Voice-based forecast analysis in Zoho CRM | Public Early Access 2023

Voice-based forecast analysis in Zoho CRM | Public Early Access 2023

Hello Everyone!

We are happy to introduce you to yet another exciting update from Zoho CRM. This time, it's about the addition of a valuable dashboard component in Voice of the Customer called "Voice based forecast analysis"

This feature is a sequel to the previously announced VoC feature. If you already registered for the Voice of the Customer (VoC) Early Access, you do not need to register again as the enhancement will automatically apply to your account. You can learn more about the VoC function by reading this post if you haven't already.

This is available in a public early access mode, which means this feature will be enabled for you upon request. To start with, To submit your request for this feature, kindly fill out this form.

As the feature is currently in EA, we eagerly look forward to your feedback. Do try it out and post your feedback in the comments section.

Let's have a quick look

As you may already be aware, Forecasts in Zoho CRM help you set and achieve sales targets for your teams by a specific period (by month, by quarter, etc). By creating and working with forecasts, you are effectively able to use the knowledge of current sales progress to set and meet future sales goals for your teams.

The challenge with the current forecast setup is that, while the system will actively help you monitor sales progress, it does not capture specific feedback from customers on your sales efforts, that lead up to a winning or losing deal.

For instance, in the cases of failure to meet the set target, you may not exactly know what your customers have to say about the deal. Or for that matter, you may not know what it is that you are doing well, that is giving you winning deals. So, knowledge of this winning/losing pattern along with contextual feedback from customers will help you set better goals and also meet them better.

This is where VoC enters the picture. With our new Voice based analysis dashboard, you are provided with real-time insights about your customers' feedback across the sales process, offered to you in the context of your sales forecasts.
 
 
This way you are effectively able to understand what went right/wrong with deals in a specific forecast category, which will
 
a) Potentially help you take corrective actions for deals on a losing path, before their target period is over, with the help of contextual feedback from customers.
b)  Set and meet better data-driven sales targets with VoC insights at your disposal for future sales goals.


Voice-based forecast analysis— An overview

Zoho CRM will now include a dedicated dashboard in its Voice of the Customer solution, called "Voice-based forecast analysis" in order to present intelligent insights about customer feedback presented in the context of forecast categories configured in the CRM.





Let's say Zylker Tech uses Zoho CRM to keep a track of their sales efforts. Currently in their CRM, the Forecasts module projects a target of $10000 for sales team for the upcoming quarter.
 

In this context, with insights in the Voice based forecast analysis, they can observe real-time, key takeaways from customer feedback plotted in the context of forecast details.

For example, here you can see that there are three customers in the 2500-3000 deal lost category, who've mentioned the term "bad product" in some of their conversations with the organization. If a handful of customers have been lost because of their feedback that a "product is bad", this could immediately call for corrective actions from the organization as a whole, in terms of revisiting the quality of their offerings, and also reaching out to these lost customers to make remedies.
 

This will also help sales teams to plan future conversations with such customers to meet their targets better.





There are several more chart components in this dashboard, and they are outlined in the following sections in this post. This is just an example to indicate the value from just one particular chart. To summarize, the insights in this dashboard will help you in the following ways.

  • To observe real-time feedback from customers in the context of sales forecasts, which will help you meet your sales targets better. 
  • To recognize a winning/losing path for deals across a projected target period and use the insights to increase the chances of successful deals within the target period.

To learn from what went wrong and apply the learning to future sales targets.

How does Voice based forecast analysis work

Zia captures all types of voice-related attributes such as keywords spoken by customers and the intent and sentiment with which the keywords were spoken. This information in conjugation with many other CRM features will give insightful dashboards for customers.
 
For every role in an organization, you can set a deal amount or deal revenue that needs to be delivered/achieved in a particular period (quarterly or monthly). You can see the performance trends and comparisons across periods.

Key components in forecast analysis are:

Forecast type: In Zoho CRM, forecast analysis is based on the deal count (Deal Quantity) or the deal amount (Deal Revenue).

Forecast period - You can set the forecast based on Quarterly (Quarter 1, Quarter 2,.... Quarter n) or Monthly (Month 1, Month 2, Month n) period.

It is incomplete when we stop with just viewing the numbers. It turns out to be useful and important only when we question the reasoning for the gaps. It is at this juncture that VOC will help us analyze these forecast for our customers based on their constantly uttered keywords and the intent of these keywords before and after a deal win or deal loss.

It is reasoning out everything based on the Voice of the Customer. What was spoken by the customer before a deal was won or lost? How many deals were open when they were spoken?...We already have umpteen number of charts inside VOC to cater to these needs. What is new is that, CRM has now curated a certain set of charts based on forecast attributes and deliver these insights as dashboards within VOC.

How to configure voice based Forecast Analysis dashboard


To set the dashboard configuration:

  1. Go to Voice Of The Customer module.
  2. Select Voice-based Forecast Analysis dashboard from the left pane.
  3. Select Configure Dashboard from Actions option on the upper-right corner of the page

  4.           



  5. In the displayed dialog box, set the following options:

      1. Select Forecast - Select a forecast that you configured on the Forecast module. It is to be noted that the computations are based on forecasts for the current quarter or month only.
      2. Select Modules - Select the module where you want to execute forecast analysis.
      3. Keyword Preferences - You can choose to include all keywords or exclude certain keywords.










        
7. Click Configure to complete the configuration.

Type of Charts for Voice-based Forecast Analysis  


Overall Keyword tabular view 

This analysis covers details on how many deals were lost, won or open for the targeted period. The type of keyword mentioned by the customers for that month or quarter before a deal loss or deal won or any open deals. You can view the most commonly spoken keywords before every stage of a sales cycle.



 

Top 5 Keyword Buzz for lost deals

Displays the deal loss percentage for every month or quarter. The number of lost deals where the top keywords were spoken over the chosen period. This will help understand the keywords that led to losing the deal and not being able to achieve the target.






Keyword quadrant analysis for lost deals

Latest keywords with negative intent mentioned before lost deals is plotted against quadrants. This helps the user to avoid using those keywords for upcoming deals and prioritize the issues to avoid more deal loss. This helps achieve the set target for a period by analyzing the gap and avoiding such keywords that lead to deal loss.






Keyword quadrant analysis for open deals

Latest keywords that were uttered during an open deal are plotted in this chart. You can compare this chart with the previous chart to find out similarities and the trajectory to lose a deal. This will help you to plan your conversations with a customer who uses keywords mentioned in the previous chart that lead to deal loss.





Open deal amount by intent

Deals that are open are analyzed by the intent and the keywords associated with the intent. The chart gives the user a perspective on what the state of the deal would be at the end and how it will affect the target.




Intent-based deal lost tabular analysis

Keywords mentioned by customers are grouped based on the intent of the keywords. For example, the groups can be a complaint, request, dissatisfaction and so on. You can see the deal revenue that is lost for an intent and what keywords are associated with that intent. This is similar to the previous chart but this chart gives detailed understanding in the tabular view.



To learn more about VoC and what it offers, please refer to this guide.

That's all about this enhancement. Let us know you're feedback in the comment section.

Thank You :)

      • Recent Topics

      • How to create auto populate field based on custom module in Zoho CRM?

        Hello, i'm still new to Zoho CRM and work as administrator in my company. Currently, I'm configuring layout for Quotes Module. So, the idea is, I've created a read-only field in Quotes called "Spec". I want this field automatically filled with Specification

      • webinar registration confirmation are landing in SPMA folders

        I am trialing zoho webinar and do not have access to custom domains. When I test user registrations, they are working but the resulting confirmation email is landing in a spam folder. How can I avoid this?

      • Making digital signatures accessible to all: Introducing accessibility controls in Zoho Sign

        Hi there! At Zoho Sign, we are committed to building an inclusive digital experience for all our users. As part of our ongoing efforts to align with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), we’re updating the application with support that will go

      • Is there a way to set Document Owner/Sender via the API

        When sending requests for zoho sign, it would seem zoho uses the id of the person that created the zoho api cred to determine the owner_id, is there a way to set a default for this?

      • Transition Criteria Appearing on Blueprint Transitions

        On Monday, Sept. 8th, the Transition criteria started appearing on our Blueprints when users hover over a Transition button. See image. We contacted Zoho support because it's confusing our users (there's really no reason for them to see it), but we haven't

      • Delegates should be able to delete expenses

        I understand the data integrity of this request. It would be nice if there was a toggle switch in the Policy setting that would allow a delegate to delete expenses from their managers account. Some managers here never touch their expense reports, and

      • Add Save button to Expense form

        A save button would be very helpful on the expense form. Currently there is a Save and Close button. When we want to itemize an expense, this option would be very helpful. For example, if we have a hotel expense that also has room service, which is a

      • Multiple organizations under Zoho One

        Hello. I have a long and complicated question. I have a Zoho One account and want to set it up to serve the needs of 6 organizations under the same company. Some of the Zoho One users need to be able to work in more than 1 organization’s CRM and other

      • IMAP Server not responding.

        Trying to connect a phone via IMAP and getting "imap.zoho.com not responding." Is the server down, for maintenance or otherwise? I've tried this on two different devices and got the same error on both.

      • Error AS101 when adding new email alias

        Hi, I am trying to add apple@(mydomain).com The error AS101 is shown while I try to add the alias.

      • Unbundle feature for composite items

        We receive composite items from our vendors and sell them either individually or create other composite items out of them. So, there is a lot of bundling and unbundling involved with our composite items. Previously, this feature was supported in form

      • Regarding the integration of Apollo.io with Zoho crm.

        I have been seeing for the last 3 months that your Apollo.io beta version is available in Zoho Flow, and this application has not gone live yet. We requested this 2 months ago, but you guys said that 'we are working on it,' and when we search on Google

      • Open filtered deals from campaign

        Do you think a feature like this would be feasible? Say you are seeing campaign "XYZ" in CRM. The campaign has a related list of deals. If you want to see the related deals in a deal view, you should navigate to the Deals module, open the campaign filter,

      • How do you print a refund check to customer?

        Maybe this is a dumb question, but how does anyone print a refund check to a customer? We cant find anywhere to either just print a check and pick a customer, or where to do so from a credit note.

      • MTD SA in the UK

        Hello ID 20106048857 The Inland Revenue have confirmed that this tax account is registered as Cash Basis In Settings>Profile I have set ‘Report Basis’ as “Cash" However, I see on Zoho on Settings>Taxes>Income Tax that the ‘Tax Basis’ is marked ‘Accrual'

      • workflow not working in subform

        I have the following code in a subform which works perfectly when i use the form alone but when i use the form as a subform within another main form it does not work. I have read something about using row but i just cant seem to figure out what to change

      • Fetch data from another table into a form field

        I have spent the day trying to work this out so i thought i would use the forum for the first time. I have two forms in the same application and when a user selects a customer name from a drop down field and would like the customer number field in the

      • Zoho Creator as LMS and Membership Solution

        My client is interested in using Zoho One apps to deploy their membership academy offer. Zoho Creator was an option that came up in my research: Here are the components of the program/offer: 1. Membership portal - individual login credentials for each

      • Record comment filter

        Hi - I have a calendar app that we use to track tasks. I have the calendar view set up so that the logged in user only sees the record if they are assigned to the task. BUT there are instances when someone is @ mentioned in the record when they are not

      • How to View Part Inventory and Warehouse Location When Creating a Work Order in Zoho FSM

        Hi everyone, We’re currently setting up Zoho FSM and would like to improve how our team selects parts when creating a Work Order. Right now, when we add a part or item to a Work Order, we can select it from our Zoho Inventory list but we don’t see any

      • FSM too slow today !!

        Anybody else with problem today to loading FSM (WO, AP etc.)?

      • CRM x WorkDrive: File storage for new CRM signups is now powered by WorkDrive

        Availability Editions: All DCs: All Release plan: Released for new signups in all DCs. It will be enabled for existing users in a phased manner in the upcoming months. Help documentation: Documents in Zoho CRM Manage folders in Documents tab Manage files

      • Not able to Sign In in Zoho OneAuth in Windows 10

        I recently reset my Windows 10 system, after the reset when I downloaded the OAuth app and tried to Sign In It threw an error at me. Error: Token Fetch Error. Message: Object Reference not set to an instance of an object I have attached the screenshot

      • Mapping a custom preferred date field in the estimate with the native field in the workorder

        Hi Zoho, I created a field in the estimate : "Preferred Date 1", to give the ability to my support agent to add a preferred date while viewing the client's estimate. However, in the conversion mapping (Estimate to Workorder), I'm unable to map my custom

      • Runing RPA Agents on Headless Windows 11 Machines

        Has anyone tried this? Anything to be aware of regarding screen resolution?

      • The sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on spamrl.com as a source of spam.

        Hi, it just two day when i am using zoho mail for my business domain, today i was sending email and found that message "The sending IP (136.143.188.15) is listed on https://spamrl.com as a source of spam" I hope to know how this will affect the delivery

      • Delegates - Access to approved reports

        We realized that delegates do not have access to reports after they are approved. Many users ask questions of their delegates about past expense reports and the delegates can't see this information. Please allow delegates see all expense report activity,

      • Split functionality - Admins need ability to do this

        Admins should be able to split an expense at any point of the process prior to approval. The split is very helpful for our account coding, but to have to go back to a user and ask them to split an invoice that they simply want paid is a bit of an in

      • What is a a valid JavaScript Domain URI when creating a client-based application using the Zoho API console?

        No idea what this is. Can't see what it is explained anywhere.

      • Is there a way to request a password?

        We add customers info into the vaults and I wanted to see if we could do some sort of "file request" like how dropbox offers with files. It would be awesome if a customer could go to a link and input a "title, username, password, url" all securely and it then shows up in our team vault or something. Not sure if that is safe, but it's the best I can think of to be semi scalable and obviously better than sending emails. I am open to another idea, just thought this would be a great feature.  Thanks,

      • Single Task Report

        I'd like a report or a way to print to PDF the task detail page. I'd like at least the Task Information section but I'd also like to see the Activity Stream, Status Timeline and Comments. I'd like to export the record and save it as a PDF. I'd like the

      • Auto-response for closed tickets

        Hi, We sometimes have users that (presumably) search their email inbox for the last correspondence with us and just hit reply - even if it's a 6 month old ticket... - this then re-opens the 6 month old ticket because of the ticket number in the email's subject. Yes, it's easy to 'Split as new Ticket', but I'd like something automated to respond to the user saying "this ticket has already been resolved and closed, please submit a new ticket". What's the best way to achieve this? Thanks, Ed

      • How to Push Zoho Desk time logged to Zoho Projects?

        I am on the last leg of my journey of finally automating time tracking, payments, and invoicing for my minutes based contact center company - I just have one final step to solve - I need time logged in zoho desk to add time a project which is associated

      • Cannot access KB within Help Center

        Im working with my boss to customize our knowledge base, but for some reason I can see the KB tab, and see the KB categories, but I cannot access the articles within the KB. We have been troubleshooting for weeks, and we have all permissions set up, customers

      • Export to excel stored amounts as text instead of numbers or accounting

        Good Afternoon, We have a quarterly billing report that we generate from our Requests. It exports to excel. However if we need to add a formula (something as simple as a sum of the column), it doesn't read the dollar amounts because the export stores

      • why my account is private?

        when i post on zohodesk see only agent only

      • Getting ZOHO Invoice certified in Portugal?

        Hello, We are ZOHO partners in Portugal and here, all the invoice software has to be certified by the government and ZOHO Invoice still isn´t certified. Any plans? Btw, we can help on this process, since we have a client that knows how to get the software certified. Thank you.

      • Show/ hide specific field based on user

        Can someone please help me with a client script to achieve the following? I've already tried a couple of different scripts I've found on here (updating to match my details etc...) but none of them seem to work. No errors flagged in the codes, it just

      • 500 Internal Server Error

        I have been trying to create my first app in Creator, but have been getting the 500: Internal Server Error. When I used the Create New Application link, it gave me the error after naming the application. After logging out, and back in, the application that I created was in the list, but when I try to open it to start creating my app, it gives me the 500: Internal Server Error. Please help! Also, I tried making my named app public, but I even get the error when trying to do that.

      • Client Script | Update - Client Script Support For Portals

        Dear All! We are excited to announce the highly anticipated feature: Client Script support for Portals. We understand that many of you have been eagerly awaiting this enhancement, and we are pleased to inform you that this support is now live for all

      • Next Page