Which action should the sales rep take to ensure accurate forecasting?

A sales representative is working on an opportunity that has recently progressed to a more advanced stage in the deal lifecycle.

Which action should the sales rep take to ensure accurate forecasting?
A . Continue forecasting based on the previous stage until the deal closes.
B . Focus on unrelated opportunities and assume the current opportunity will close.
C . Update the opportunity’s stage and forecast category to reflect the recent progress.

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

Updating the opportunity’s stage and forecast category to reflect the recent progress is what the sales rep should do to ensure accurate forecasting. An opportunity is a qualified prospect who has a high probability of buying the product. An opportunity stage is a measure of how far along the opportunity is in the sales process, such as prospecting, qualification, proposal, negotiation, etc. A forecast category is a measure of how likely the opportunity is to close as won, such as pipeline, best case, commit, closed, etc. Updating the opportunity’s stage and forecast category helps to reflect the current status and potential outcome of the opportunity, as well as to provide a realistic and reliable prediction of future sales revenue.

Reference: https://www.salesforce.com/resources/articles/sales-forecasting/#sales-forecasting-definition