Forecast what you will close

Open Reports ▸ Forecast and pick a pipeline, a quarter or month, and a team if you have them. Two views sit side by side, and the point is the gap between them.

What the team says

Every open deal with its close date in the period counts in one of four categories: Commit (it will close), Best case (it could), Pipeline (it might, later) and Omitted (leave it out). A deal past its close date counts in the current period until someone moves the date. Beside them: what is already won, and weighted pipeline (each deal's amount times its stage's win probability).

A deal's category comes from its stage unless someone sets it on the deal. Admins choose each stage's default under Forecast settings at the bottom of the page (until then, a stage at 70% or more reads as Commit, 40% or more as Best case). Add the Forecast category field puts a Forecast category field on every deal, which you can set on the record, on the board, in a view or straight from the Forecast page.

Your number

Each rep submits a number for the period: a commit (what you will close, counting what you have already won) and a best case (what you could). It starts from your own deals. A new number in the same week replaces the last; the first one of the period is kept as your opening call. Tick Ask reps for their number every Monday and reps with open deals who haven't submitted that week get a reminder.

What history says

Solstral learns from this pipeline's own deals of the last two years: of the deals that reached each stage and have since closed, how many were won, and how long the won ones took. For each open deal it works out the chance it is won inside the period, from its stage and how long it has been there: a deal still open long after the won ones usually closed counts for little. It counts every open deal, whatever its close date says, adds what deals not created yet usually bring, and simulates the period a couple of thousand times to give a range: 8 in 10 likely outcomes land inside it. How history reads this pipeline shows each stage's win rate and typical days to win, so you can check the reasoning.

History needs at least 10 deals closed in the last two years, 3 of them won, before it gives a number.

By rep

Admins see each rep's won, categories, history's number for their deals with its range, their latest number, and the gap: a number above history's range is optimistic by history's measure. Under each name, how the rep's opening numbers compared with what they then won over past periods. Members see their own row.

Forecast against actual

The last four periods: what history said at the start of each, the reps' opening numbers added up, and what was won. Each week Solstral keeps what the forecast said; before the first week was kept, history's number is worked out again from the stage history as it stood then.

In reports

The Forecast snapshot source in the report builder holds what was kept each week, for the team and each rep, so you can chart a quarter's forecast as it moved or compare reps' numbers with history. Members see their own rows.

The forecast counts only the deals you can see. The assistant answers what will we close this quarter? from the same numbers and can submit your number for you.