How to Use Sankey Diagram to Visualize Sales Pipeline Report?

With an understanding of the sales flow, it is possible to be successful in the modern business world. The sales pipeline is undoubtedly one of the most crucial aspects of the sales process, if not the most crucial. Your understanding of everything in the pipeline immediately impacts future strategies, choices, and the amount of money your business will make.

However, comprehending a sales funnel entails more than merely poring over a small amount of data and looking for correlations among the KPIs. With these pipeline reports, it would be an easier task and there’s no worry about missing important data.

A sales pipeline report is a potent and essential tool for understanding how a company sells and is particularly helpful in understanding complex sales processes.

With a sales pipeline report, you can see where your sales are getting stuck and take steps to improve your pipeline efficiency. In addition, they can produce an easy-to-read visualization of data within the salesforce.

So, whether you are looking for a way to improve the sales funnel or want to see how your sales pipeline is holding up, the Sankey Diagram can help. In this blog post, we’ll look at how you can use Sankey Diagrams to analyze your sales pipeline and identify areas of improvement.  And you will learn how to create this helpful graphic using ChartExpo in Excel.

Video Tutorial:

What is Sales Pipeline Report?

A sales pipeline report is a graphical representation of the sales process that shows how leads progress through the various stages of your sales funnel. By tracking this data, you can identify bottlenecks in your sales process and make changes to improve conversions.

However, people confuse a sales pipeline report with the sales process. A sales process and a sales pipeline are fundamentally different. Why? Because a sales process classifies each step as a separate pipeline stage.

So, a sales pipeline report lets you track all the significant metrics produced at various pipeline phases.

A sales pipeline report typically contains three key metrics:

• Leads: The number of leads at each sale funnel stage.
• Conversion rate: The percentage of leads that convert to customers.
• Average deal size: The average value of deals won.

To create a sales pipeline report, you’ll need to gather data from your CRM system or other sources. Once you have this data, you can use a tool like the Sankey Diagram to analyze and visualize the flow of leads through your sales funnel. And this can quickly be done with the use of charts and graphs.

Now, to quickly and effectively make charts out of data and gain actionable insights, ChartExpo is one of the best tools for the job. It offers a variety of advanced charts with excellent visualization. You can use it even if you’re a newbie or don’t know how to code.

And with the following data, you can create your chart sales pipeline report with the help of Sankey Diagram by using ChartExpo in Excel as follows:

First, have data like this:

Medium	Opportunity	Consideration	Intent	Decision	Size
Online Ads Lead	Impressions	Clicked	Add to Cart	Purchased	834
Online Ads Lead	Impressions	Clicked	Add to Cart	Left in Cart	247
Online Ads Lead	Impressions	Clicked	No interest		134
Online Ads Lead	Impressions	Not Clicked			85
Call Lead	Received	Showed Interest	Purchased	Online	735
Call Lead	Received	Showed Interest	Purchased	Visit Store	548
Call Lead	Received	Showed Interest	Not purchased		311
Call Lead	Received	Not Interested			157
Call Lead	Declined				94

And the final representation of the Sankey Diagram will be as follows:

Why do We Use Sales Pipeline Reports?

A sales pipeline report is one of the essential tools a sales manager has at their disposal. It allows them to see the current status of all their sales opportunities, what stage each deal is in, and how likely it is to close. This information is critical for forecasting future sales and ensuring the sales team is on track to hit their targets.

Gives A Simple Outline of the Sales Process

One of the critical advantages of using a sales pipeline report is that it can help you to identify any potential bottlenecks in your sales process.

The sales pipeline report helps you understand how many deals are being worked on, what stage they are at, and who is working on them. You can get a sales process overview and monitor your team’s progress.

For example, if you notice that many are getting stuck in the middle of the pipeline, you can investigate what is causing this and take steps to address it.

Monitor Progress

A sales pipeline report can give you an early warning sign if a deal is at risk of falling through. For example, if you see that a deal has been sitting in the same pipeline stage for several weeks, this could indicate some issues with it. By keeping an eye on your sales pipeline report, you can flag these deals so that you can take action to save them.

You can easily track each deal’s status and know if any changes need to be made. You can also check out individual employees’ performance and their contribution to the company’s success.

Reliable Sales Predictions

You can use the metrics you generate in your pipeline report to produce precise sales estimates. The calculation process will be greatly facilitated by seeing how near your team is to meeting the goals and how many prospects are in the sales funnel.

With accurate sales forecasts, you can make informed decisions about where to allocate your resources. You can also plan and set goals for the future.

Boost overall sales volume and income

You can increase your business’s profit margin by increasing total sales volume and revenue.

You may achieve it with the aid of sales pipeline reports. You will better understand what needs to be changed. Also, which stages produce the most outstanding results if you understand the specifics of pipeline stages.

Overall, the sales pipeline report is essential for any sales manager. By using it regularly, you can stay on top of your team’s performance and ensure that your business hits its targets.

How to Create a Sankey Diagram in Excel by Using ChartExpo?

You may quickly install ChartExpo, a chart builder, as an add-in in Excel. You may install the ChartExpo add-in in Excel by following the instructions.

And to create a Sankey Diagram in Excel by using ChartExpo, follow the steps below:

• First, install ChartExpo add-in in Excel
• Open Excel and go to the Add-Ins tab. Select “ChartExpo” from the My Apps drop-down menu. Click the Insert button.
• Select Sankey Chart from the list of charts
• A new window will open where you can select the data for your Sankey Diagram. Choose the cells that contain your data, then click “Create Chart From Selection”.
• Your Sankey Diagram will now be generated! You can customize it further by clicking the Edit Chart button on the ChartExpo menu

This will be done as follows:

Click the Insert button to initiate the ChartExpo engine.

You can now choose from the Sankey Chart list as shown below:

Now that you have your data in an excel sheet, you can choose it by clicking the “Create Chart From Selection” button as seen below:

When you click on this button, the Sankey Chart appears. If you wish to edit the chart, click the Edit Chart button as shown below:

As demonstrated below, we first disconnect the flow of any unnecessary nodes, such as “Not Clicked”. Click on Settings button then go to Drawing Mode. Enable Missing Data and click on Apply button for saving the changes.

Then, we add the header text to the chart’s top by clicking on Edit Chart.

Click on pencil icon next to “Chart Header” then go to Text, write heading, and enable the show option. Then click on Apply.

After updating all of the nodes’ colors, click the Save Changes button as shown in the example:

The final representation of the Sankey Diagram is as follows:

Insights

• The number of people who came from Online Ads Lead 1.30k and Call Lead 1.85k.
• Then in next stage 1.22k people clicked and 80 people didn’t clicked.
• From 1.85k Call Lead 1.75k prospects received call.
• About 834 prospects are buying customers and 247 prospects left in cart.
• 735 prospects are bought product from online store and 548 prospects purchased by visiting store.

FAQs:

How Can I make an Excel Sankey Chart?

If you divide the procedure into these three parts, making a Sankey Diagram in Excel is fairly simple:

• Create data for each Sankey line separately.
• Plot each Sankey line independently.
• Create a Sankey Diagram by connecting each unique Sankey line.

How Do You Manage Sales Pipeline?

A sales pipeline is the process that salespeople use to move potential customers from initial contact to close. The sales pipeline typically consists of several stages: prospecting, qualification, needs analysis, proposal/price quote, negotiation, and close.

To manage the sales pipeline effectively, salespeople need to clearly understand the stages involved and the criteria for moving a potential customer from one stage to the next. They also must regularly track their progress and keep accurate records of their interactions with potential customers.

There are several different ways to manage the sales pipeline. Still, some common methods include customer relationship management (CRM) software or a simple spreadsheet add-in like ChartExpo. Regardless of the method used, it is important to review the sales pipeline regularly and make adjustments as needed.

What Is the Difference Between Funnel and Pipeline?

A funnel is a process that takes in a wide range of potential customers or leads and narrows them down to those who are most likely to make a purchase. So, a funnel gauges conversion rates throughout the sales process, while a pipeline depicts what a seller does when making a transaction.

Wrap Up

Sales analysis using a pipeline report is important because it helps you identify the reasons behind your company’s success or failure. It also helps you plan future strategies and improve your marketing campaigns. And the best strategy is using a Sankey Diagram.

Sankey Diagram visual representation of flow between two or more entities. It is commonly used to represent the flow of goods, services, information, or finances. It is a powerful tool for analyzing sales pipelines and understanding where your best opportunities lie are.

By mapping out your sales flow, you can quickly identify bottlenecks and areas of improvement. A sales pipeline report can be an invaluable resource if you’re looking to streamline your sales process and close more deals.

However, effective charts or graphs require competent chart makers. Therefore one of the greatest Excel tools for making charts and obtaining useful data insights is ChartExpo. So, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started with ChartExpo now!