Select Page

This RevOps Meme Nails the No. 1 Sales Forecasting Mistake

Imagen del Autor

FULLCAST

Fullcast was built for RevOps leaders by RevOps leaders with a goal of bringing together all of the moving pieces of our clients’ sales go-to-market strategies and automating their execution.

It’s tough to get sales forecasting right, and less than half of sales leaders and sellers feel confident about theirs. This means it’s important not to celebrate those forecasts before closing the deals, as forecasts don’t always match up with what actually gets sold. 

Recently, we hosted a meme contest with our friends at RevOps Co-op, and the submissions were nothing short of hilarious. The winning meme was a spot-on depiction of premature celebration in sales forecasting.

The creator of this meme is Rome Thorndike, vice president of growth (and now chief meme officer!) at Firmograph.ai. With experience working at Salesforce, Microsoft, and several tech startups, Rome is a seasoned revenue operations (RevOps) leader with a unique perspective on the role of data and process in driving revenue growth. We sat down with Rome to discuss his winning meme and his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities in modern sales forecasting.

Don’t Prematurely Celebrate Those Forecasts

Rome’s meme exposes a common pitfall in sales forecasting: the dangerous tendency to overestimate deal closure probabilities. He attributes this issue to a lack of deal discipline and a reliance on gut feelings rather than data-driven analysis.

“You either know your customers, the risk and what your likelihood is of closing, or you don’t,” Rome states. “All too often, sales is either answering a number to the board, or they’re making a very educated guess. And when you ask a couple clarifying questions, you realize they don’t know what’s going on in their deals.”

To combat this over-optimism and improve sales forecasting accuracy, Rome emphasizes the importance of:

  1. Deal Discipline: Salespeople must be disciplined in their approach to deal management, ensuring they have a crystal-clear understanding of the deal stage, key decision-makers, and potential risks.
  2. Data-Driven Insights: Leveraging data analytics to identify trends, patterns, and opportunities can equip sales teams to make more informed forecasts.
  3. Continuous Improvement: Sales forecasting is not a “set it and forget it” endeavor. It’s an ongoing process of regularly reviewing and refining forecasting methodologies to enhance accuracy over time.
  4. Strong Collaboration Between Sales and RevOps: A strong partnership between sales and RevOps is the bedrock of accurate forecasting. RevOps provides the data and insights, empowering sales teams to make informed decisions.

Rome’s advice to sales leaders is simple—focus on the fundamentals. “Can these people sell? If the answer is no…how can we help make them good salespeople?” Simply throwing new software or methodologies at the problem without addressing the root cause is like putting a band-aid on a broken bone.

By embracing a data-driven approach to sales forecasting and investing in the development of their sales teams, companies can avoid those premature celebrations and achieve sustainable, predictable revenue growth.

The Importance of RevOps in Business Today

Rome views RevOps as the essential “left brain” of sales, providing the crucial data-driven insights and operational support that empowers sales teams to truly excel. While sales leaders excel at building relationships and closing deals, RevOps professionals are the unsung heroes, ensuring the sales process is efficient, effective, and predictable.

RevOps professionals are the architects of the sales machine, designing and implementing the systems, processes, and tools that enable sales teams to operate at peak performance. They analyze sales data to identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement. They develop and refine sales methodologies and playbooks to ensure consistency and best practices. They optimize sales territories and quotas to maximize productivity.

How RevOps Improves Forecasting

By implementing the right processes, tools, and training, RevOps can empower sales teams to gain deeper understanding of their deals, leverage data to make informed decisions, and continuously improve their forecasting accuracy. 

Through rigorous qualification and opportunity management processes, RevOps helps ensure that salespeople are focusing on the right deals and have a clear understanding of the factors that influence deal closure. RevOps provides sales teams with the data and analytics they need to identify trends, assess risks, and make accurate predictions about future revenue.

Finally, by tracking key metrics and analyzing forecasting performance, RevOps can help sales teams identify areas for improvement and refine their forecasting methodologies over time.

Without RevOps, sales teams would be flying blind, relying on gut feelings and guesswork. RevOps provides the visibility, accountability, and predictability that sales teams need to consistently deliver results.

 

Imagen del Autor

FULLCAST

Fullcast was built for RevOps leaders by RevOps leaders with a goal of bringing together all of the moving pieces of our clients’ sales go-to-market strategies and automating their execution.