Answers to Your Burning Forecasting Questions

Sales forecasting is a massive challenge. It’s not only time-consuming, but rarely accurate, which leaves sales organizations to base key business decisions on gut feel.  

That’s why we introduced InsightSquared Forecasting: a collaborative approach to sales forecasting that supports the whole sales organization. 

In our webinar, “Nail Your Forecast with InsightSquared”, you filled every minute of our Q&A with solid questions — and then some! Since we couldn’t address every question during the allotted time, we are doing so now to ensure you have all of the information you need to improve your forecasting. This short 2-minute video walkthrough should help too!

InsightSquared Forecasting FAQ

How is InsightSquared Forecasting different than other solutions?  

We fundamentally believe forecasting isn’t just about establishing a number, but achieving your desired outcome. We make it easy to roll up your number, but we don’t stop there.

If you are happy with your forecast number, great! We validate it with Activity Capture and machine learning, so you know where you stand and where you need to execute. If you aren’t content with your number, we identify opportunities for you to enhance it and better execute on it — including deals you can pull forward and opportunities you can approach differently.

How do you manage differences in opinion about a forecast? (i.e., What happens if a rep, manager, and VP all disagree about whether an opportunity should be in the forecast and for how much?)

This is a common pain point that many sales leaders have shared with us, so we created a solution that accommodates more than one opinion. Our bottom-up approach enables each position level to submit its own judgment as the company develops a final number. 

Does InsightSquared track the forecasts that were submitted (commit value, best case value, judgement by team)?

Yes, we store all submitted data as well as all adjustments. This enables sales leaders to easily see their team’s latest numbers (e.g., by territory, by rep, by manager, etc.) within the app as well as through reports. We want you to have clear visibility into the “why” behind the final number so you can continue to make adjustments and improve execution.  

Do you support non-standard forecast categories? 

Yes. If your team submits multiple forecasts (e.g., Commit, Best Case, etc.), those forecasts can be given custom names to match your business processes. 

How much historical data is needed to build a predictive model? And will InsightSquared Forecasting work if I don’t require reps to log activity in Salesforce?

Predictive models require data; as does accurate forecasting. We know that most companies don’t have easy access to all their data when forecasting, which is why we incorporate Activity Capture to tie in all of your customer engagement. This means you always know the true health of your deals in real time — both deals at risk as well as those you can pull forward. 

Do you offer custom hierarchy support? 

Yes. We enable you to roll up a forecast using a team, pod or other custom structure that is unique from your existing Salesforce hierarchy. 

How does your Confidence to Close model work? How is it different than the “Forecast”?

Our Confidence to Close model is a per-opportunity calculation that uses machine learning to evaluate hundreds of datapoints, with an emphasis on progression. It tracks activity, engagement, response time and more to help sales leaders make smart business decisions that positively impact revenue growth. These decisions tackle key questions, such as:

  • Are you invested in the right deals?
  • Are your reps spending their time where they can win? 
  • Are you missing risk signals? 
  • Are you focusing on the right KPIs?

What kind of reporting is included? Can I track how accurate my reps are? 

We break down every rep and manager forecast into the value of its forecasted opportunities and the value of its adjustments, haircuts and overrides. This gives sales leaders better insight into how their team’s forecast may change during the month or quarter. In addition, our forecasting reports retroactively compare each rep and manager’s forecasts to their bookings for the period. 

Can you track forecasts, including judgement, against budgets by team?
Yes, manager-level forecasts can be compared directly against team budgets/goals.

Can you commit a number that is not necessarily a sum of the opps?

Yes, the difference between your total forecast value and the rollup of your forecasted opportunities is tracked separately and visible in the app as a forecast adjustment. 

Want to learn more about InsightSquared Forecasting? Watch our 2-minute video walkthrough, or contact us directly for more information.

 

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