The Revenue Blog /
The Hockey Stick Sales Forecast Problem.
Sharad Verma
July 24, 2019
2 min read
Hockey Stick — a.k.a, a lot of deals actually closing in the last 3 days of the quarter – is what keeps sales leaders up at night. What is worse is that when sales teams are under a lot of pressure to close, they give away the farm, making deal sizes smaller.
Smart buyers know this seller pressure quite well and play it to their advantage. That leaves your team without much leverage.
Well managed sales processes and forecasts are about consistent attainment throughout the quarter – so that you have the best leverage.
The question is how to wean your sellers and buyers off of that dependence.
Obviously you can incentivize seller behavior and set goals that reward consistency of closing uniformly throughout the quarter. But EoQ discounts are still too easy for sellers to give up.
The real answer is in identifying strike-zone deals (with high potential to close) early and then working with the seller and the buyer to close the deal on time.
But it is hard to find those deals, especially as sellers want to sandbag. Your CRM data will make those deals look like duds when in fact they are the real gems.
Fortunately, the predictive signals of strike-zone deals are available. They are buried inside sellers’ inboxes, email content, call transcripts, calendars and LinkedIn. But, you neither have access nor the time to read through that data for all the deals.
At BoostUp.ai we believe there are 4 dimensions to judge deal potential —
BoostUp.ai indexes & summarizes these digital markers of deal quality & momentum, and helps you discover high potential deals early, so that you can help the sellers close deals on time, achieve uniformity of close, and get to higher deal sizes.
⚡️ Join +10,000 subscribers and get our weekly Revenue newsletter!
2021-06-10 18:12:37
4 min read | June 10, 2021
2021-11-15 01:54:31
6 min read | November 15, 2021
2021-11-14 19:13:33
6 min read | November 14, 2021
2021-05-11 23:24:12
6 min read | May 11, 2021
2020-09-18 11:14:37
12 min read | September 18, 2020
2022-11-01 04:49:04
7 min read | November 1, 2022
2021-05-06 20:01:51
5 min read | May 6, 2021
2021-05-28 17:33:11
14 min read | May 28, 2021
2023-03-29 21:31:58
9 min read | March 29, 2023
2022-01-26 18:36:58
5 min read | January 26, 2022
2022-02-08 16:25:34
6 min read | February 8, 2022
2020-09-10 18:19:00
6 min read | September 10, 2020
2021-01-12 07:54:35
10 min read | January 12, 2021
2021-08-27 19:19:16
15 min read | August 27, 2021
2021-09-16 22:40:26
11 min read | September 16, 2021
2021-01-19 12:36:05
6 min read | January 19, 2021
2021-04-15 00:05:08
5 min read | April 15, 2021
2021-01-05 12:26:45
12 min read | January 5, 2021
2023-10-02 15:47:40
4 min read | October 2, 2023
2020-06-07 18:58:26
7 min read | June 7, 2020
2021-08-26 17:52:22
4 min read | August 26, 2021
2021-09-14 22:36:31
4 min read | September 14, 2021
2021-09-30 23:15:00
7 min read | September 30, 2021
2021-01-21 15:35:00
5 min read | January 21, 2021
2023-04-25 22:31:14
11 min read | April 25, 2023
2023-10-16 22:25:36
3 min read | October 16, 2023
2021-01-28 14:44:43
7 min read | January 28, 2021
2023-04-13 19:19:45
8 min read | April 13, 2023
2020-12-14 18:52:00
6 min read | December 14, 2020
2019-07-23 19:31:00
2 min read | July 23, 2019
2021-08-14 01:01:02
4 min read | August 14, 2021
2020-11-30 11:50:06
9 min read | November 30, 2020
2021-09-04 09:00:00
5 min read | September 4, 2021
2021-10-06 20:10:21
4 min read | October 6, 2021
2020-01-15 14:31:04
20 min read | January 15, 2020
2021-10-15 21:17:15
7 min read | October 15, 2021
2020-01-18 13:41:41
5 min read | January 18, 2020
2021-09-14 22:00:00
9 min read | September 14, 2021
2021-09-23 06:08:34
6 min read | September 23, 2021
2021-04-23 06:22:23
8 min read | April 23, 2021
2022-03-29 20:31:21
5 min read | March 29, 2022
2021-09-10 00:08:13
6 min read | September 10, 2021
2022-03-28 21:58:43
9 min read | March 28, 2022
2019-06-24 10:03:22
4 min read | June 24, 2019
2021-07-27 04:52:59
4 min read | July 27, 2021
2023-04-25 22:29:24
11 min read | April 25, 2023
2023-07-17 17:05:50
6 min read | July 17, 2023
2021-11-29 22:30:24
8 min read | November 29, 2021
2022-11-27 20:46:36
4 min read | November 27, 2022
2021-10-19 19:31:13
6 min read | October 19, 2021
2019-07-25 19:23:00
4 min read | July 25, 2019
2020-06-23 18:41:00
7 min read | June 23, 2020
2021-08-31 20:44:59
7 min read | August 31, 2021
2019-09-20 12:08:09
8 min read | September 20, 2019
2022-12-31 01:07:01
3 min read | December 31, 2022
2023-04-04 19:03:37
14 min read | April 4, 2023
2021-04-28 15:42:53
7 min read | April 28, 2021
2021-04-30 00:25:22
7 min read | April 30, 2021
2021-09-09 13:38:43
11 min read | September 9, 2021
2021-05-13 20:49:19
9 min read | May 13, 2021
2022-07-29 17:39:41
4 min read | July 29, 2022
2020-12-30 18:42:00
8 min read | December 30, 2020
2019-07-31 19:16:00
6 min read | July 31, 2019
2022-12-05 22:24:52
6 min read | December 5, 2022
2022-12-05 21:48:34
9 min read | December 5, 2022
2020-08-26 10:13:26
7 min read | August 26, 2020
2020-06-23 18:38:00
10 min read | June 23, 2020
2022-07-22 16:57:28
7 min read | July 22, 2022
2020-11-04 19:08:00
9 min read | November 4, 2020
2020-12-10 18:57:00
6 min read | December 10, 2020
2019-08-23 13:20:55
7 min read | August 23, 2019
2021-10-26 16:24:08
7 min read | October 26, 2021
2021-02-11 08:58:25
19 min read | February 11, 2021
2020-12-23 12:08:27
15 min read | December 23, 2020
2020-09-08 07:19:22
12 min read | September 8, 2020
2021-09-21 18:20:09
9 min read | September 21, 2021
2021-01-15 10:43:32
26 min read | January 15, 2021
2022-09-27 00:44:34
4 min read | September 27, 2022
2020-11-16 19:05:00
6 min read | November 16, 2020
2022-04-29 17:54:31
8 min read | April 29, 2022
2020-05-29 22:47:12
5 min read | May 29, 2020
2021-12-14 20:24:14
7 min read | December 14, 2021
2022-07-29 16:27:40
5 min read | July 29, 2022
2019-06-24 10:02:38
5 min read | June 24, 2019
2021-04-21 23:27:04
10 min read | April 21, 2021
2023-03-30 09:30:00
7 min read | March 30, 2023
2022-08-25 15:46:44
7 min read | August 25, 2022
2020-06-16 09:16:39
10 min read | June 16, 2020
2022-12-04 20:41:20
5 min read | December 4, 2022
2019-09-27 03:57:01
14 min read | September 27, 2019
2021-11-19 23:19:03
6 min read | November 19, 2021
2021-04-24 00:15:13
9 min read | April 24, 2021
2023-11-17 23:09:43
7 min read | November 17, 2023
2022-05-04 19:21:26
9 min read | May 4, 2022
2022-09-12 22:31:57
5 min read | September 12, 2022
2021-09-30 18:47:20
4 min read | September 30, 2021
2019-09-07 18:46:00
3 min read | September 7, 2019
2020-12-28 18:45:00
9 min read | December 28, 2020
2021-05-26 21:03:19
6 min read | May 26, 2021
2023-03-22 21:57:54
20 min read | March 22, 2023
2021-06-21 18:40:53
8 min read | June 21, 2021
2021-10-29 22:10:18
13 min read | October 29, 2021
2021-07-19 21:55:18
5 min read | July 19, 2021
2021-12-14 16:52:59
15 min read | December 14, 2021
2021-09-27 19:14:38
9 min read | September 27, 2021
2022-01-31 19:06:53
15 min read | January 31, 2022
2022-03-11 17:23:28
7 min read | March 11, 2022
2015-05-13 19:08:06
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:10
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:09
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-12 19:08:19
2 min read | May 12, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:16
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:12
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-12 19:08:21
2 min read | May 12, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:09
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:08
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:14
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:15
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:13
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:12
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:19
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-12 19:08:19
2 min read | May 12, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:14
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:07
2 min read | May 13, 2015
2015-05-13 19:08:13
2 min read | May 13, 2015