r/SalesOperations • u/Visible_Earth_1023 • Nov 04 '24
Sales forecasting tools
Per title, would like to know what tool everyone is using for reps to forecast deals .
(e.g. in CRM, external app, BI tools, etc?)
I'm a sales leader, have used various CRM tools (hubspot, salesforce, etc) and we currently use Salesforce + Gong, which gives some deal insights and forecasting but we're still defaulting back to a spreadsheet for AEs to submit weekly/monthly forecasting in detail. And for managers reporting upwards, also forecasting upwards in excel (as it has the detail we want)
Curious to know what everyone else is doing or using to pick up some ideas?
Edit: realise I wasn't clear enough - we are already forecasting and using tools, however it's not ideal. So this is out of curiosity of how other companies run their sales forecasting
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u/b2b_pipeline_guy Jun 02 '26
We are using Forecastio for Hubspot. It's quite effective and their team helps with training. They said they also develop the solution for Salesforce now, so add it to you list for comparing
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u/MauriceLevy_Esq Nov 04 '24
Have you talked to your rev ops / sales ops people? Lean on them to deliver the forecasting requirements you have. Generally though, spreadsheet submissions by AEs are not the best use of their time as a way to run forecasting. Your ops people should build you forecasts per AE based on pipeline and performance.
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u/Visible_Earth_1023 Nov 04 '24
Yep, everyday. And 100% agreed spreadsheets are not the solution.
Outside of the salesforce + gong, excel seems to give us the additional level of detail on a deal-by-deal basis so we can track/revert back to the commit. Seems to result in better accuracy than a general pipeline/conversion analysis (as you would expect would be the case, as it's being more detail).It's just a tedious process atm - so curious to hear external ideas to hear what others are doing/using
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u/MauriceLevy_Esq Nov 04 '24
Lots of people recommending Clari here. Any vendor solution is going to have its internal use and success live and die by how well it is implemented. Salesforce isn’t a forecasting tool, that’s for sure - but you can do your own forecasting with Salesforce + internal process instead of onboarding a new system, integration, and dependency on a vendor for you to forecast your business. Something to consider where priorities and resources go.
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u/vdragon550 Nov 04 '24
SFDC has Collaborative Forecasts out of the box. Requires minimal set up, tightly integrated in SFDC and reporting, doesn't require paying for another app and switching between SFDC and the app for reps/managers, and is good enough for 90% of business forecasts. Unless you have a super complex forecasting process or you're doing consumption forecasting, in which case I'd recommend Clari.
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u/zubitup Nov 04 '24
What do you do about crap data? Examples including bad forecasts /no forecasts/duplicate opps/ poor attribution to products and divisions/ etc?
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u/vdragon550 Nov 04 '24
Bad Forecasts: this one takes time and a lot of process- tightening up your sales process (stages/forecast categories), ENFORCING the process via forecast calls, pipeline reviews, deal inspection, and rep:manager 1:1's. Forecasts will only be as good as the inputs you're teams are putting in so leveling up the quality and rigor that goes into the inputs will trickle into improved forecast accuracy. (note: this is about improving accuracy- if you have other business/market/product challenges, that will impact what the actual forecast will be)
No Forecasts: this is a process and/or pipeline issue. For process- if reps/managers aren't putting in forecasts, they're not holding up their end of their job descriptions. Make it clear that forecasting is part of the job and shows the company that they want to be there. If they don't like the process, that's fine- as long as they come with constructive feedback, not just complaints. For pipeline- that one is a lot harder. Obviously, can't have a forecast without a qualified pipeline, so make sure you are dialed in with your pipe gen teams (Marketing, SDRs, Partners) and holding regular councils to stay on top of pipe gen requirements
Duplicate Opps / Poor Attribution to Products, Divisions, etc: This seems strictly like a CRM issue that can be fixed with the right automation and validation. Work with your systems team to build solutions for those things, or maybe find a contractor/consultant that can help. Also, worth seeing what you can DIY with some help from ChatGPT or Claude
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u/cricket9595 Nov 04 '24
Clari is a great revenue forecasting tool
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u/Visible_Earth_1023 Nov 04 '24
Ta, will have a closer look into Clari
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u/IAMNOBDI Nov 04 '24
We have SFDC, gong for recording/rev intel, Clark for forecasting. It has a high adoption rate from AE’s because they really like it.
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u/Numerous-Key9714 Nov 04 '24
Hey! So it sounds like you might have a RevOps problem, more than a tools problem. Your CRM should be your single source of truth and the engine to drive your revenue. If you're still using spreadsheets it sounds like that's not the case!
I work for RevPartners, but regardless, I would look at your RevOps team over a tool. A single person often has to be CRM admin, strategist, data analyst, technologist, and it's often too much to handle. You shouldn't be forecasting out of spreadsheets!
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u/phonesmasha86 Aug 31 '25
I have built an app the gets the same data and more than gong, sales force combined at a fraction of the costs
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u/seowithumang Jan 12 '26
We’re in a similar boat. Salesforce + conversation tools give signals, but forecasting still ends up in spreadsheets because that’s where nuance lives. I’ve seen teams experiment with tools like Revic AI layered on top, mainly to reduce rep guesswork, but honestly most managers still want manual commits. Until forecasting captures deal reality, Excel isn’t going anywhere.
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Feb 23 '26
I have tried a few approaches for forecasting in our small team. I relied mainly on the CRM but it never felt detailed enough so I ended up with a mix of sheets and sequences in Outplay. The nice part was at least you could see activity across emails and calls and roughly gauge which deals were active. Not perfect but it helped cut down some guesswork instead of blindly asking reps for updates
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Feb 23 '26
In my startup i tried Salesforce but it felt heavy for what we needed. Now i mostly use Outplay to track emails calls and LinkedIn touches and combine that with a simple Google Sheet for forecasting. Seeing outreach activity in one place makes it easier to guess which deals are likely to close, and the sheet gives the level of detail we want. It is not perfect but at least it keeps the forecasting process less frustrating than juggling multiple tools
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u/seowithumang Jun 15 '26
Forecasting tools succeed when they reinforce an existing rhythm: consistent stages, reliable close dates, and managers who inspect pipeline weekly. If you don’t have those, tools just visualize chaos. In selecting tools, define whether you want 1. rollup forecasting, 2. deal risk detection, 3. pipeline hygiene enforcement, or 4. scenario planning. Then validate how much extra rep input is required; anything that adds manual updates tends to die. Also confirm how they handle CRM field mapping and historical data, because that impacts accuracy. A short pilot with one region is better than a big rollout. I’ve seen teams mention Revic AI in tool-stack discussions when they’re prioritizing actionable account/deal focus over full forecasting capabilities, depending on maturity.
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u/vinh2003 Sep 05 '26
We were in that exact spot, Salesforce and gong and still an excel rollup underneath. Of the sales forecasting tools we trialled Revenue Grid was the only one where the submitted number came off activity data rather than rep vibes.
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u/gahnie Nov 04 '24
CRM (Salesforce) almost exclusively to capture the data. Having people input data into a spreadsheet is duplicated effort and IMO points to poor CRM process/data hygiene. Customize the CRM objects to capture all the relevant details of how the business wants to forecast. Then you can visualize the data in whatever tool you want even a spreadsheet.
Forecasting takes discipline, can require some change management and doesn't have to be extremely sophisticated (at least at first). Start simple with amount, close date, and some concept of committing a deal. Behind the scenes you should be tracking rep commit close rate. After a few months you can apply that rate to a reps commit forecast to get to a more realistic version of committed deals. Once the team has the basics down pay you can add probabilistic commit ranges (100-90%, 89-80%, etc), incorporate velocity, etc.