The Backstory: Quarter-end is approaching and you need to know what is putting your forecast at risk. Instead of manually reviewing each opportunity, you open Forecast Headlines and let Backstory surface the top risk categories for you. This allows you to see exactly which issues are putting revenue at stake and act on them before they derail your number.
Forecast Headlines highlight the most significant risks in your forecast so you can quickly pinpoint what needs attention. Backstory analyzes AI-generated deal summaries across your pipeline, identifies common risk themes, and ranks them by total impacted deal value.
What Forecast Headlines Show
Top three risk categories affecting your forecast
Total deal value impacted by each risk
Related opportunities contributing to the risks
Risk profile with detailed information and documented next steps
Access Forecast Headlines
These steps walk you through opening Forecast Headlines.
Log in at app.backstory.ai.
In the left sidebar under MY FORECASTS, click the forecast name to open it.
On the right side, select a Forecast Field from the dropdown menu.
The headlines will automatically load.
Note: Headlines are currently available to users at the manager level and above and are tailored to your role within your organization. Executives see insights relevant to the entire organization's forecast, while managers see insights specific to their team's deals.
Review and Drill Into Risk Categories
Keep the following in mind:
Only opportunities with Revenue Stories are included.
A deal may appear in multiple Headlines if it has multiple significant risks.
Headlines are personalized based on your position in the sales hierarchy.
Headlines are refreshed at most once every 8 hours for each forecast view.
Top Risk Categories
Backstory highlights the top three risk categories by total deal value and shows the number of opportunities linked to each.
Related Opportunities
Click any Headline to see a detailed description of the risk category and a list of the opportunities contributing to that risk.
Risk Details and Next Steps
Click View Risk Details to explore the factors contributing to the risk and review your team’s planned next steps for the opportunity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Forecast Headlines capture all risks to our forecast?
No. Headlines capture the top three most impactful risk categories so you know where to focus your attention.
How are the top three risk categories determined?
Backstory analyzes risks from the deal summaries for each opportunity in the pipeline view, then aggregates the most common themes.
Are all deals included in Forecast Headlines?
No. A Forecast Headline only includes deals that match the defined risk criteria for that specific Headline. Deals with lower or unrelated risks are not included.
Are all opportunities included in Forecast Headlines?
No. Only opportunities with Revenue Stories are included in Headlines.
Can a deal fall into multiple risk categories?
Yes. For example, the same deal can have significant leadership engagement challenges and have a severe technical implementation risk.
Are Headlines regenerated every time I open a forecast view?
No. Headlines are refreshed only if they haven’t been generated in the last 8 hours for that forecast view. If another user has already generated them within that time, the same set is shown to ensure consistency across users.
Are Forecast Headlines available to all Backstory users?
Forecast Headlines are currently visible to users at the manager level or above.
Need Help?
Contact your Customer Success Manager or support@backstory.ai.