Sales management · Forecasting and budgeting
Let each rep forecast their own quarter from the deals they can name.
A bottom-up quarterly sales plan is built from each rep's recent sales and their own list of deals, graded as will close, possible and stretch. The manager adjusts each plan and the owner compares the total with the top-down target. This page covers the rep sheet, the adjustment log and the gap meeting.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A bottom-up quarterly sales plan is built from each rep's recent sales and their own list of deals, graded as will close, possible and stretch. The manager adjusts each plan and the owner compares the total with the top-down target. This page covers the rep sheet, the adjustment log and the gap meeting.
In a Pune industrial-supplies firm the owner announces the April to June target on the first of April. The reps receive it by WhatsApp. Nobody has been asked what is in their pipeline, so nobody owns the number. In the review the reps say the target was unrealistic and the owner says the reps did not try. Both are right, and neither has a document.
The bottom-up plan asks the rep first. Each rep looks at the last six weeks and the last three months of sales, then lists open deals under three grades: will close, possible, and stretch, each with a rupee value. The rep adds how they will deliver it. The sales manager reads each plan and adjusts it, with a written reason.
The owner then lays the total beside the top-down target and decides what to do with the gap. This replaces the target handed down without conversation. It runs on the Indian financial-year quarters, April to June onwards, so it fits the books.
It sits between the annual quota and the monthly attainment dashboard: the quota says what the year needs, this plan says what this quarter looks like from the field.
Where this sits
Topic 10 of 14 in sales management: forecasting and budgeting. Estimating sales and spend for the next period and checking against actuals.
- The topic before
- Quotas and targets
- The topic after
- Territory management
If you want this done for you
The forecast is a feeling, not a number anyone can defend to the owner.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Commit, possible and stretch must mean different things”
Define the grades before the reps use them. A will-close deal has a named decision-maker, a quote sent and a date. Possible has interest but no date. Stretch needs something to change. If a rep grades everything as will-close, the plan is a wish list.
“Beat-based reps need secondary sales”
A rep working distributor beats does not sell to a customer in the usual sense. Base both the six-week and three-month reviews on secondary sales, broken down by beat. Using primary sales shows what the distributor ordered, which may be unrelated to what the shops bought.
“The adjustment log is how managers learn”
When the manager lowers a rep's commit, the reason goes in the log: the rep missed their last two commits, or the customer is known to delay. At quarter end, compare the log with what happened. Over time you learn which adjustments were wise.
“A gap with the top-down target is a conversation”
If the reps total less than the owner's target, do not push the numbers up on the spreadsheet. Ask which deals could move, where more coverage would help, and whether the target itself was set on a wrong assumption.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The rep's run-rate sheet
Figures for the past six weeks and the past three months, split by customer or by beat, with one-off sales marked. The rep fills it before writing the plan, so the plan starts from what happened.
Result: Finished when the rep's three-month total matches the sales register.
The graded funnel
Open deals as rows. Columns: customer, product, rupee value, grade (will close, possible, stretch), next step, date. Subtotal by grade at the bottom. Kept in a shared spreadsheet or in your CRM.
Result: Finished when every will-close row has a next step with a date.
The rep's quarterly plan
One page: the quarter's forecast, the deals behind it, and the specific actions the rep will take, such as visits, quotations and follow-ups, to deliver it. Submitted before the quarter starts.
Result: Finished when each rep has submitted a plan and the manager has read all of them.
The adjustment log
For each rep, the manager's changed figure and the reason in a line. Compare against the rep's track record and against the best performers in similar territories.
Result: Finished when each change has a reason a rep could read without feeling accused.
The consolidated forecast and gap note
Total of the adjusted plans beside the top-down target, the difference in rupees, and the owner's written decision on what to do about it. Share the decision with the team.
Result: Finished when the team knows the final quarter figure and who agreed it.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Will reps sandbag if they set their own forecast?
What if a rep has no CRM?
How long does each plan take?
Should the plan replace the annual quota?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of forecasting and budgeting
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.