This is a weekly forecast call agenda for a front-line sales manager and a team of six to eight reps. It has three parts: the agenda, a deal table each rep fills in before the call, and a log of the buyer conversations promised. Copy all three. The reasoning behind them is in how to run a forecast call and our deal risk guide.
The template
Part 1: the agenda (40 minutes)
| Time | Block | What happens | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 | Last week's promises | Read the log from last week. For each promised buyer conversation: did it happen, and what did the buyer say? | Deals moved back up, or left where they are |
| 5 to 8 | The number | Team commit, best case, target, gap. Coverage on deals that pass the evidence test | One gap figure everyone agrees on |
| 8 to 33 | Commits, rep by rep | About 3 to 4 minutes per rep. Read their deal table. Ask the questions where an answer is weak or missing | Each deal confirmed or moved |
| 33 to 37 | Pick coaching calls | Choose the two or three moved deals with the most value. Book a 20-minute coaching call with each rep this week | Names and times |
| 37 to 40 | Write the log | Each moved deal, the buyer conversation that would move it back, the date | Next week's opening list |
Part 2: the deal table (each rep, sent the day before)
| Deal | Value | Category | Who signs, and when did they last hear the case? | Cost of the problem, and who stated it | Approval steps, with names | Other options raised (including doing nothing) | Buyer's date, and what depends on it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commit / Best case / Pipeline |
Rules for filling it in: every cell quotes a buyer, names a person or gives a dated event. "Good relationship", "they love it" and "should be fine" count as blank.
Part 3: the promised conversations log
| Deal | Rep | Moved from / to | The gap | The buyer conversation that closes it | Date | Happened? What did the buyer say? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category rules (paste at the top of the doc)
- Commit: signer has heard the case, a named buyer stated the cost, approval steps are mapped with names, every other option the buyer raised has been addressed, and the date is tied to something on the buyer's calendar.
- Best case: signer and cost confirmed; one later item is open and a conversation to close it is booked.
- Pipeline: everything else that could close this period.
These are our operating rules. If your team runs MEDDPICC or another method, swap in its field names and keep the rule that each category is a set of buyer facts.
How to use it
- Share one doc for the quarter. Parts 2 and 3 live in the same doc so the log builds week by week and nobody hunts for last week's promises.
- Set a deadline for the deal table. End of day before the call.
- Read before you meet. The manager spends ten minutes the night before marking weak cells. The call then goes straight to those cells. A deal with every cell filled from buyer evidence gets ten seconds.
- Move deals by the rules. A commit with a blank or weak cell moves to best case. The manager says so in one sentence and moves on. The argument about whether the rep "feels good" does not happen, because the category rules settle it.
- Keep coaching out of the call. When a deal moves, the rep names the conversation that would move it back and its date, and that goes in the log. Diagnosing the gap and planning the opening line happens on the coaching call later in the week (how to coach a stalled deal shows that call).
- Open every call with the log. This block changes behavior, because reps learn that a promised conversation will be asked about in seven days.
A filled-in example
This example is illustrative. Sam has three deals in commit.
- 1PipelineEverything else that could close this period
- 2Best caseSigner and cost confirmed, one item open and booked
- 3CommitSigner heard the case, cost stated, steps mapped
Sam's deal table
| Deal | Value | Category | Signer heard the case? | Cost stated | Steps | Other options | Buyer's date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarnwick | $48k | Commit | VP Ops, on the call of the 9th | "Three hours a day across the support team", Head of Support | Security review (Priya), then VP Ops signs | None raised | Their new support hours start on the 1st |
| Halden Group | $72k | Commit | Champion "is taking it up" | "Costing us a lot", unnamed | Procurement, no name | None raised | End of the month |
| Pellow & Co | $22k | Commit | CFO, on the call of the 14th | "Two missed renewals last quarter", CFO | Legal (Tomas), then CFO | Internal tool discussed on the last call | Budget closes on the 28th |
What the manager does
- Tarnwick: every cell is buyer evidence. Stays in commit. Ten seconds.
- Halden Group: signer, cost and steps are weak, and the date is the rep's. With neither signer nor cost confirmed it cannot sit in best case, so it moves to pipeline. It is the largest moved deal, so it gets the coaching call this week.
- Pellow & Co: signer, cost, steps and date all hold, but the internal tool the CFO raised has not been addressed. That is one open item with signer and cost confirmed, so it moves to best case. Sam names the conversation: ask the CFO what the internal tool would have to do better to win, by Thursday.
The log entry
| Deal | Rep | Moved | The gap | Conversation | Date | Happened? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Halden Group | Sam | Commit to pipeline | Signer never heard the case; no stated cost | 20 minutes with the champion to put a figure on the cost and prepare the case for the signer | Wed | |
| Pellow & Co | Sam | Commit to best case | Internal tool unaddressed | Ask the CFO what the tool would need to beat | Thu |
Sam's commit falls from $142,000 to $48,000. Next week's call opens with two questions to Sam, and the answers decide whether $94,000 comes back.
Three ways teams misuse it
Filling the table from memory in the meeting. The table works because reps do the evidence check alone the day before, and many find their own gaps doing it. Filled in live, it turns back into a status update.
Using the coaching block to coach. The 33 to 37 minute block is for booking calls. A manager who starts diagnosing a deal there runs the call to an hour and the last two reps get two minutes each. Coaching happens on a call with one rep, where the rep talks the deal through.
Dropping the log after three weeks. The log is the dull part, so it goes first. Without it, moved deals drift back into commit on hope, and reps learn the call has no memory.
What the call improves over time
A forecast call is often run to produce a number. Run with this agenda, it can also improve sales execution, because every moved deal comes with a named gap and a planned buyer conversation. Here is how that tends to build, in an illustrative quarter.
- Early weeks. Most of the call goes on arguing categories. The category rules at the top of the doc settle more of those arguments each week, because the test is what the buyer has done.
- Mid quarter. The promised conversations log starts to show patterns. If the same gap appears across several reps, such as an economic buyer nobody has met, that becomes a coaching theme for the team.
- Late quarter. Fewer deals move into commit without evidence, so fewer fall out at the end. The manager spends the time on the deals that can still move.
None of this needs extra tooling. It needs the same rules every week and a log kept honestly, so each call starts from what reps said they would do.
Running it without the Friday scramble
Coaching every moved deal is more than one manager can do. Bryce, the manager's coach on our platform, gives a Monday read of the team: which deals need attention this week and which carry buyer evidence. That tells the manager which cells to question before the tables arrive, and he coaches the manager on the forecast call itself. The rep then preps the conversation that goes in the log with one of our AI sales experts, on a call, in the team's own method, or by typing when they cannot talk. See the workflow in drive deal execution, or talk to us if your log keeps dying in week three.
FAQ
What should be on a forecast call agenda?
A forecast call agenda should cover last week's promised buyer conversations, the team number and gap, and each rep's committed deals checked against buyer evidence. It ends by picking two or three deals for coaching calls and logging every moved deal with the conversation and date that would move it back. Forty minutes is enough for six to eight reps.
How do you prepare for a forecast call?
To prepare for a forecast call, each rep fills in a deal table the day before and the manager reads the tables that night, marking weak cells. For every committed deal, the table records who signs and when they last heard the case, the stated cost of the problem, the approval steps with names, other options raised and the buyer's date.
How often should you hold a forecast call?
Weekly, on the same day, for front-line teams. A weekly rhythm matches the time it takes to have a buyer conversation and report back. Leaders then run their own forecast call with managers, using the same categories, after the team calls are done.
What is the difference between a forecast call template and a sales forecast template?
A sales forecast template is a spreadsheet model that calculates expected revenue from pipeline, stages and history. A forecast call template is the agenda and deal table for the weekly meeting where a manager and reps agree on which deals sit in the number. Most teams need both; this page is the second.
How long should a forecast call take?
Forty minutes for six to eight reps, if the deal tables arrive the day before and coaching is booked for later in the week. When the call runs long, it is usually because diagnosis has crept into it or the tables were filled in live.
How many deals should a forecast call cover?
Only deals that could close this period and sit in commit or best case. Deals further out belong in the weekly pipeline review, where the whole book is staged. That is usually a few deals per rep.