Forecast cycle

Step by step

1. Categorise System

   Before the submission day, each rep works through their open deals in the period, sets the close date, and sets the forecast category on each: commit, best case, pipeline or omitted. Stage suggests the category; the rep’s judgement sets it, and a category that differs from the stage default is visible as such.

   • Updates Opportunities

2. Submit System

   The rep submits the weekly forecast in the quota currency, each deal converted at the period rate and measured on the quota’s basis. Closed is calculated from validated wins in the period; commit is the sum of deals in commit; best case is commit plus the deals in best case; pipeline is best case plus everything else open. The rep may adjust commit down with a comment. The submission stores the four numbers and a line per open deal as they stood that week.

   • weekly snapshot stores each deal and its applied conversion rate
   • Updates Forecast submissions, Forecast submission lines, Quotas, Exchange rates

3. Review Sales Manager

   The manager opens each submitted forecast and sees the deals behind the numbers with stage, category, next step, last activity and quote status. The manager challenges what does not hold up, and the rep updates the deal, which updates the next submission.

   • deals updated by the rep
   • Updates Forecast submissions, Opportunities, Activities
   ApprovalA person approves before the work moves on.

4. Adjust Sales Manager

   The manager applies an adjustment to commit, signed either way, with a comment, and marks the forecast reviewed. The rep’s number and the manager’s adjustment are kept side by side. The manager’s own submission upward is built from the reviewed team forecasts.

   • manager number recorded
   • Updates Forecast submissions

5. Lock Sales Manager

   Sales Manager locks the team’s submissions at period end. Locked forecasts cannot be changed and are what the attainment report and the executive read.

   • period closed for edits
   • Updates Forecast submissions
   ApprovalA person approves before the work moves on.

6. Compare Sales Manager

   After the period closes, the forecast as it stood at each week is compared with what closed, by rep and by manager, deal by deal from the weekly lines. The comparison feeds quota setting and the conversation about what commit means on this team.

   • attainment and accuracy reported
   • Updates Forecast submissions, Forecast submission lines, Quotas, Opportunities

Account Executive

And Customer Success Manager categorise and submit.

Sales Manager

Reviews, adjusts and locks other users’ submissions. their own submission goes to their manager.

Sales Operations

Maintains the period configuration and rates.

Executive

Reads the locked forecast.