Review your team's forecast

Who can use this: Any team member

Available on: Gong Forecast

Ideal for: Sales manager, Manager of managers

Required permissions: Forecast page access, View forecasts

Check each team member's submission against the metrics and targets on the forecast board, and follow up where a number is missing or differs.

Open your team's board

A forecast board shows the columns your business admin chose, so what you see depends on how the board is set up.

To open your team's forecast:

1. From the left sidebar, click Revenue, and select Forecast.

2. Click the board selector at the top of the page, and select the board.

3. Click the Team dropdown, and select the team to review.

4. Click the Period dropdown, and select the period to review.

Read the columns

When two columns differ, look closer. The difference doesn't mean a number is wrong. Each kind of column shows something different, and a column can combine a metric and a target.

• Metric: A number that Gong calculates from your Gong and CRM data. It reflects the underlying pipeline or business result, not a team member's forecast call, and you can't edit it.

• Target: A revenue goal for the team or a team member for the period. You can't edit it.

• Forecast submission: A team member's forecast judgment, entered manually or submitted automatically, depending on how the column is set up. Submission cells appear with a square around the number.

When a submission differs from a metric or target, check the deals, filters, target, submission history, and notes behind the number. Don't change the number to match.

To see what is behind a number:

1. Click a cell to open a panel on the right.

2. In the panel, click to view the deals included in the number.

Click the info icon in a column header to see what each cell in that column shows, such as a metric, a submission, or progress toward a target.

Compare the team row with individual rows

The top row shows your team's forecast, and the bottom row is where you submit your own numbers. The team rollup gives team-level context, and the individual rows show each team member's call.

Compare these across the board:

• The team rollup against the individual submissions

• Large gaps between an individual call and the team number

• Missing or stale individual submissions

• Whether a metric or target suggests the team call is too high or too low

Review how a submission has changed

Submission changes shows how a number has moved over time, so you see more than the latest value. Open it from the submission panel.

To review a submission's history:

1. Click a submission cell to open the panel on the right.

2. Click Submission changes, and review the following:

   • Whether the number is stable or changing often

   • When the latest change occurred

   • Whether the movement matches pipeline changes or actuals

   • Any notes that explain the change

   • Whether a team member keeps raising, lowering, or leaving the number unchanged

Check who has submitted

The due, updated, and overdue statuses show whether a submission is complete. They don't show how accurate the forecast is.

• Due: The cadence set by your business admin says a forecast is expected. When reminders are turned on for the board, a yellow clock appears from 24 hours before the due time and disappears after the forecast is updated.

• Updated: A value has been submitted or populated. It can come from an earlier submission or an automatic submission, so it doesn't mean the team member reviewed the number.

• Overdue or missing: The expected submission hasn't been completed.

When a team member hasn't submitted, check the following before you follow up:

• The forecast's due or overdue status

• The team member's Forecast seat and Edit forecast submissions permission

• Whether the column is manual or set to auto-submit

• The team member's pipeline, target, and previous submission

Then ask the team member for a forecast and the reasoning behind it. A board hides team members who are inactive or excluded. To see them, click the icon with the tooltip "Excluded and inactive team members" to open the Hidden team members window. Learn more about excluding and including team members.

Adjust a team member's number

Change a team member's number only after you review the evidence and talk through the reasoning with them. No one can edit the number in a column set to auto-submit. Team members can still add notes.

Required permissions:

Edit forecast submissions, with edit access for Submissions by their direct and indirect reports

To adjust a team member's submission:

1. From the left sidebar, click Revenue, and select Forecast.

2. Select the board, team, and period.

3. Click the team member's submission cell to open the panel on the right.

4. Enter the new number.

5. (Optional) Add context in a note.

6. Click Next submission to move to the next cell, or click Save.

Learn more about submitting your forecast.

Frequently asked questions