps who hit their goals for the following metrics:
   • Cumulative meetings booked: Reps who meet their meetings booked goals are likely using content that leads to meetings
   • Meeting conversion rate: A high conversion rate signals reps are using content that leads to meetings
4. With these rep's names in mind, navigate to the Sequence Performance report in the Reports tab.
5. Find the Filters drop-down at the top right of the Sequence performance page header. Click to open the filters tab and find reps identified in step three in the Users section.
6. Adjust the date range beside the Filters button as needed.
7. Scroll down the page to the What Sequences Drive Better Outcomes section and begin reviewing the sequences these reps are using. Metrics to review would be:
   • Meetings booked: Identify what type of meetings are being booked broken out by meeting type.
   • Prospects added: Review which prospects are being added to sequence broken out by seniority.
   • Email open rate: Identify which types of prospects are opening emails broken out by seniority.
   • Email reply rate: See how prospects respond to emails sent by sentiment.

Using email sentiment in the Sequence Performance report to evaluate top-performing content by rep

1. After identifying content that is performing well using steps 1-3 in the workflow above, navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Sequence Performance.
2. Find the Filters drop-down at the top of the Sequence performance page header. Click to open the filters tab and find the reps identified in step three in the Users section.
3. Adjust the date range beside the Filters button as needed.
4. Below the Sequence performance page header, you will see a Meetings and Email Sentiment button. Select the email sentiment button to begin reviewing the sequences used by these reps sorted by email sentiment.
5. Scroll down to the bottom section of the report and sort the sequences by Positive sentiment by clicking on the “Positive” column header. This will show which sequences are generating the highest percentage of positive responses. Click on the percentage to see a breakdown of the types of positive replies (e.g., Willing to meet, need information, etc.)
6. While reviewing sequences, things you should be looking for are:
   • Which sequences are working well for my top-performing reps that I should share with the rest of my team? 
   • How are reps phrasing their emails to solicit positive replies?
   • What resources, tools, or pitches are they using to get a response or a meeting?
   • Are there things we can take and learn from this sequence and apply to other sequences or in training?

Using email sentiment in the Sequence Performance report to surface underperforming content

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Sequence Performance.
2. Find the Filters drop-down at the top of the Sequence performance page header. Click to open the filters tab and select your team from the Teams section.
3. Adjust the date range beside the Filters button as needed.
4. Begin reviewing the sequences your team is using by selecting the Email Sentiment button below the sequence performance page header.
5. Scroll down to the bottom section of the report and sort the sequences by the following columns:
   • Objections: See which sequences are receiving the highest percentage of objections
   • Unsubscribe: See which sequences are receiving the highest percentage of opt-out requests

6. Drill down into the specific objection or unsubscribe percentages for specific sequences to understand what types of responses you’re getting and what reps are saying to elicit the response. While reviewing sequences, things you should be looking for are:
   • What are the objections we are getting from this sequence? 
   • Review the emails to see how reps are phrasing emails and if there are areas for improvement
   • See how personalized the sequence is. If a rep customizes the sequence, there may be a coaching opportunity around changing the phrasing or the overall approach.
7. Take note of any potential coaching opportunities you see and use the following strategies to transform underperforming sequences into content that converts:
   • Analyze objection replies to pinpoint common points or concerns that a prospect has. Understanding these objections allows your team to tailor their communication and offerings to address specific customer needs. Adjust calls to actions or phrases that result in objections.
   • Establish a center of excellence and content committee to provide a centralized strategy to ensure a consistent customer experience
   • Review Blueprint templates in Outreach to see an array of sequence structures, curated by Outreach experts
   • Sign up to attend our Ultimate guide to Outreach sequences Office Hours, where you can build your sequence strategy with real-time guidance from Outreach experts and problem-solve live with our team of content creators
   • Have reps review their XDR or AE-specific workflows on content performance 
   • Review our content best practices article for tips on subject lines, strong CTAs, sequences, and more!

Using the Sequence Performance report to see if your team is leveraging recommended sequences

1. Navigate to the Reports tab in Outreach and select Sequence Performance.
2. Find the Filters drop-down at the top of the Sequence performance page header. Click to open the filters tab and select your team from the Teams section.
3. Adjust the date range beside the Filters button as needed.
4. Begin reviewing the sequences your team is using by selecting the Email Sentiment button below the sequence performance page header.
5. Scroll down below the graph to see which sequences your teams are using and if they are leveraging recommended sequences. While reviewing, you should be looking for:
   • If there is an upcoming event, are reps adding folks to the corresponding sequence?
   • What types of sequences are being used most often? Outbound, account-based sequences? Inbound sequences?
   • Which sequences have positive email sentiment, booked meetings, and open rates, and which do not.
6. Drill down into sequences to understand what types of responses you’re getting and what we’re saying to elicit the response by reviewing data in the following columns:
   • Positive: See how prospects are responding with positive sentiment to emails sent broken out by positive (e.g., Willing to meet, need information, etc.)
   • Objections: See how prospects are objecting to emails sent broken out by type of objection
   • Unsubscribe: Identify the prospects that are responding poorly and requesting to be unsubscribed, broken out by type
7. During your review, read some of the emails included in the breakdowns mentioned in step six. Things you could look for are:
   • How are reps phrasing their emails?
   • Do we need to change the wording of this sequence to be more effective?
   • What resources, tools, or pitches are reps using, or not using, to get a response or a meeting?
   • Are there things we can take and learn from this sequence and apply to other sequences or in training?
8. Take note of any potential coaching opportunities you see and use the following strategies to help get at-risk deals back on track:
   
   Strategies for adjusting sequences
   • Analyze objection replies to pinpoint common points or concerns that a prospect has. Understanding these objections allows your team to tailor their communication and offerings to address specific customer needs. Adjust calls to actions or phrases that result in objections.
   • Establish a center of excellence and content committee to provide a centralized strategy to ensure a consistent customer experience
   • Review Blueprint templates in Outreach to see an array of sequence structures, curated by Outreach experts
   • Sign up to attend our Ultimate guide to Outreach sequences Office Hours, where you can build your sequence strategy with real-time guidance from Outreach experts and problem-solve live with our team of content creators
   • Have reps review their XDR or AE-specific workflows on content performance 
   • Review our content best practices article for tips on subject lines, strong CTAs, sequences, and more!
     
     Strategies for promoting content that is driving meetings and positive sentiment
   • Analyze positive replies to pinpoint what leads a prospect to respond, such as a value proposition, messaging tactic, or question. Understanding positive sentiment allows your team to tailor their communication and offerings to address specific customer needs. Apply what you've found to existing content through updates or socialization.
     
     Strategies for checking in with teams that aren’t leveraging the correct sequences
     • • Monitor the percentage of accounts not contacted to help the sales team identify potential missed opportunities
       • Remind teams of content available to them and where to find it (e.g., collections) as well as when to use it