Recipe: Deal board for 'Swing deals'

Who can do this? Anyone who can manage deal boards

Where to go? Deals > Pipeline > > Create new board

Focus on key deals that are going to make or break your quota. Monitor important activities and key warnings, and coach and support your reps in getting these deals over the line.

Follow this recipe to set up your own deal board showing swing deals. We recommend that you build the deal board while you follow the recipe. You can modify the recipe to fit your needs. This recipe goes over the key differentiators for setting up a swing deals board. Full instructions on creating a deal board are here.

Note:

You may not have all of the CRM fields we mention available to you. It depends on how your organization has set up your CRM and  which fields are being pulled into Gong. If you’re missing a field, get started with the fields that you have, and get in touch with your Gong technical admin for help. You add fields to a board at any time.

Step 1 - Filter to see the right opportunities

If you have a CRM field for must-win deals, pull that field in from your CRM, and filter specifically by those deals when configuring your board. In our example, we filter for strategic opportunities.

1. In the Create new board > Filters section, select the CRM field you use for "deal status" and set the value to "open".

2. Create a filter for "Forecast Category" set to "Commit".

3. Create a filter for "Amount" set to ">$75k".

4. Create a filter for "Account Tier" set to "Strategic".

Step 2 - Customize board columns

Add columns that will help you focus on status, momentum, and risk.

• In the Columns section, set up the following columns:

  • Next call

  • Deal warning

  • ARR impact amount (or Amount, expected contract value, etc.)

  • Close date

  • Trial expiration date

  • Stage

  • Company tier

  • Opportunity owner

Step 3 - Configure warnings

Set up warnings with tight thresholds because you want to concentrate on a small pool of vitally important deals.

• In the Warnings section, set the following:

  • No activity for 7 days

    • Is your rep driving this deal to a current quarter close?

  • No response on the prospect side for 10 days

    • Is your prospect ghosting your rep? Do you need to intervene?

  • Only 1 or less active prospects for 14 days

    • Ensure your reps are engaging enough people to mitigate deal risk.

  • No Vice President level or above active on the prospect side for 60 days before close date

    • Do your reps have access to power?

Step 4 - Subscribe your team to the board

Make sure your team is up to date with what's happening on their swing deals, and give them a nudge to keep moving those deals forward, by making sure they get a weekly email digest tailored to them.

• In the Digest section > Subscribers tab, pick the teams that should get this mail.

Step 5 - Send updates to stakeholders

Make sure key stakeholders stay on top of these deals too by signing them up for a weekly summary of the board. Some people you may want to include are your VP RevOps, SVP Sales, and your Head of Solutions Engineering.

• In the Digest section > Observers tab, pick the relevant stakeholders and pick the team(s) they should see it for.

Step 6 - Set the board to show deals closing this month

When sharing this board with others either copy the URL, or ask them to make sure they're looking at closing this month.

• On the Swing deals deal board, set the time period to Closing this month.