Link Close Dates To Product Schedules To Avoid Warped Forecasts

Here is something that will inevitably your revenue forecast utterly wrong if you are using Product Schedules in Salesforce.

The salesperson modifies the opportunity close date.

But then, she does not make the same date adjustment to the Product Schedule.

To be fair, it’s an easy thing to forget. And to use a technical term, it is a right pain to do.

Using standard salesforce functionality, the salesperson needs to go to each product on the opportunity. Then she needs to modify each product schedule. Individually.

It takes time. It is a distraction. And it almost never happens.

The root cause of the problem is that there’s no link between close dates and product schedules. Unfortunately, that means revenue forecasts that rely upon product schedules are nearly always wrong.

And over time, the problem gets worse. Both pipeline and won revenue reports become increasingly inaccurate.

Fortunately, it doesn’t need to be that way. The Product Schedules app solves the problem. It directly links the close date with product schedules.

Link Close Dates To Product Schedules

The Schedule Shifter links the close date to product schedules. This means that whenever the close date changes, the product schedules are automatically adjusted by the same number of days.

The close date can move forwards or backwards in time. The Schedule Shifter will keep the product schedules aligned with the close date. And if there’s already a delay between the close date and the start of the product schedule, then that delay will be respected when the schedules are automatically modified.

The Schedule Shifter works with both revenue and quantity product schedules. It’s particularly useful for accurate forecasts on ‘regular order’ framework agreements.