Set up: 2 recipes for setting up a Renewals board

Who's this for? Revenue Ops, Business Admin

Plan: Working with Gong Forecast requires a Forecast seat.

Read this article to learn 2 different ways you could set up a Gong forecast board to forecast renewals.

The recipe you want to follow is going to depend on the focus of your business:

• Set up for total ARR forecasting to understand how much revenue you'll get from your existing customers.

• Set up for net ARR forecasting to understand the impact of your renewals.

There are dozens of different ways to forecast renewals, but these are the two most common that we see. Our team would be happy to help you customize your renewals board based on your business needs, simply reach out to your CSM.

Total ARR forecasting

Also known as Net ACV (annual contract value) forecasting, this method helps a company understand how much money they’ll get from existing customers.

In this method, you forecast the renewal amount as a positive number.

For example, you have two deals that are up for renewal at the value of $100k renewal. Deal 1 is going to renew for $90k, and deal 2 is going to renew for $150k.

In total ARR forecasting, deal 1 should be forecast at $90, and deal 2 should be forecast at $150k.

How to set up

In your CRM:

• Make sure you have a field for deal type at the opportunity level. E.g. Type=Renewal.

In Gong:

1. Set up forecast boards for the following lines of business:

   • New business

   • Renewals

2. In the Renewals board, set each forecast category to include only deals of Type=Renewal.

   1. Go to Deals > Forecast > Add line of business > Categories.

   2. For each of your forecast categories, choose the field you use for "deal type" and select the value you use for "renewal".

Net ARR forecasting

Net ARR forecasting helps a company understand the company's ongoing financial stability and growth potential. It helps you understand the impact of your renewals.

In this method, you forecast the renewal amount by taking off the actual amount from the deal value.

For example, you have three deals that are up for renewal at the value of $100k renewal. Deal 1 is going to renew for $90k, deal 2 is going to renew for $150k, and deal 3 is not going to renew at all.

In net ARR forecasting, deal 1 (downgrade) should be forecast at -$10, deal 2 (upsell) should be forecast at $50k, and deal 3 (churn) should be forecast at -$100K.

How to set up

Note

The setup outlined here is a simple example you can follow. You may want to adapt it if you forecast with additional complexity.

In your CRM:

1. Make sure you have a field for deal type at the opportunity level. E.g. Type=Renewal.

2. Set up a field called “Gong forecast board” at the opportunity level as a place to set whether the renewal is going to go up or down.

3. Set the field to auto-populate by adding a rule:

   • IF opportunity is not closed (open) + Renewal, AND the ARR impact is above zero, set to Upsell.

   • IF opportunity is not closed (open) + Renewal, AND the ARR impact is less than zero, set to Churn & downgrade.

     Tip

     You may choose to separate Downgrade and Churn into two business lines - if so, separate them here and when you're setting up in Gong, below.

4. Set up additional rules for any complexities you have in your business (for example, if you look at whether the negative churn amount is equal to the positive UFR amount as an absolute value, and so on).

In Gong:

1. Set up the following business lines to account for positive and negative renewal:

   • New business

   • Upsell

   • Churn & downgrade

2. When setting up the Upsell, Churn, and Downgrade lines of business, set the following in each forecast category:

   • Deal type=Renewal AND the custom field=Upsell/Churn & Downgrade (and any additional rules you set) as conditions in each category.

     1. Go to Deals > Forecast > Add line of business > Categories.

     2. For each of your forecast categories, choose the field you use for "deal type" and select the value you use for "renewal".

     3. Add an AND filter to add the custom field and values for Upsell/Churn & Downgrade.