How do Forecast Categories differ from Opportunity Stages?

The forecast category and opportunity stage fields in Salesforce are closely related, but they track different things. <li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="6" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1"> Forecast categories: Indicates the likelihood of the deal closing within a specified period. <li aria-setsize="-1" data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="6" data-list-defn-props="{"335552541":1,"335559685":720,"335559991":360,"469769226":"Symbol","469769242":[8226],"469777803":"left","469777804":"","469777815":"hybridMultilevel"}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1"> Opportunity stages: Describes where a deal is in the sales process. Each opportunity stage corresponds to a specific forecast category. However, the opportunity owner can change the forecast category without updating the stage. For example, a deal may be in the 'Proposal' opportunity stage because you have given the customer a quote or presented your solution. Let's say it's in the Best Case forecast category because that's the default value for this stage in your Salesforce environment. However, the opportunity owner may update the forecast category to 'Commit' if the salesperson is very confident that the deal will close successfully.

What does the ‘Omitted’ forecast category mean, and when should it be used?

Use the ‘ Omitted ’ forecast category in Salesforce to exclude opportunities from a sales forecast report. Most commonly, these are lost opportunities; however, opportunities set to ‘ Omitted ’ and therefore excluded from forecast reporting may include renewals, test opportunities, or those from ‘ house ’ customer accounts.

How should we use Forecast Categories for renewals or multi-year contracts?

Whether you use forecast categories for renewals depends on how you want to track renewal revenue. In situations where significant sales work is required to secure a renewal or where the renewal rate is low, forecast categories will aid sales reporting. I do not recommend using separate opportunities where the revenue from a single deal spreads over time. In part, this is because the win rate and other critical sales metrics get badly distorted if you create an opportunity for each year of revenue. A better approach is to use the GSP Product Schedules or GSP Subscription Manager apps to track recurring revenue and MRR over time.

How do forecast categories relate to sales target tracking?

There is no ‘ Target ’ tab in Salesforce; however, there are several options for target tracking and pipeline coverage measurement. These options include the GSP Target Tracker , which automatically links opportunities to targets at the salesperson, team, region, and company levels. The Target Tracker uses forecast categories to differentiate between won, pipeline, and lost deals; this happens ‘ behind the scenes ’ and you do not need to be explicitly using f orecast c ategories to use the Target Tracker.

How do I identify which deals in the Best Case forecast category have a high probability of slipping?

An effective way to do this is to use 3 pipeline quality metrics (# Close Date Month Changes, Days Open, and Days Since Last Stage Change). The GSP Target Tracker app includes these three metrics, so you can identify and track deals that are most likely to slip from your sales forecast.

Should all sales teams measure pipeline coverage?

Yes – most sales teams should track pipeline coverage. Proactively measuring pipeline coverage helps all sales teams that pursue opportunities at new and existing customers to achieve their targets. Pipeline coverage and funnel quality metrics allow these teams to evaluate whether they have enough deals of the appropriate quality to meet and surpass their quotas. The only exception is for account management teams that depend on a series of transactional orders from customers to achieve their revenue targets. For these teams, key account plans aligned with the customers' business goals, along with a strong set of actionable business development objectives, will be the primary drivers of reaching revenue targets.

What should salespeople do if their pipeline coverage is too low?

In the short term, the salesperson can find new deals with existing customers, as these are more likely to close quickly. Alternatively, the salesperson can persuade customers with upcoming opportunities to expedite their purchasing process in return for a discount or other benefit. In the long term, the solution is likely to include prospecting, lead generation, and marketing activities to establish a bank of high-quality potential deals.

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