Revamped forecasting in Zoho CRM

Revamped forecasting in Zoho CRM

Forecasting is an important part of a business's strategy to help set meaningful targets, optimize their sales strategies to help users achieve said target and drive revenue for the business.
With this in mind, we've brought a number of different enhancements to Zoho CRM's forecasting capabilities to help businesses understand their pipeline better, make accurate forecasts, set realistic targets, and help sales teams achieve them. Earlier in December, we briefed about these enhancements in forecasts in our Winter '21 announcement. We are thrilled to talk about these changes in detail here.

Create multiple and condition based forecasts across different periods

Businesses were limited to just a single forecast that encompasses all deals, but now you can create multiple forecasts, which can include all your deals or deals that match specified conditions, with a greater control of the forecast periods.
Forecasts can be created for all the available hierarchy:
  • Role/Reporting to
  • Territory


Forecasts can be created monthly or quarterly for the following forecast periods.
  • Current - 4 Quarters / 12 months of current fiscal year
  • Future - 4 Quarters / 12 months of the next fiscal year
  • Completed - The previous 2 fiscal years

 

Forecast types

Two forecasts types can be created which are based around the attribute that is used to set targets for your users:
  • Deal Revenue based forecasts - These are forecasts where the targets are based on currency fields like deal amount, expected revenue or other custom currency fields defined the deals module
  • Deal Quantity based forecasts - These are forecasts where the targets are based on system defined fields like "count of deals" and other custom number fields


Introducing Best Case and Committed deals under "Forecast Category"

In the current forecasting, deals only had three forecast categories that were associated with them.
  • Closed won - Deal was marked "Won"
  • Closed lost - Deal was marked "omitted"
  • Open - Deal was marked "Pipeline"
Now open deals can be tagged with new options under the forecast category:
  • Best case - Open deals that have a high chance of being won
  • Committed - Open deals that sales reps commit to winning
Instead of generalising all open deals as pipeline deals, this split gives a better picture as to where a particular sales rep stands in terms of the deals in their pipeline. This allows the administrator to make a more informed decision when setting targets for a particular user.

Sales reps also have the option to update the forecast category in a specific deal manually, to the appropriate option when the situation calls for it. The deal amount will then be updated in your forecast during its next sync

Transparent split of deals in your pipeline for optimal targets

When setting targets for your users, a popup with your pipeline data shows the split of deals to give you a better picture of where each user stands in-terms of sales numbers.
The deals are split into open and closed won deals, with the open deals being further split into best cases, committed and pipeline deals.

Zia offers target suggestions and predicts target achievement

When creating forecasts, there are two choices. They can be built from the ground up as a completely new forecast, or they can be linked and created from an existing forecast.
When creating a continuous forecast, Zia will calculate and suggest targets based on the historical data of your selected forecasts. This will be available in the forecast create page when setting targets.
The historical and current deal closure pattern of users will be analysed as well to give you the predicted target achievement for the users. Achievement predictions will be available in the target achievement report.

Compare your performance across different forecast periods

All your created forecasts will be available in a list view under the forecast module. You can now drill down into a particular forecast and compare how your business performance fared across the years.
Depending on the duration selected in the filter, the following data will be consolidated and shown at the top :
  • Total target
  • Achievement
  • Gap
Under the consolidated data, the forecast data for each quarter/month for the selected duration will be listed for a bird's eye view analysis. You can then drill down further to analyse the performance of individual users or roles if required.

Archived Forecast

The purpose of having forecasts is to keep track of the company's performance on various levels of the organization. Thus far, the forecast list view page shows data only for the completed two years, the current year, and one future year. So, as your business continues, you would be losing forecast records beyond two previous years. This clearly beats the purpose of having forecasts as the past data might still be significantly important. Hence, we have introduced archived forecasts as our latest enhancement.

  • The forecast list view displays up to 2 completed years' data. Now, the forecasts created beyond these two years will be archived automatically.
    For example, suppose the current forecast is for Q3 2021. The list view has records for completed forecasts since Q1 2019. The forecasts before Q1 2019 would be archived.
  • If a forecast configuration is edited, the current and future forecasts based on old configuration will be deleted while the completed forecasts will be archived.
    For the above example of point 1, if you edit the hierarchy or any other configuration, the completed forecasts will be archived, and the current forecast for Q3 2021 will be deleted along with any future forecasts created.
When will forecasts be archived?
  1. Completed forecasts over two years from the current year will be archived. For example, if the current year is 2022, forecasts of 2021, and 2019 will be available on the forecast list view page. Forecasts older than 2019 will be archived.
  2. Forecasts will be archived automatically upon editing forecast configuration- changing either the hierarchy or forecast type.
    For example if the Hierarchy is Reporting To, and its changed to Territory, or edit the forecast type, the existing forecasts would be archived.
  3. Forecast will be archived if the hierarchy preferences are modified in Company Details.
In the archived forecast page, the forecasts are listed in chronological order. You can also filter them based on Hierarchy, Forecast Type, and Time.


Notes
  • The archived forecasts cannot be edited, they are just for viewing purposes. Users can delete a forecast.
  • Up to 5 years of forecasts records would be available as archive.
  • Changing when the Fiscal Year of your org begins, say changing it from January to April, will delete all the existing forecasts as well as the archived forecasts.

Empowering forecast managers

Forecast managers can now build their own forecasts and assign targets to their role, their own target, their peers and sub roles & users. Individual teams can have their own distinct forecasts and targets which can be focused on. These forecasts will be visible for the Admin, CEO and the forecast manager of a higher role who can monitor these forecasts and update them when needed.
If a forecast manager's target has been modified by the CEO, admin or a forecast manager from a higher role, the modified target is locked and cannot be changed by the forecast manager.

That's all about the enhancements. For more details check out our help page Creating and Working with Forecasts.

We have opened this new forecast for all users subscribed to the paid editions of Zoho CRM, in all DCs. For users who are currently using the old forecasts, they will have the option to switch to new forecast till June end. Post which, it will be mandatory to switch to the new forecasts to access the forecast module.
 
Looking forward to hearing from you.



        • Recent Topics

        • Zoho Calendar soft bounce on @hotmail.com and @yahoo.com email addresses

          Hello, our Zoho calendar recently does not send the calendar invites to emails with hotmail and yahoo domains and comes back with a "soft bounce". other domains like Gmail works fine. Also sending "email" to the same emails to the above domains work well

        • ERROR CODE :512 - 5.4.4 DNS error:NXDOMAIN.

          Suddenly we cant send mail, we are getting this error for all outbound mail to multiple domains.

        • Can Zoho Flows repeat Actions more than once?

          I'm attempting to make an intentional Zoho Flow loop using the below layout. However, when "WithinLimit" condition is met, the program fails to execute the action "Get & Add Request Co..." again. Is this by design? Is Zoho Flows unable to repeat actions

        • Unveiling Cadences: Redefining CRM interactions with automated sequential follow-ups

          Last modified on 01/04/2024: Cadences is now available for all Zoho CRM users in all data centres (DCs). Note that it was previously an early access feature, available only upon request, and was also known as Cadences Studio. As of April 1, 2024, it's

        • customer data security

          We are exploring ways to enhance our within Zoho CRM. Our Goal: We want to fully integrate RingCentral with Zoho CRM to enable click-to-call functionality for our sales team. However, to comply with data privacy regulations and protect customer contact

        • Zoho Cliq not working on airplanes

          Hi, My team and I have been having this constant issue of cliq not working when connected to an airplane's wifi. Is there a reason for this? We have tried on different Airlines and it doesn't work on any of them. We need assistance here since we are constantly

        • Sync CRM inventory data with Zoho Books

          I just switched everything over to ZoHo books, but I am trying to find out why the CRM Estimates, Invoices, and Sales Orders created in ZoHo CRM are not then duplicated in ZoHo Books? I had Quickbooks before, and had to do everything twice, I thought

        • mask Customer phone number and agents cant see customer phone number

          Is there any way we can integrate Zoom Phone with Zoho CRM while ensuring that customer phone numbers remain masked? We need a solution where agents can make outbound calls but cannot see customer phone numbers. Please let us know if there is any solution

        • Email Reminders on Shared Calendars

          How do we turn off the setting that emails reminders to everyone who has accepted or declined a calendar invite? If 8 of us have been invited to the same meeting, we receive 8 notifications for every step of the process, from invitation to decision.

        • Default Sorting on Related Lists

          Is it possible to set the default sorting options on the related lists. For example on the Contact Details view I have related lists for activities, emails, products cases, notes etc... currently: Activities 'created date' newest first Emails - 'created

        • WebDAV / FTP / SFTP protocols for syncing

          I believe the Zoho for Desktop app is built using a proprietary protocol. For the growing number of people using services such as odrive to sync multiple accounts from various providers (Google, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, etc.) it would be really helpful if you implemented standard protocols such as WebDAV / FTP / SFTP so that alternative inc clients can be used.

        • What's New in Zoho Inventory | Q2 2025

          Hello Customers, The second quarter have been exciting months for Zoho Inventory! We’ve introduced impactful new features and enhancements to help you manage inventory operations with even greater precision and control. While we have many more exciting

        • How to refresh a ticket view ?

          I am doing a widget where I send a rest api call to make a new draft to the ticket I am viewing. The issue is sometimes it refresh a ticket view and I can see inserted draft right away, but sometimes I do not see it even if it is inserted correctly and

        • Ugh! - Text Box (Single Line) Not Enough - Text Box (Multi-line) Unavailable in PDF!

          I provide services, I do not sell items. In each estimate I send I provide a customized job description. A two or three sentence summary of the job to be performed. I need to be able to include this job description on each estimate I send as it's a critical

        • Merge Items

          Is there a work around for merging items? We currently have three names for one item, all have had a transaction associated so there is no deleting (just deactivating, which doesn't really help. It still appears so people are continuing to use it). I also can't assign inventory tracking to items used in past transactions, which I don't understand, this is an important feature moving forward.. It would be nice to merge into one item and be able to track inventory. Let me know if this is possible.

        • Supervisor Rules - Zoho Desk

          Hi, I have set up a Supervisor Rule in Zoho Desk to send an email alert when a ticket has been on hold for 48 hours. Is there a way to change it so that the alert only sends once and not on an hourly basis? Thank you Laura

        • ResponseCode 421, 4.7.0 [TSS04] Messages from 136.143.188.51 temporarily deferred due to user complaints

          Had email bounce. Let me know if you can fix this. Thanks. Michael

        • Zoho Canvas - Custom templates for related lists

          Hi, I see that the example pages load always one of our related lists in a custom template, but I dont know how to work with that:  1) How can i make my own custom templates for related lists?  2) Where and how can i check out existing custom templates?

        • Automation #15: Automatically Adding Static Secondary Contacts

          Rockel is a top-tier client of Zylker traders. Marcus handles communications with Rockel and would like to add Terence, the CTO of Zylker traders to the email conversations. In this case, the emails coming from user address rockel.com should have Terence

        • New Zoho triggers Google Dangerous flag due toabnormal charcters

          Just signed up and doing my first email test. I sent it to my google email account but it got flagged as Dangerous" due abnormal characters. My DNS setup looks ok. Page snips attached Help Please Thanks, Rick DC PowerWorld

        • Is there a API to fetch tasks in a Board/Section

          I am writing a scheduled function that retrieves all the tasks and send an reminder on cliq. I cannot seem to find a API to fetch tasks (by user / board / section) What are the way to fetch tasks?

        • Having trouble fetching contents of Zoho Connect Feeds using the API, requesting alternative API documentation.

          I'm trying to retrieve feed/post data from Zoho Connect using the API but facing challenges with the current documentation. What I've tried: OAuth authentication is working correctly (getting 200 OK responses) Tested multiple endpoints: /pulse/nativeapi/v2/feeds,

        • Adding an Account Name to Tasks/Reminders

          Does anyone know how to add the related account name to a task?  When we look at the list of activities and when the reminders pop up, there is no way of quickly seeing who the account is. 

        • Triggering Zoho Flow on Workdrive File Label

          Right now Im trying to have a zoho flow trigger on the labeling/classification of a file in a folder. Looking at the trigger options they arent great for something like this. File event occurred is probably the most applicable, but the events it has arent

        • SendMail to multiple recipients

          Hi, I'm trying to send an email to a list of recipients.  Right now the "to" field is directed to a string variable. (List variables won't work here). In the string variable, how can I make it work? trying "user@app.com;user2@app.com" or "user@app.com; user2@app.com" just failed to send the emails. Ravid

        • Populate drop down field from another form's subform

          Hello, I found how to do that, but not in case of a subform. I have a Product form that has a subform for unit and prices. A product might have more than one unit. For example, the product "Brocoli" can be sold in unit at 3$ or in box of 10 at 25 $. Both

        • Usar o Inventory ou módulo customizado no CRM para Gestão de Estoque ?

          Minha maior dor hoje em usar o zoho é a gestão do meu estoque. Sou uma empresa de varejo e essa gestão é fundamental pra mim. Obviamente preciso que esse estoque seja visível no CRM, Inicialmente fiz através de módulos personalizados no próprio Zoho CRM,

        • Signup forms behaviour : Same email & multiple submissions

          My use case is that I have a signup form (FormA) that I use in several places on my website, with a hidden field so I can see where the contact has been made from. I also have a couple of other signup forms (FormB and FormC) that slight differences. All

        • getting error in project users api

          Hello, I'm getting a "Given URL is wrong" error when trying to use the Zoho Projects V3 API endpoint for adding users to a project. The URL I'm using is https://projectsapi.zoho.com/api/v3/portal/{portalid}/projects/{projectid}/projectusers/ and it's

        • Change total display format in weekly time logs

          Hi! Would it be possible to display the total of the value entered in the weekly time log in the same format that the user input? This could be an option in the general settings -> display daily timesheet total in XX.XX format or XX:XX.

        • Different Company Name for billing & shipping address

          We are using Zoho Books & Inventory for our Logistics and started to realize soon, that Zoho is not offering a dedicated field for a shipping address company name .. when we are creating carrier shipping labels, the Billing Address company name gets always

        • How to display historical ticket information of the total time spent in each status

          Hi All, Hoping someone can help me, as I am new to Zoho Analytics, and I am a little stuck. I am looking to create a bar chart that looks back over tickets raised in the previous month and displays how much time was spent in each status (With Customer,

        • Zoho Projects iOS app update: Global Web Tabs support

          Hello everyone! In the latest version(v3.10.10) of the Zoho Projects app update, we have brought in support for Global Web Tabs. You can now access the web tabs across all the projects from the Home module of the app. Please update the app to the latest

        • Zoho Community Weekend Maintenance: 13–15 Sep 2025

          Hi everyone, We wanted to give you a heads-up that Zoho Community will undergo scheduled maintenance this weekend. During this period, some community features will be temporarily unavailable, while others will be in read-only mode. Maintenance Window:

        • Agent Performance Report

          From data to decisions: A deep dive into ticketing system reports An agent performance report in a ticketing system provides a comprehensive view of how support agents manage customer tickets. It measures efficiency and quality by tracking key performance

        • Show both Vendor and Customers in contact statement

          Dear Sir, some companies like us working with companies as Vendor and Customers too !!! it mean we send invoice and also receive bill from them , so we need our all amount in one place , but in contact statement , is separate it as Vendor and Customer, 

        • URL validation

          We use an internal intranet site which has a short DNS name which Zoho CRM will not accept.   When attempting to update the field it says "Please enter a valid URL". The URL I am trying to set is http://intranet/pm/ Our intranet is not currently setup with a full DNS name and given the amount of links using the shortname probably isn't a feasible change for us.

        • Pourquoi dans zohobooks version gratuite on ne peut ajouter notre stock d'ouverture??

          Pourquoi dans zohobooks version gratuite on ne peut ajouter notre stock d'ouverture ??

        • How can I adjust column width in Zoho Books?

          One issue I keep running into is as I show or hide columns in reports, the column widths get weird. Some columns have text cut off while others can take a fourth of the page for just a few characters. I checked report layout guides and my settings, but

        • Invalid value passed for file_name

          System generated file name does not send file anymore - what is the problem?

        • Next Page