A forecast is the value of every open deal multiplied by the chance it closes, added up. The arithmetic is easy. The hard part is choosing chances that are honest.

The default weights

Leadline starts every pipeline with these weights by stage:

• Lead: 10 %
• Qualified: 30 %
• Proposal: 60 %
• Won: 100 %

So a deal at Proposal adds sixty per cent of its value to the forecast, and a signed deal adds all of it. Move a card on the board and the forecast changes straight away. Nobody has to rebuild a spreadsheet before the Monday meeting.

Make the weights yours

The defaults are a starting point, not a promise. Look back at last quarter: of the deals that reached Proposal, how many did you win? If the answer is far from the default, change the weight to match your own history. A forecast built on your numbers will be wrong less often than one built on ours.

The weights describe your team's past. The stages describe the customer's present. Keep both honest and the total looks after itself.

Habits that keep it accurate

• Move cards on facts. A deal reaches Proposal when the buyer has a written price, not when the rep feels good about a call.
• Close the dead ones. A deal nobody has touched for weeks still counts until someone marks it lost. Review stale cards every Monday.
• Keep values real. Use the amount in the proposal, not the amount you hope for.

Forecasts and quotas

On the Business plan, at $32 per seat monthly or $29 yearly, you can set a quota for each rep and see the weighted forecast beside it. Managers can tell early in the quarter who needs help, rather than finding out at the end.

What a good forecast feels like

It is boring. It moves a little each week, for reasons you can point to on the board. When it jumps, you know which deal moved and why, and you can explain it in a sentence to anyone who asks.