Forecasting and Analysing Sales Performance

The Forecast View setting allows you to customise how deals are displayed and arranged, helping you prioritise and track progress effectively.

Customizing the Forecast Data

Show By

The Show By option determines the primary basis for sorting and displaying deals in the forecast view. This criterion impacts how deals are organized and prioritized in the display.

• Expected Close Date (default): Deals are displayed according to their anticipated closing date, helping you focus on upcoming closures.

• Created At (default): Deals are sorted based on their creation date, useful for tracking recently added deals.

• Custom Date Fields: If custom date fields have been added, they will also be available for selection, allowing for additional sorting criteria based on user-defined dates.

Arrange By

The Arrange By setting defines the order in which deals are displayed, either focusing on open or won deals. This setting helps prioritize how deals are presented in the view.

• Open Deals First (default): Displays active deals before won deals, making it easier to manage current opportunities.

• Won Deals First: Displays won deals before active deals, useful for reviewing successfully closed deals before focusing on ongoing opportunities.

Change Interval

The Change Interval setting lets you choose the time frame for displaying deals in the forecast view such as weeks, months, or quarters. Switching between intervals affects how the forecast view is displayed.

• Week: Organizes deals on a weekly basis, which is useful for tracking short-term progress and planning.

• Month (default): Displays deals on a monthly basis, offering a broader view of progress and trends over time.

• Quarter: Shows deals organized by quarter, ideal for longer-term planning and performance review.

Columns

The Number of Columns setting determines how many columns are displayed in the forecast view. Adjusting this option changes the visual layout and organization of deals on the screen.

• 3 Columns: Displays deals in three columns, providing a more condensed view.

• 4 Columns (default): Shows deals in four columns, offering a balanced layout.

• 5 Columns: Provides a wider view with five columns, allowing for more broader categorization and visibility.

Switching Dates in Forecast View

The date-switching feature allows you to adjust the forecast view to display deals across different time periods, such as the previous quarter, today, or future quarters. This helps in analyzing deal performance over different intervals.

The date-switching feature is located on the right side of the forecast view, presented as a button with five toggles.

• Previous Quarter: Shows deals from the quarter before the current one.

• Today: Displays deals for the current day, organized by default column settings.

• Next Quarter: Focuses on deals for the upcoming quarter.

• Four Quarters Back: Moves the view to display deals from four quarters ago.

• Four Quarters Forward: Projects deals for four quarters ahead.

Predicting Revenue Using the Forecast View

The forecast view projects revenue based on the expected close dates of deals. It uses these dates to estimate when deals will be marked as WON or LOST.

• Deals are organized into columns based on their expected close dates.

• Each column displays a summary of projected revenue for the deals expected to close within that date range.

• Review the individual deals within each column to see their projected revenue and close dates.