Create an Agency Reporting Dashboard with No-Code (Tutorial)

Creating an agency reporting dashboard has traditionally been a complex task requiring extensive coding knowledge and technical expertise. However, with the rise of no-code platforms, even those without a background in programming can now build powerful, customized dashboards. In this guide, we’ll explore the steps to create a no-code agency reporting dashboard that simplifies data visualization, enhances client communication, and streamlines your reporting processes.

Key Takeaways

1. An agency reporting dashboard is a centralized platform that visualizes key performance metrics. It enables agencies to monitor and analyze their operations, client interactions, and overall business performance in real-time.
2. At a high level, agency reporting dashboards are used to track client satisfaction, project progress, and team productivity. Key metrics might include project timelines, client feedback scores, budget adherence, and overall resource allocation.
3. No-code platforms allow agencies to quickly create custom reporting dashboards using visual tools and drag-and-drop interfaces, eliminating the need for coding expertise. These platforms enable users to design tailored data models, automate workflows, and integrate data sources.

What is an Agency Reporting Dashboard?

An agency reporting dashboard is a centralized platform that aggregates and visualizes key data and metrics relevant to an agency’s performance. It is a real-time tool that enables agencies to monitor, analyze, and communicate the effectiveness of their campaigns, projects, and overall business operations. By presenting data in an easy-to-understand format, such as charts, graphs, and tables, the dashboard allows agencies to track key performance indicators (KPIs), measure return on investment (ROI), and make data-driven decisions more efficiently.

For agencies, these dashboards are invaluable in maintaining transparency with clients, providing them with clear insights into campaign progress, performance trends, and actionable outcomes. Instead of sifting through numerous reports or spreadsheets, both agencies and their clients can access a single, user-friendly interface that offers a comprehensive view of all pertinent data. This streamlined approach not only saves time but also enhances the agency’s ability to demonstrate value and drive continuous improvement.

Agency Reporting Dashboard Examples (Types of Dashboards)

An agency reporting dashboard offers the flexibility to track a wide range of activities that are crucial to an agency’s success. Let’s dive into 10 common agency reporting dashboards and what they consist of.

1. PPC Dashboard

A Pay-Per-Click (PPC) dashboard aggregates and visualizes data specific to PPC campaigns, allowing marketers to monitor the performance of their ads across various platforms such as Google Ads, Bing Ads, and social media networks. This dashboard provides a centralized view of key metrics, helping marketers optimize their campaigns, manage budgets, and achieve better ROI. To create an effective PPC dashboard, it’s essential to include certain key elements that provide actionable insights, including:

• Campaign Performance Metrics: Track metrics such as impressions, clicks, click-through rates (CTR), and conversion rates to gauge the effectiveness of individual campaigns.
• Cost Analysis: Monitor the total spend, cost per click (CPC), cost per acquisition (CPA), and return on ad spend (ROAS) to manage budgets and ensure campaigns are cost-effective.
• Keyword Performance: Include data on top-performing and underperforming keywords, along with their search volume, average CPC, and Quality Score to optimize bidding strategies.
• Ad Performance: Track the performance of different ad creatives, including headline effectiveness, ad extensions, and overall engagement rates.
• Audience Segmentation: Analyze how different audience segments respond to ads, including demographics, geographic locations, and device types.
• Conversion Tracking: Measure the number and quality of conversions (e.g., sales, sign-ups, or downloads) generated by PPC ads to assess their impact on business goals.
• Competitor Analysis: Include benchmarking data to compare your PPC performance against industry competitors, helping to identify areas for improvement.
• Budget Pacing: Monitor daily and monthly budget pacing to ensure that campaigns run within the allocated budget and avoid overspending.

2. Social Media Dashboard

A social media dashboard consolidates data from various social media platforms, providing marketers with a clear and organized view of their social media performance. This dashboard allows for real-time monitoring of key metrics across channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. By centralizing this information, a social media dashboard helps marketers track engagement, optimize content strategies, and enhance overall social media presence. Effective social media dashboards include:

• Engagement Metrics: Track likes, shares, comments, and other forms of engagement to understand how your audience interacts with your content across different platforms.
• Audience Growth: Monitor the growth of your followers and subscribers over time, including data on follower demographics and trends in audience expansion.
• Post Performance: Analyze the performance of individual posts, including reach, impressions, engagement rate, and CTRs, to identify top-performing content.
• Platform Comparison: Compare performance metrics across different social media platforms to determine where your content is most effective and where improvements are needed.
• Content Type Analysis: Examine how different types of content (e.g., videos, images, stories, or text posts) perform, helping to refine your content strategy based on audience preferences.
• Sentiment Analysis: Track the sentiment of comments and mentions to gauge public perception and identify any potential issues that may need addressing.
• Hashtag Performance: Measure the effectiveness of hashtags used in your posts, including data on reach and engagement generated by specific hashtags.
• Traffic Sources: Identify which social media platforms drive the most traffic to your website and track the quality of this traffic in terms of conversions and bounce rates.
• Ad Performance: If running paid social campaigns, include metrics such as ad impressions, CTRs, CPC, and conversion rates to monitor the success of your social media advertising efforts.
• Competitor Benchmarking: Include insights on how your social media presence stacks up against competitors, helping to identify areas for improvement or differentiation.

3. Marketing Reporting Dashboard

A marketing reporting dashboard consolidates data from various marketing channels into one centralized location, offering a comprehensive view of overall marketing performance. This dashboard allows marketers to track and analyze key metrics across campaigns, platforms, and strategies, enabling them to make data-driven decisions that drive growth and improve ROI. Marketing reporting dashboards should include:

• Campaign Performance: Track the performance of individual marketing campaigns, including metrics such as impressions, clicks, CTR, conversions, and ROI. This helps in assessing which campaigns are most effective.
• Lead Generation: Monitor the number of leads generated from different marketing channels, including the cost per lead (CPL) and lead conversion rates. This is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of your lead acquisition strategies.
• Traffic Sources: Analyze the sources of website traffic, such as organic search, paid search, social media, email, and direct traffic, to determine which channels are driving the most visits and conversions.
• Content Performance: Track the engagement and effectiveness of content marketing efforts, including blog posts, videos, infographics, and other content types. Metrics might include page views, time on page, social shares, and content-driven conversions.
• Email Marketing Metrics: Include key email marketing metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and unsubscribe rates. These help in evaluating the effectiveness of email campaigns and newsletters.
• SEO Performance: Monitor search engine optimization (SEO) metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, backlinks, and domain authority to assess the impact of SEO strategies on visibility and search engine performance.
• Social Media Metrics: Track key social media metrics, including engagement, follower growth, and referral traffic from social platforms, to measure the impact of social media on overall marketing performance.
• Ad Performance: Include metrics from paid advertising efforts, such as CPC, conversion rates, return on ad spend (ROAS), and overall ad performance across platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and LinkedIn Ads.
• Sales Funnel Analysis: Visualize the stages of the sales funnel, from awareness to conversion, to understand how well prospects are moving through the funnel and where they may be dropping off.
• Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV): Track the long-term value of customers acquired through various marketing channels, helping to measure the overall impact of marketing efforts on customer retention and profitability.

4. Cross-Platform Reporting Dashboard

A cross-platform reporting dashboard is an essential tool for businesses and marketers who manage multiple digital channels and platforms. It provides a unified view of performance across various platforms, enabling a comprehensive analysis of how different channels contribute to overall business goals. By aggregating data from diverse sources into one cohesive dashboard, marketers can easily track, compare, and optimize their strategies. Cross-platform reporting dashboards typically include the following:

• Unified Performance Metrics: Track and compare key performance indicators (KPIs) such as impressions, clicks, engagement rates, and conversions across all platforms, including social media, search engines, email, and more. This helps you understand the overall impact of your marketing efforts.
• Traffic Distribution: Monitor the distribution of website traffic across different platforms, such as organic search, paid search, social media, email, and direct traffic. This allows you to see which channels are driving the most traffic and identify trends over time.
• Audience Demographics: Consolidate audience demographic data from various platforms to understand the characteristics of your target audience across different channels. This can include age, gender, location, and interests, helping you tailor your marketing efforts more effectively.
• Engagement Analysis: Track user engagement across platforms, including metrics like likes, shares, comments, and time spent on site or content. This helps identify which platforms and content types resonate most with your audience.
• Conversion Tracking: Include cross-platform conversion metrics, such as sales, sign-ups, downloads, or other desired actions, to understand how each platform contributes to your conversion goals and overall ROI.
• Cost and Budget Analysis: Monitor the costs associated with each platform, such as ad spend, cost per acquisition (CPA), and return on ad spend (ROAS). This allows you to optimize your budget allocation across channels for maximum efficiency.
• Content Performance Comparison: Analyze how different types of content perform across various platforms, such as blogs, videos, social media posts, and email campaigns. This helps identify content strategies that work best on each platform.
• Campaign Performance: Track the performance of cross-platform campaigns, ensuring that you have a clear view of how each campaign component performs across different channels.
• Platform-Specific Insights: Include metrics unique to each platform, such as social media sentiment analysis, search engine keyword rankings, or email open rates, providing a more nuanced understanding of platform-specific performance.
• Cross-Platform Attribution: Implement attribution models to determine how different platforms contribute to the customer journey and conversions, helping to identify the most effective paths and touchpoints in your marketing strategy.

5. KPI Dashboard

A KPI dashboard is designed to monitor, measure, and visualize the most critical metrics that drive business success. Unlike broader dashboards that may cover a wide range of data points, a KPI dashboard focuses specifically on the indicators that align with strategic objectives, offering a clear, real-time view of performance against goals. Whether used by executives, managers, or teams, a KPI dashboard provides the insights needed to make informed decisions, track progress, and ensure that the organization is on track to meet its targets. This type of dashboard is comprised of the following components:

• Goal Alignment: Display the specific KPIs directly tied to the organization’s strategic goals, such as revenue growth, customer acquisition, market expansion, or operational efficiency. This ensures that the dashboard is aligned with the most important objectives.
• Real-Time Data Tracking: Include real-time data feeds that update automatically, allowing for continuous monitoring of performance metrics without the need for manual data entry or updates.
• Visual Indicators: Use visual elements such as gauges, traffic lights, or progress bars to indicate how current performance measures up against targets. These visuals provide a quick and intuitive way to assess whether KPIs are on track, behind, or exceeding expectations.
• Trend Analysis: Incorporate trend lines or historical data comparisons to show how KPIs have changed over time, helping to identify patterns, seasonality, or emerging issues that may require attention.
• Drill-Down Capabilities: Provide the ability to drill down into individual KPIs for more detailed analysis. This might include breaking down metrics by department, region, product line, or other relevant dimensions.
• Thresholds and Alerts: Set thresholds for each KPI, triggering alerts or notifications when performance deviates from expected ranges. This proactive approach helps in addressing issues before they escalate.
• Customizable Views: Offer customizable views that allow different users to focus on the KPIs most relevant to their roles. For example, executives may need a high-level overview, while department managers might require more granular details.
• Benchmarking Data: Include benchmarking data to compare KPI performance against industry standards, competitors, or historical performance, providing context for evaluating current results.
• Data Source Integration: Ensure the dashboard integrates seamlessly with the various data sources used by the organization, such as CRM systems, financial software, or project management tools, for accurate and up-to-date reporting.
• Dashboard Summary: Provide a section highlighting key takeaways, such as which KPIs are performing well, which need attention, and any notable changes or trends observed over the reporting period.

6. Performance Dashboard

A performance dashboard provides a real-time overview of how well an organization, department, or team is meeting its goals and objectives. Unlike a KPI dashboard that focuses on specific metrics, a performance dashboard offers a broader view, combining multiple data points to assess overall performance across various aspects of the business. This type of dashboard is essential for monitoring the effectiveness of strategies, identifying areas for improvement, and ensuring that efforts are aligned with the organization’s mission. Performance dashboards typically include:

• Comprehensive Performance Metrics: Include a wide range of metrics that cover different aspects of performance, such as financial health, operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and employee productivity. This ensures a holistic view of performance across the organization.
• Real-Time Monitoring: Ensure the dashboard provides real-time data updates, allowing for continuous tracking of performance metrics without delays. This real-time insight helps in making timely decisions.
• Performance Targets: Display performance metrics against predefined targets or benchmarks, highlighting how well the organization is meeting its goals. This could include financial targets, operational benchmarks, or customer satisfaction goals.
• Visual Summaries: Use visual elements such as charts, graphs, and heat maps to provide an at-a-glance summary of performance. These visuals help users quickly identify areas where performance is strong or needs improvement.
• Trend Analysis: Incorporate historical data to show trends over time, helping to identify whether performance is improving, declining, or remaining stable. This context is critical for understanding long-term performance patterns.
• Departmental/Team Breakdown: Offer the ability to drill down into performance metrics by department, team, or project. This allows managers to assess how different areas of the organization contribute to overall performance.
• Balanced Scorecard Approach: Consider using a balanced scorecard approach, which combines financial and non-financial metrics to provide a more complete picture of performance. This might include perspectives such as financial, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth.
• Customizable Views: Allow users to customize the dashboard to focus on the metrics most relevant to their role. Executives might prefer a high-level overview, while team leaders may need more detailed operational metrics.
• Performance Alerts: Set up alerts that notify users when performance metrics fall below or exceed certain thresholds. This proactive feature helps in addressing issues or capitalizing on opportunities as they arise.
• Actionable Insights: Provide commentary or insights based on the data, such as identifying key performance drivers, areas for improvement, or growth opportunities. This turns raw data into actionable intelligence.
• Data Integration: Ensure the dashboard integrates with various data sources, such as financial systems, CRM tools, HR systems, and project management software, to pull in all relevant data for comprehensive performance tracking.

7. eCommerce Dashboard

An eCommerce dashboard provides a comprehensive view of an online store’s performance. By consolidating data from various sources like sales platforms, marketing channels, and customer management systems, an eCommerce dashboard helps business owners and managers monitor key metrics, track trends, and make data-driven decisions to optimize their operations. This dashboard is essential for understanding customer behavior, managing inventory, and ensuring that marketing efforts are contributing to revenue growth. eCommerce dashboards should include the following:

• Sales Performance: Track key sales metrics such as total revenue, number of orders, average order value (AOV), and conversion rate. These metrics provide a clear picture of your store’s sales performance and growth over time.
• Customer Metrics: Monitor customer-related metrics, including customer acquisition cost (CAC), CLTV, and repeat purchase rate. Understanding customer behavior and value is crucial for tailoring marketing and retention strategies.
• Traffic Sources: Analyze where your website traffic is coming from, including organic search, paid search, social media, email marketing, and referral sources. This helps identify which channels drive the most valuable traffic and optimize marketing spending accordingly.
• Product Performance: Include metrics that show which products are selling the best, which have the highest margins, and which might be underperforming. This helps with inventory management and identifying opportunities for product promotion.
• Cart Abandonment Rate: Track the percentage of customers who add items to their cart but leave without completing a purchase. Understanding and addressing cart abandonment is key to improving conversion rates.
• Inventory Management: Monitor stock levels, turnover rates, and inventory costs to ensure that you have the right products available without overstocking. This helps optimize inventory management and reduce holding costs.
• Marketing Campaign Performance: Include metrics from your marketing campaigns, such as email open rates, click-through rates (CTR), and ROI from paid ads. This helps in understanding which marketing efforts are most effective at driving sales.
• Customer Satisfaction and Reviews: Track customer satisfaction metrics, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), customer reviews, and feedback. Positive customer experiences are critical to driving repeat business and improving brand reputation.
• Shipping and Fulfillment: Monitor key metrics related to order fulfillment, including average shipping time, fulfillment costs, and return rates. Efficient fulfillment processes are essential for customer satisfaction and cost management.
• Mobile vs. Desktop Performance: Compare your site’s performance on mobile devices versus desktops, including metrics like conversion rates, bounce rates, and session durations. With the growing importance of mobile commerce, this comparison helps optimize the user experience across devices.
• Revenue by Channel: Break down revenue by channel, such as direct sales, affiliate sales, social media, and marketplace platforms (e.g., Amazon, eBay). This helps you understand where your revenue is coming from and identify opportunities for channel expansion.

8. Manager Dashboard

A manager dashboard is an essential tool for overseeing and optimizing the performance of a team, department, or entire organization. It gives managers real-time access to critical metrics that reflect the health and progress of various projects, employee productivity, and overall business operations. By centralizing data into a single, easy-to-navigate interface, a manager dashboard enables effective decision-making, better resource allocation, and proactive problem-solving. These dashboards have the following elements:

• Team Performance Metrics: Track metrics related to employee productivity, such as task completion rates, project deadlines met, hours worked, and individual performance scores. This helps assess how well team members meet their goals and identify areas for improvement.
• Project Status Overview: Provide a real-time view of the status of ongoing projects, including milestones achieved, deadlines approaching, and potential bottlenecks. This ensures that managers can keep projects on track and address issues before they escalate.
• Resource Allocation: Monitor the allocation of resources, such as time, budget, and personnel, across various projects and tasks. This helps optimize resource use and ensure that critical projects are adequately supported.
• Employee Engagement and Satisfaction: Include metrics that gauge employee engagement and satisfaction, such as survey results, feedback scores, and participation in company initiatives. High levels of engagement are often linked to higher productivity and retention rates.
• Financial Performance: Track department or team-specific financial metrics, such as budget vs. actual spend, revenue contribution, and cost savings. This helps manage budgets effectively and ensure financial accountability.
• Task and Workflow Management: Provide insights into task distribution, workflow efficiency, and task prioritization. This helps managers ensure that workloads are balanced and that critical tasks are prioritized appropriately.
• Goal Progress: Monitor progress toward team or department goals, with visual indicators showing how close the team is to achieving its targets. This allows managers to adjust strategies or provide additional support where needed.
• Risk Management: Include a section identifying potential risks or issues within the team or projects, such as missed deadlines, budget overruns, or resource shortages. This proactive approach helps in mitigating risks before they impact performance.
• Communication and Collaboration: Track metrics related to team communication and collaboration, such as meeting frequency, email response times, and use of collaboration tools. Effective communication is key to team success, and these metrics can help identify areas for improvement.
• Training and Development: Monitor employee participation in training programs and professional development activities. This helps managers ensure that team members are continuously improving their skills and staying up-to-date with industry trends.
• Performance Reviews and Feedback: Include a summary of recent performance reviews, feedback sessions, and employee development plans. This ensures that managers have a clear view of each team member’s strengths, areas for improvement, and career progression.

9. Executive Dashboard

An executive dashboard is a high-level reporting tool designed to give senior leaders a comprehensive overview of the organization’s performance across various key areas. It focuses on strategic metrics that are critical for decision-making, enabling executives to quickly assess the health of the business, identify trends, and make informed decisions to steer the company toward its goals. Unlike more granular dashboards, an executive dashboard emphasizes the big picture, offering a clear, concise view of performance across departments, financials, operations, and market trends. Effective executive dashboards include:

• Financial Performance: Track critical financial metrics such as revenue, profit margins, operating expenses, cash flow, and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization). These metrics give executives a clear view of the company’s financial health.
• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Highlight the organization’s most important KPIs, such as customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLTV), return on investment (ROI), and net promoter score (NPS). These indicators help executives understand how well the company achieves its strategic objectives.
• Sales and Revenue Trends: Provide insights into sales performance, including revenue growth, sales pipeline, conversion rates, and top-performing products or services. This allows executives to track growth trends and adjust strategies as needed.
• Market and Competitive Analysis: Include data on market share, competitive positioning, and industry trends. This helps executives stay informed about external factors that could impact the organization’s performance.
• Operational Efficiency: Track metrics related to operational performance, such as production efficiency, supply chain management, and inventory turnover. These metrics help executives identify areas where operational improvements could drive cost savings or increase productivity.
• Customer Insights: Monitor customer-related metrics, including customer satisfaction, retention rates, and feedback trends. Understanding customer behavior and sentiment is crucial for making informed strategic decisions.
• Strategic Initiatives: Provide a summary of the progress on key strategic initiatives, such as new product launches, market expansions, or digital transformation projects. This helps executives stay aligned with the company’s long-term goals.
• Risk Management: Include a section that identifies potential risks to the business, such as financial risks, market volatility, regulatory changes, or operational disruptions. Proactive risk management is essential for ensuring business continuity.
• Human Resources Metrics: Track key HR metrics such as employee turnover rates, talent acquisition, and engagement. These metrics provide insight into the organization’s workforce health and help identify areas for improvement.
• Compliance and Governance: Include metrics related to regulatory compliance, ethical standards, and corporate governance. This ensures that executives have visibility into areas that could impact the company’s reputation and legal standing.
• Sustainability and CSR Initiatives: Monitor the company’s performance on sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, such as carbon footprint, community engagement, and ethical sourcing. This is increasingly important for executives focused on long-term sustainability and brand reputation.

10. GA4 Dashboard

A GA4 (Google Analytics 4) dashboard tracks and analyzes user behavior on your website or app. Unlike the previous version of Google Analytics, GA4 is built to provide deeper insights into customer journeys, cross-platform tracking, and event-based data models. This dashboard allows marketers and business owners to monitor key metrics in real-time, understand user interactions, and make informed decisions to optimize performance. The key elements of GA4 dashboards are:

• User Acquisition Metrics: Track where your users are coming from, including channels like organic search, paid search, direct traffic, social media, and referrals. This helps you understand which marketing efforts are driving the most traffic.
• User Engagement: Monitor user engagement metrics such as average session duration, pages per session, and engagement rate. GA4’s event-based tracking allows you to see how users interact with your content, which can inform improvements in user experience.
• Event Tracking: Include key events critical to your business, such as button clicks, video plays, downloads, or form submissions. GA4 allows for customized event tracking, so ensure your dashboard reflects the events most relevant to your goals.
• Conversion Tracking: Track conversions by setting up goals and events that align with your business objectives. This could include purchases, sign-ups, or other desired actions. GA4’s enhanced measurement capabilities allow for more granular tracking of conversion events.
• User Demographics and Interests: Monitor user demographics such as age, gender, location, and interests. Understanding your audience helps tailor your marketing strategies to better meet their needs and preferences.
• Cross-Platform Tracking: If you have both a website and an app, use GA4’s cross-platform tracking capabilities to monitor user behavior across both. This provides a holistic view of how users interact with your brand on different platforms.
• User Retention: Track how well you retain users over time by monitoring retention metrics. This includes understanding how many users return to your site or app after their first visit and identifying patterns in user retention.
• Revenue and E-commerce Tracking: For e-commerce sites, include revenue-related metrics, such as total sales, average order value, and revenue by product category. GA4’s enhanced e-commerce tracking provides deep insights into purchasing behavior.
• Real-Time Data: Utilize GA4’s real-time reporting to monitor live user activity on your site or app. This feature is particularly useful during major marketing campaigns, product launches, or events where immediate feedback is valuable.
• User Flow Analysis: Include user flow visualizations that show how users navigate through your site or app. This helps identify common pathways, drop-off points, and potential areas for optimization.
• Custom Metrics and Dimensions: Take advantage of GA4’s ability to create custom metrics and dimensions tailored to your business needs. These can include custom user segments, event parameters, or calculated metrics that provide deeper insights.

How to Create an Agency Reporting Dashboard

Knack is a powerful no-code platform that allows agencies to easily create custom CRM systems tailored to their specific needs. By leveraging Knack’s intuitive interface, agencies can build an agency reporting dashboard that tracks client interactions, project progress, and sales performance—all in one place.

Using No Code to Create Custom Software

No-code is a revolutionary approach to software development that allows anyone, regardless of technical expertise, to create fully customized applications without writing a single line of code. By using visual interfaces and drag-and-drop tools, no-code platforms empower users to build software tailored to their specific needs, eliminating the need for expensive software developers, CTOs, or other technical resources. Beyond just building applications, no-code tools enable the creation of custom workflows and automations that streamline business processes, making operations more efficient and optimized for the unique requirements of diverse industries.

How to Create an Agency Sales Reporting Dashboard With Knack (No-Code)

In this step-by-step guide, we’ll walk you through the process of building a simple yet effective agency reporting dashboard using Knack. Designed specifically for tracking basic agency sales, this dashboard will help you monitor key metrics, manage client relationships, and gain valuable insights into your agency’s performance without writing code. If you need more guidance on building an agency reporting dashboard or using any other Knack tools, visit our knowledge base.

1. Sign Up for Knack

To create an agency reporting dashboard with Knack’s no-code platform, start by logging into your existing account or create a new one using these steps:

1. Visit the Knack Website: Open your web browser and go to knack.com.
2. Click on “Get Started” or “Try Knack for Free”: On the homepage, you’ll see buttons labeled “Get Started” or “Try Knack for Free.” Click on one of these buttons to begin the sign-up process.
3. Enter Your Email Address: You’ll be prompted to enter your email address. Make sure to use a valid email that you have access to, as you’ll need to verify your account.
4. Create a Password: Choose a strong password that you can remember. This password should be secure, combining letters, numbers, and special characters.
5. Fill Out Basic Information: You may be asked to provide some additional information, such as your name, company name, and role within the company. Fill out these fields accurately to personalize your Knack experience.
6. Choose Your Plan: Knack offers different pricing plans, but they typically provide a free trial for new users. Select the plan that best fits your needs. If you’re just starting out, the free trial will allow you to explore the platform without commitment.
7. Verify Your Email Address: After completing the form, Knack will send a verification email to the address you provided. Go to your email inbox, open the email from Knack, and click the verification link.
8. Log In to Your New Account: Once your email is verified, you can log in to your Knack account using your email and the password you created.
9. Explore the Dashboard: After logging in, you’ll be taken to the Knack dashboard. Take a moment to familiarize yourself with the interface, as this is where you’ll build and manage your agency reporting dashboard.

2. Use the Custom CRM Template

We recommend starting with the Custom CRM template. It provides pre-built tables for tracking contacts, accounts, and notes—elements crucial for managing client relationships and sales activities. Using the CRM template will help you save time and ensure your dashboard is optimized to capture all the essential data needed to generate meaningful sales performance reports.

1. Select the Custom CRM Template: Once you’ve logged into your Knack account and are on the dashboard, look for the option to create a new application. Choose the Custom CRM template.
2. Review the Pre-Built Data Model: After selecting the Custom CRM template, Knack will generate a basic data model that includes tables for “Contacts,” “Companies,” and “Notes.” These tables are already set up to track essential CRM information, such as contact details and notes associated with specific accounts or people. Take a few minutes to explore the pre-built fields within these tables, as they’ll form the foundation of your reporting dashboard.
3. Customize Your Data Model:

• Add New Tables: Depending on what you need to track, you might want to add new tables to the data model. For example, you might add a “Sales Activities” table to track interactions like calls or meetings or an “Opportunities” table to track potential deals. To add a table, go to the “Database” section in the left-hand menu and click “Add Table.” Name the table based on the type of data it will store.
• Add Custom Fields: You’ll likely need to customize the existing tables to better suit your agency’s needs. For instance, in the “Contacts” table, you might add fields like “Last Contact Date” or “Preferred Communication Method.” In the “Opportunities” table, you could add fields like “Deal Value,” “Stage,” “Status” (e.g., Open, Won, Lost), and “Next Steps.” To add a new field, click on the table you want to modify, then click “Add Field” and choose the appropriate field type (e.g., text, date, dropdown).
• Configure Field Settings: As you add custom fields, you can configure them to meet your needs further. For example, in the “Status” field for the “Opportunities” table, you might use a dropdown field with predefined options like “Open,” “Won,” or “Lost.” For the “Deal Value” field, you would select a currency field type to ensure that all inputs are standardized in monetary terms.

4. Link Tables Together: To create a cohesive reporting system, you’ll want to link related tables together. For example, you can link the “Opportunities” table to the “Companies” table by creating a connection between them. This allows you to see which opportunities are associated with which companies, providing a more integrated view of your data. To do this, go to the “Opportunities” table, click “Add Field,” select “Connection,” and choose the “Companies” table as the linked table.
5. Test Your Data Model: Before moving on, take some time to enter test data into your new tables and fields. This will help you ensure that everything functions as expected and that the relationships between tables are set up correctly. You can do this by clicking on each table, selecting “Add Record,” and filling in sample information.

3. Include Other Users

As you build your agency reporting dashboard, it’s important to consider how other team members will interact with the application. Each user, particularly those responsible for tracking sales, will need access to specific parts of the dashboard. To facilitate this, you’ll need to create different user roles within Knack.

1. Set Up User Roles: Start by navigating to the left-hand sidebar in your Knack dashboard and selecting the “Users” section. Here, you’ll find an option to manage and create new User Roles.
2. Create a Sales Team Role: To ensure that your sales leaders can track their own activities while maintaining a level of control over the application, we recommend creating a new User Role specifically for them. Click “Add Role” and name it something relevant, like “Sales Team.” This role will define the permissions and access levels for your sales leaders, allowing them to view and interact with the data pertinent to their responsibilities.
3. Define Permissions: After creating the “Sales Team” role, you’ll need to define the permissions for this role within the application. For now, you might want to grant access to key areas such as the “Opportunities,” “Contacts,” and “Companies” tables, allowing sales leaders to add, edit, and view records related to their sales activities. However, restrict access to administrative settings and other areas that only you or designated administrators should control.
4. Assign Users to Roles: Once you’ve set up the “Sales Team” role, you can begin assigning team members to this role. Go to the “Users” section again and select “Add User.” Enter the email addresses of your sales leaders, assign them to the “Sales Team” role, and send them an invitation to join the application. Each user will receive an email prompting them to create a password and log in to the Knack application.
5. Create a Sales Portal: To make it easy for your sales leaders to track their own metrics and activities, consider setting up a dedicated portal within the application. This portal can be customized to show only the relevant data and reports that the “Sales Team” role needs to access. You can set up this portal by going to the “Pages” section in the left-hand sidebar, creating a new page, and setting visibility permissions so that only users with the “Sales Team” role can access it.

4. Add Fields to Help Track Sales

To effectively monitor and optimize your agency’s sales performance, it’s essential to customize your Knack application by adding specific fields that capture all relevant data points. In this step, we’ll guide you through the process of enhancing the “Contacts” table with custom fields that allow your sales team to track key aspects of their interactions with leads.

1. Access the “Contacts” Table: To effectively track sales performance, you’ll need to customize the existing “Contacts” table within your Knack application. Start by navigating to the “Database” section in the left-hand sidebar and selecting the “Contacts” table. This table is where you’ll store and manage all the information related to your leads and clients.
2. Add a “Date Lead Created” Field: Knowing when a lead first entered your pipeline is crucial for tracking the sales cycle. To add this field, click “Add Field” within the “Contacts” table, select “Date/Time” as the field type, and name it “Date Lead Created.” This field will help you measure how long it takes to move a lead through your sales process.
3. Create a “First Call Date” Field: To track the initial interaction with a lead, add another “Date/Time” field named “First Call Date.” This will allow your sales team to log the date of their first call with the lead, helping you analyze the timeliness of follow-up and the effectiveness of initial outreach.
4. Track the “Source of Lead”: Understanding where your leads come from is key to refining your marketing efforts. Add a “Dropdown” field titled “Source of Lead” and populate it with options like “Website,” “Referral,” “Social Media,” “Paid Ad,” or any other channels relevant to your agency. This will enable you to track which sources generate the most valuable leads.
5. Add a “Reason for Reaching Out” Field: To capture why a lead is interested in your services, create a “Text” or “Dropdown” field labeled “Reason for Reaching Out.” This can provide valuable insights into the pain points or needs of your leads, which can be used to tailor your sales approach and improve conversion rates.
6. Define the “Current Status” of the Lead: Tracking the status of each lead is critical for understanding your sales pipeline. Add a “Dropdown” field named “Current Status” with options like “Open,” “Closed,” “Won,” and “Lost.” This will help your sales team track where each lead stands in the sales process and enable you to generate reports on conversion rates and pipeline health.
7. Add Additional Fields as Needed: Depending on your agency’s specific needs, you might want to add more custom fields to capture other important data points. For example, you could add fields like “Estimated Deal Value,” “Next Follow-Up Date,” “Salesperson Assigned,” or “Competitor Involved.” Each field can provide more granularity in tracking and reporting on sales performance.
8. Configure Field Settings for Better Reporting: Once you’ve added all the necessary fields, take a moment to configure each field’s settings to ensure consistent data entry. For example, you can set default values, make fields required, or add validation rules to ensure that your team is entering data accurately. This level of detail will enhance the quality of your reports and make it easier to analyze your sales data.

5. Start Tracking Sales

Now that you’ve added the necessary custom fields to track sales performance, it’s time to set up a system that allows each salesperson to easily log and update their sales data.

1. Create a View for Sales Tracking: Start by creating a new “View” within your Knack application. This view will serve as the interface where salespeople can access and update information related to their accounts.
2. Design a Sales Tracking Form: Within the newly created view, you’ll want to create a basic form that allows your sales team to input and manage their sales data. Go to the “Pages” section in the left-hand sidebar, create a new page, and add a form element to it. This form should be designed to include all the custom fields you created in Step 4, such as “Date Lead Created,” “First Call Date,” “Source of Lead,” “Reason for Reaching Out,” and “Current Status.”
3. Set Up Field Selection: In the form, ensure that each field is set up to allow the salesperson to select or enter the appropriate details for each account. For example, use dropdown menus for fields like “Source of Lead” and “Current Status” to ensure consistency in data entry. For date fields, such as “Date Lead Created” and “First Call Date,” use date pickers to make it easy for the salesperson to input accurate dates.
4. Make the Form Private: Since this form will be used by individual salespeople to track their own sales activities, it’s important to keep it private and secure. Set the form’s visibility permissions so that only users with the “Sales Team” role can access it. This ensures that each salesperson can only view and update their own sales data without seeing others’ information.
5. Enable Account Selection: Include a field in the form that allows the salesperson to select the account they are updating. This could be a dropdown or search field connected to the “Contacts” table, enabling them to easily find and select the relevant account before updating its details.
6. Save and Test the Form: Once the form is set up with all the necessary fields and permissions, save your changes and test the form to ensure it functions as intended. Enter a sample record to see how the data flows into the “Contacts” table and verify that all custom fields are being captured correctly.
7. Start Tracking Sales: With everything set up, your sales team can now begin tracking their sales activities through the form you’ve created. As they input data, your agency reporting dashboard will start to populate with valuable insights, allowing you to monitor sales performance in real-time and make data-driven decisions.

6. Create a Reporting View

After setting up your sales tracking system and beginning to log sales activities, the next step is to create a reporting view that provides you with valuable insights into your agency’s performance. This view will allow you to analyze the data collected and generate reports that highlight key trends and outcomes.

1. Access the Reports Section: To create your reporting view, go to the “Pages” section in the left-hand sidebar of your Knack application. From there, navigate to the “Reports” section, where you can start building a customized report view based on the data tracked in your application.
2. Customize Your Reporting View: In the Reports section, you can begin adding various elements that help you visualize the data you need. For example, you can add charts, tables, or graphs that display information like:
   • Sales by Product Type: If your agency sells different types of products or services (e.g., different makes of vehicles), you can create a report that shows which product types are performing the best.
   • Sales Volume Over Time: Set up a view that tracks how many items were sold within a specific time frame, such as weekly or monthly sales totals. This helps you monitor trends and measure the effectiveness of sales strategies.
   • Total Revenue Generated: Create a report that calculates the total dollar amount of inventory sold within a given period. This provides a clear picture of your agency’s financial performance.
3. Add Filters and Groupings: To refine your reports, use filters and groupings to focus on specific data sets. For example, you can filter by time period to see sales data for the last month or group data by salesperson to compare performance across your team. These customizations allow you to tailor the reporting view to meet your needs.
4. Save and Share the Report: Once you’ve customized your reporting view to include all the necessary insights, save the report and consider sharing it with relevant stakeholders. You can set permissions to allow specific users, such as sales managers or executives, to access the report.
5. Continuously Refine Your Reports: As your sales data grows, revisit your reporting view regularly to adjust and add new metrics as needed. This ensures that your reports continue to provide the most relevant and actionable insights as your agency evolves.

Reports can be customized to fit almost any agency or industry need. For more information on how to create comprehensive reports in Knack, check out this how-to guide.

Get Started with Knack

Building an agency reporting dashboard with Knack is a powerful way to streamline your sales tracking and gain valuable insights into your agency’s performance. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll create a tool that not only organizes your data but also empowers your team to make informed, data-driven decisions. 
Ready to build an effective agency reporting dashboard with no-code? Sign up with Knack and start building for free today!