Sales forecasting
10 Questions to Ask in a Forecast Call to Test the Evidence
Ten questions sales leaders can ask in a forecast call to separate customer-confirmed evidence from seller assumptions on a live deal.
By OnDen · Published · 4 min read
A forecast call usually checks stage, amount and close date. Those are claims, not evidence. The questions below make the seller show what the customer has actually confirmed. Use them on your commit deals first.
Urgency and value
- 1. What happens to the customer if they do nothing this quarter?
- 2. Who at the customer told you that, and when?
- 3. Which number in the business case came from the customer, and which is your own estimate?
- 4. Has finance, or whoever owns the budget, seen and validated that number?
Buying group and access
- 5. Who is in the buying group, and which roles have you not met yet?
- 6. Who could block this deal, and what do they think of it?
- 7. Have you spoken to the economic buyer directly? If not, who has, and what did they say?
Decision process and next step
- 8. What are the customer's remaining steps between now and signature, and who owns each one?
- 9. What is the competing option, including "do nothing", and why would the customer stay with it?
- 10. What is the next step, who owns it, and by when?
How to use these questions
Listen for answers that start with 'I think' or 'they seem'. Those are assumptions. Mark each answer as confirmed, assumed or unknown. A deal that is mostly assumptions and unknowns needs coaching, not a commit call.
A weak next step is 'send the proposal.' A strong one is 'the CFO delegate validates the savings baseline by the 18th.' The second is specific, owned and dated, and the customer has agreed to it.
Key takeaways
- A forecast call that checks stage, amount and close date is checking claims, not evidence.
- Ask where each answer came from: the customer, or the seller's own view.
- Mark answers confirmed, assumed or unknown, and coach the deals that are mostly assumptions.
- A strong next step is specific, owned, dated and agreed with the customer.
Try this on a deal you are working now
OnDen turns customer research, value discovery and readiness gaps into a practical win plan. You can start with incomplete information.
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