How To Create Custom HubSpot Dashboards

It was a dreary Tuesday afternoon when I first fell into the rabbit hole of HubSpot dashboards. Coffee in one hand and a disheveled stack of client reports in the other, I found myself staring blankly at my screen. Enter stage left: our project manager, Dave, his brisk walk signaling that something serious was up. Dave had this way of making even a simple request sound grand and urgent, "We need a custom HubSpot dashboard by end of day." My world tilted.

Step One: Cracking Open HubSpot

So there we were, armed with nothing but caffeine and a hint of desperation. First things first: head to your HubSpot account. If you're new, sign in - our gateway to data heaven.

Click on the ‘Reports' tab in the main navigation bar. Ahh, there it is. This is where the magic begins. The 'dashboards' section peeks out like a curious library book, waiting to be picked up.

Step Two: Starting Fresh

Remember when you took your first bike ride? Yeah, creating a new dashboard is kinda like that. Click on the 'Create dashboard' button. Choose 'Custom Dashboard' (because we’re fancy like that).

I named mine ‘Dave’s Super Important Report’ - practicality mixed with some light-hearted nudging.

Step Three: Widget Wonderland

Next, we have widgets. HubSpot offers these shiny mini-reports called widgets to include in your dashboard - like picking toppings for your ice cream sundae but with more charts and graphs.

Dave leaned over my shoulder, "Make sure you include sales metrics, and also marketing performance, and why not throw in some customer service data?" He listed metrics faster than I could type. Sales Revenue, Email Performance, Ticket Status – heck, why not?

Click 'Add report' and a new world of options swivels into view. Drag, drop, resize. This part is kinda fun – it’s like playing Tetris, but without the existential dread.

Step Four: Filters, Filters, Filters

Almost there! Filters. Think of filters like your espresso shot – small but vital. They let you focus on specific data slices, winnowing down the noise. Click 'Add filter,' choose what matters to you: date ranges, individual team members, specific metrics.

I filtered out our “teleportation” service because, hey, we had to draw a line somewhere. Dave agreed, chuckling and shaking his head.

Step Five: Refining the Display

Now we make it pretty. Rearrange your widgets until they make sense. Title them so even your sleepy self can understand what’s going on. Customize colors if you’re feeling bold, tweak the date range because, trust me, someone will ask.

Dave and I stared at the result, a kaleidoscope of data beauty. You can almost hear an imaginary crowd applauding.

Step Six: Sharing the Masterpiece

Ready for the big unveil? Hit 'Save' and revel in your creation. To share this masterpiece with your team, click on 'Actions' and select 'Email dashboard.'

Our custom HubSpot dashboard became the stuff of legend – or at least, it got a solid thumbs up in our rating system emoji reaction.

Final Thoughts

The clock struck 4:30, and Dave walked away whistling, dashboard in hand. I sat back and realized that something as mundane as data consolidation can turn into an unexpectedly creative (and occasionally funny) venture.

As we delve into our next bespoke HubSpot project, let's remind ourselves that even in the most ordinary tasks, there are moments of discovery, shared laughter, and small victories. Cheers to more dashboards and fewer dull afternoons!