The first step to setting up your HockeyStack dashboards is translating your business language into HockeyStack. Before doing this translation in the HockeyStack interface, most users find it helpful to create a document outlining the below information.
Please make a copy of the template below. When the document is completed, send it over to your HockeyStack CSM for them to keep it in records and refer to it as they guide you.
A map of the key stakeholders involved in the project
Select one or multiple HockeyStack Admins. The HockeyStack Admin is responsible for
being hands-on trained by the CSM team during the initial onboarding
setting up the data dictionary (channel and kpi definitions)
completing the initial dashboard setup
co-ordinating with the company leadership and marketing subteams to create specific dashboards for specific purposes, and guiding each stakeholder to adopt the product
A list of marketing subteams and their leaders
(Optional, but recommended) If you have capacity, select one person from each marketing subteam to build out that team’s initial dashboards. This doesn’t have to be decided ahead of time — it can be decided while onboarding each subteam.
A lot of companies also prefer to have the HockeyStack Admin manage building all dashboards. However, we found that the most successful HockeyStack users are organizations where each subteam has enough knowhow within the team to build reports and get insights for themselves without relying on the HockeyStack Admin.
A table of the KPIs you will be tracking in the initial dashboards
HockeyStack’s Goal builder is looking at KPIs to see if records have ever been in a stage, and not only the current objects within a stage.
Refer to the guide below to see how this will be used later on:
For opportunity related KPIs, do not use a proxy field, like an Opportunity_Date__c on the Lead object
If you do this, you won’t be able to see Opportunity amounts on your dashboard. We strongly, strongly recommend using the standard Deal or Opportunity object for opportunity related KPIs.
Not having date fields. Date fields can either be:
A custom date field on a specific object
The Create Date of the object
The change date of a field, where the field has history tracking turned on
Having too many filters.
A lot of companies blindly set filters on their CRM reports in favor of getting a slightly more accurate number. Doing this on HockeyStack might cause unforeseen problems in your numbers — we recommend using the simplest form of filtering possible.
For example, a lot of companies set filters on their opportunities that are based on the rep that owns the opportunity. The list of reps might change very frequently, so this is not recommended.
Not being specific enough
If you don’t know a field’s API name, or what filters are required, or the specific ARR field that you are using, or what specific KPIs the marketing team measures, you need to learn these in this step.
A table of your Channel definitions
For context, we see marketing touchpoints in 4 categories: Channels that use Campaigns to drive prospects to a group of Assets in order to get a Conversion Action.
For the initial setup, we recommend starting by running attribution on Channels.
What may be a channel: Paid Search, Paid Social, Direct, Email Marketing, Events, Organic Search
What is not really a channel: Website, Chatbot, Content, Contact Us — These are closer to Assets or Conversion Actions than Channels.
Refer to the guide below to see how this will be used later on, and a suggested list of channels:
Common mistakes when creating this table
Not knowing your UTM notation, or trusting the internal documentation about what UTMs you are using. Always check the actual website data flowing into HockeyStack using the guide below. The actual data is almost always different than what teams know to be their UTM notation.
The touchpoints you include here will affect your attribution numbers. For example, if you decide to include Marketing Emails being Sent in your Channel definition, marketing emails might get too much credit due to the high volume nature of this activity. Similarly, if you decide to include LinkedIn Impressions in your Channel definition, LinkedIn might get too much credit. Some companies may also decide to remove Direct traffic from their attribution.
