When Dymatec began expansion into the US, Vaughn Newton wanted to share sales targets in a way that would make new team members across the pond feel included. What he hadn’t banked on was the profound culture change that would happen as a result of making sales figures visible to everyone.
Sales dashboards to bring the team together
In 2019, UK-based Dymatec set up a USA Sales Division. Dymatec wanted the employees of the USA Division to feel a part of the Global Dymatec team, so one of the things they did was to set up a sales dashboard using Geckoboard. That way, everyone could see the same team KPIs, regardless of where they were in the world.
The pandemic followed shortly after, during which everyone worked from home. When they began working in the office again, Vaughn started to notice how important the dashboard had become to the entire sales team.
I didn’t even know how crucial the dashboard had become to the team until we started working back in the office again. If the screen ever switched off, I spotted that someone was immediately working on getting it running again so that the dashboard was always there.
More than just visualizing data
Since launching the dashboards Vaughn has seen a direct impact on sales figures and, arguably more importantly, the mindset of the team. Dymatec are in the process of switching sales platforms at present, the main concern felt by everyone in the sales team was they might not have access to their dashboards. Seeing data in this way has become fundamental to their daily work.
It has made a huge impact on our sales and our team’s psychology. They can see how far away they are from their targets – if they’re only a few percent off, there’s a big drive to hit them on time.
What Vaughn hadn’t considered was the changes he’d see elsewhere in the company. Previously, information on the dashboards had been limited to weekly or monthly sales meetings. But all of a sudden people from accounts or the warehouse were discussing the data they were now seeing and getting excited when sales targets were hit.
Before the dashboards, people weren’t aware if we’d had a good or a bad month, they’d just be doing the same job they’d always been doing with less of a vested interest in the company.
Open, accountable team culture
The nature of sales is that you’ll have good times and bad. Visualizing that data means you’re unable to hide from the slower months or weeks – it’s out there for all to see.
Obviously, there is a huge positive impact with displaying sales data on a dashboard but it can also affect the team during quiet spells. It’s important to make sure different personality types aren’t negatively affected by seeing static numbers. Some people turn this to their advantage and use it as motivation, but you need to keep an eye out for those who might struggle.
The dashboard gives facts all the time, and the team are able to hold themselves accountable to this.
Vaughn Newton, Business Development Manager at Dymatec, joined the family business around 15 years ago and has seen huge growth since then. Dymatec is a UK Manufacturer of Diamond Saw Blades, Core Drills and other Diamond Consumables with sales offices and warehouses in the USA.
