Guide · Forecasting
How to prepare for a sales forecast call: a 20-minute checklist
A good forecast call is short: your manager wants a number they can trust, what changed, and where you need help. This checklist gets you there in about 20 minutes, in Salesforce, Dynamics 365 or any CRM.
Updated 26 October 2026 · by the CRM Assist team at ShiftRight
What your manager wants to know
- Your number: what you commit to close this period, and your best case.
- What changed: deals that moved in or out, slipped to a later date, or changed amount since last week.
- Risks: the deals that could fall out, and why.
- Asks: where you need help, such as an executive sponsor, pricing approval or a technical resource.
The checklist
- Clean up close dates (5 minutes). Any deal with a close date in the past is wrong. Move the date, change the stage, or close it as lost. Nothing hurts a forecast more than stale dates.
- Check every stage against its exit criteria. If a deal is in "Negotiation", is there an agreed proposal? If not, move it back.
- Confirm amounts. Seats, term and discounts change. Update the amount now, not after the call.
- Write a dated next step for each deal. One line, with a date: "Security review with IT, 6 Nov."
- Sort deals into commit and best case. Commit means you would bet on it closing this period. Be honest: managers trust reps whose commit holds up.
- Know what changed since last week. List deals that entered or left your forecast, slipped, or changed amount, with one sentence on why.
- Pick your top two risks and one ask. Name the deal, the risk and what would fix it.
What to say for each committed deal
Keep it to four points: where it is (stage and the last real conversation), what is left (the steps to signature), the date (and what it depends on), and the risk (what could move it). If you can't fill in all four, it probably isn't commit.
Common mistakes
- Updating the CRM during the call instead of before it.
- Committing deals with no next step or no date for the next meeting.
- Leaving slipped deals in this quarter "just in case".
- Explaining every deal; spend time on the ones that changed or are at risk.
How CRM Assist helps
CRM Assist puts your Salesforce or Dynamics 365 pipeline on one screen so the checklist above takes minutes:
- Edit stage, amount, close date and next step in a spreadsheet-style grid that saves straight to your CRM.
- Meera, the built-in AI assistant, flags deals with close dates in the past, missing next steps or no recent activity, and prepares the updates you describe; you approve each one.
- The forecast view adds up commit, best case and pipeline as you update, shows what changed this week, and lets you make your forecast call where your manager can see it.
- Quotas, attainment and win/loss reasons for reps and managers.
14-day free trial, no credit card, then US$9.90 per user per month. See how it works.
Questions
What is the difference between commit and best case?
Commit is the amount you are confident will close in the period. Best case adds deals that could close if things go well. Salesforce and Dynamics 365 both use forecast categories along these lines; your company may name them differently.
How long should forecast call prep take?
About 20 minutes if you update your pipeline weekly. Most of the time goes on fixing stale close dates and writing next steps.
Should I update my CRM before or during the forecast call?
Before. Your manager's view of the forecast comes from the CRM, so update it first and use the call to discuss changes, risks and asks.
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