Smarter Week

How to automate it

How to automate “sit in pipeline reviews and forecast calls”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today.

60 min
typically, once a week
40%
of the time can be automated
Easy
to set up

Fix 1 of 2

Process fixBest fix

Review only the deals that changed or are at risk

Walking every deal every week wastes the room's time. A filtered list of deals that moved, slipped or went quiet keeps the meeting short.

Typically saves about 40% of the time30 min to set up
  1. 1Build a CRM view: deals with a changed close date, amount or stage, or no activity in 14 days.
  2. 2Reps add a one-line update on those deals before the meeting.
  3. 3Discuss only that list and the big deals; cut the meeting to 30 minutes.
  4. 4Ask the AI in your CRM or notetaker to summarize changes since last week.

Tools: Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive, Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Zoho CRM · Clari or Gong Forecast

Fix 2 of 2

Software feature

Forecast in the CRM instead of a side spreadsheet

HubSpot forecasts, Salesforce Collaborative Forecasts or Clari roll up deals automatically, so updating the forecast is a few clicks on deals you already maintain.

Typically saves about 50% of the time1 h to set up
  1. 1Turn on the forecast tool your CRM includes, or Clari if your company has it.
  2. 2Agree forecast categories (commit, best case, pipeline) and map them to deal stages.
  3. 3Retire the forecast spreadsheet; managers review in the CRM view.
  4. 4Spend the saved time updating the deals themselves.

Tools: HubSpot forecasts · Salesforce Collaborative Forecasts · Clari · Pipedrive revenue forecast

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Account ExecutiveSales Manager

HourLeak · the 8-minute work audit

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Other common tasks for Account Executives