5 mistakes to avoid in your forecast meetings

5 mistakes to avoid in your forecast meetings 640 427 Boldandsharp

Forecast calls have become one of the main activities in sales. It should not. Solid business opportunities management skills and being able to predict the numbers is vital, namely for public companies which credibility and performance is assessed against their ability to deliver their quarterly goals. However, when talking to sales leaders, we discovered that forecast sessions have become a pain in the neck. 😣 Here are the main reasons why.

Reason 1: forecasts calls are leveraged to challenge sales leaders on how much they know about their deals. All their deals. It is no longer about getting inputs or insight on the business. From the top to the bottom of the organization, forecast calls become painful and time-consuming reviews. The “drill sergeant” approach becomes rampant and keeping sales executives on their toes becomes the ultimate goal. 🤢The problem is not forecast calls or opportunity management, it is your culture.

Reason 2: people driving the forecast sessions want to show they are the smartest person in the room😎. This is one the typical traits of diminishers according to Liz Wizeman There we go: your deal is at negotiation stage, the value discussions happened weeks ago, but you must listen to how positioning value must happen early, how it helps you defend your price and why it needs to be acknowledged by the customer. Sales 101. The problem is both your culture and the person driving the forecast call.

3 ReasonThis one is close to reason 2 in attitude. Lack of preparation. Systematically looking back at the history of opportunities instead of focusing on what needs to be done to move them forward.🥱 Instead of focusing on deals that are clearly dying, or deals that will clearly make a difference in the quarter and require strategy and execution, all opportunities count. So none of them really matter. Guess who the problem is?

Reason 4: you don’t trust your numbers. From the beginning till the end of the quarter, your forecast is a roller coaster, and you struggle to get even close to 95% predictability and your so called sales plan is in limbo. 😖You may rely on historical numbers enforced by HQ that don’t work for your region’s market maturity. You may think technology can’t help leverage predictive analysis based on deal size, deal pace, customer type, or product readiness. Maybe you don’t trust your direct reports. The problem may be you.

Reason 5: you are blind. You would like to come prepared, and your mindset is to challenge your reports, not to berate, belittle or bully them. Your sales methodology is implemented, and your sales process is adopted. Unfortunately, despite the various reports and dashboard created, you struggle to get to the heart of your deals.😤Information that truly matters is buried within long and rambling opportunity descriptions. The problem is your CRM.

Systèmes, culture, attitude, valeurs…Les causes de réunions de Forecast que l’on voudrait fuir à tout prix sont multiples. So do Forecasting worst practices. We have the answers.

Interested to know more about how to run forecast calls that drive performance and engagement? Curious to find out why Bold & Sharp advice a “no forecast call” culture?

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