Sales Forecast Probabilities with Qualification Checklist

Sales forecast with weighted probabilities is the professional sales managers primary system for tracking sales deals. Those weighted probabilities for inclusion in the sales forecast can be calculated in various ways but our preference is a standard set of rules which get applied to every deal, every time. We use the sales qualification checklist to assign probability values based on how far along we are in the sales process. Here’s the way we apply the principles ourselves.

What’s This Deal Worth?

This page is an update to our original post Sales Qualification Checklist which has been very popular with visitors over the last year. You might also be interested in the other articles we’ve published on Sales Qualification.

This is a generic approach to a) understanding the probability of winning a sale b) using a common method for valuing all deals in a sales pipeline and c) checking sales strategy and plan for individual opportunities. It won’t fit every business in its generic form so please modify the approach to suit, create your own Standard Sales Process and apply it across your sales operations.

Please come back and tell us how you get on.

Download a Copy

You can download a .pdf version for your own use at our Download Centre, with our compliments. On the same page you’ll find a number of other White Papers which might be interesting.

How To Use It

Watch our short video to see how we use Front Office Box to make qualification part of our sales management process.

Review each of your sales opportunities, asking yourself the questions shown below. Be as honest as you can (with yourself of course) in answering. Where the answer is a definite yes give yourself 10% in the Score column.

Where you aren’t able to confirm a resounding Yes get to work, go ask the prospect the right questions to get your answers. You’ll be doing the right things to improve your chances of winning.

Apply the total in your Score column to the estimated close value and that will be your weighted probability value e.g. a $10,000 deal with 5 Yes scores = 50% = $5,000.

By the way – it you can’t get the score up to 70% by the end of your campaign you might want to forget this deal and go work on something with more promise. I’ve used this approach for 25 years and it’s never let me down. – Best wishes – Steve.

My Qualification Form

#	HAVE YOU?	Value	Score
1	Confirmed the business imperative – the reason the buyer will spend the money?	10%
2	Confirmed who will make the final decision to buy, and who from?	10%
3	Confirmed how the decision to buy will be made – the decision process.	10%
4	Agreed with the customer the buy/sell process – the way you’ll work together to make sure you both get the best deal?	10%
5	Identified the competition, and how to win against them?	10%
6	Idenitfied a “coach” – somebody on the inside who wants your offer, and will help persuade the other decision makers and tell you how to get the deal	10%
7	The prospect confirmed you’re the preferred vendor, provided you can get the commercials right.	10%
8	The prospect has agreed a delivery or start date and committed internal resources.	!0%
9	The prospect has agreed the contract terms and conditions.	10%
10	The prospect signed the contract?	10%
	Total %probability	100%