The Backstory: Your quarter is closing and leadership wants to know where the number will land, but the deal data lives in Salesforce and the judgment calls live in your reps' heads. Rather than chasing spreadsheets and status updates before every forecast call, you use Backstory Forecasting to review deals, apply adjustments, and submit a committed number in one place. This gives everyone from reps to executives a shared, up-to-date view of where revenue stands.
Backstory Forecasting enables sales teams and leadership to view, update, and analyze revenue projections at every level of the organization, from individual deals all the way up to executive rollups. Salesforce opportunities provide the underlying deal data, and Backstory organizes that data into Forecast views based on how your organization is configured. Reps and managers review forecast values, identify risks, make adjustments where allowed, and submit their forecasts.
Note: Backstory Forecasting is currently available to customers using Salesforce as their CRM.
How Forecasting Works
Forecasting uses data from your Salesforce opportunities to create Forecast views. Before users can view or submit forecasts, a Backstory administrator configures the following:
Forecast Hierarchy: Determines what each user can see. Sales representatives see their own opportunities, managers see team rollups, and executives see organization-wide forecasts.
Forecast Type: Determines which opportunities are included, how forecast values and ownership are calculated, and which metrics, calculations, and indicators appear in each Forecast view.
As a result, the Forecast experience varies based on your role and your organization's configuration.
Access Your Forecast
You can access Forecasting in the Backstory App or in Salesforce.
Backstory App
Log into the Backstory App.
In the left panel under MY FORECASTS, click the Forecast name to open it.
Salesforce
Log into Salesforce.
Click the Backstory tab.
In the left panel under My Forecasts, click the Forecast name to open it.
Note: The Forecasts available to you depend on the Forecast Hierarchy configured by your Backstory administrator.
Understand Your Forecast View
Your Forecast experience varies depending on your role within the organization and is based on how your Backstory administrator configures your Forecast Type.
Sales Representative View
Sales reps work within a Forecast drill-in sheet that lists all of their deals. Your primary responsibility is maintaining accurate Salesforce data by updating key fields such as deal amounts and close dates. From this view you can review deal values and, review Pipeline Changes, and if your organization requires it, submit your forecast.
Sales Manager View
Managers view a rollup table with a row for each direct report or territory. You review these aggregated numbers, review risks in Forecast Headlines, review pipeline changes in Pipeline Changes, drill into individual opportunities, and apply judgment-based adjustments (overrides) as needed before submitting.
Note: Adjustments are supported at the team level only. Adjustments at the individual rep or deal level are not supported.
Managers can also track their team's Forecast submissions with color-coded status indicators:
Red: No submission has occurred during the current cadence.
Yellow: A submission exists, but not within the current cadence.
Green: A submission was completed during the current cadence.
Executive View
Executives use Forecasting for high-level oversight and trend analysis across the organization. This view emphasizes organization-level visibility, trends, and risk analysis. Executives also have access to Forecast Headlines and Pipeline Changes.
Select the Forecast Time Period
By default, forecasts are displayed by quarter. You can view the current quarter, up to two previous quarters, and up to four future quarters. Within each quarter, you can also select a specific reporting week.
In the upper-right corner of the forecast, click the time period dropdown and select the quarter you want to view.
To view a specific week within that quarter, open the time period dropdown again, click the three-dot menu next to the selected quarter, and select the desired week.
Note: Your organization can also configure forecasts to display by fiscal year instead of by quarter. When enabled, you can view forecasts for the current or next fiscal year. This option is disabled by default. To enable fiscal year views, contact your Customer Success Manager or email support@backstory.ai.
Analyze Performance and Risks
Backstory provides several tools to help you analyze your forecast.
Forecast Headlines
Forecast Headlines highlight the most significant risks in your Forecast so you can quickly pinpoint what needs attention. Read more >
Progress Indicators
Forecast Comparison Indicators help you compare the gap to quota in Forecast rollup tables.
The Progress Indicator displays a progress bar or numeric gap comparing a forecast value to its target.
The Diff column shows how a forecast value has changed since the previous reporting period. It shows the difference between the current live value from your CRM and the most recent weekly snapshot taken by Backstory.
Note: Your Backstory administrator configures these indicators when creating the Forecast Type.
Pipeline Changes
Pipeline Changes help you visualize how your pipeline has changed between periods and why, breaking movement into categories such as amount increases, decreases, slipped deals, and closed-won deals. Read more >
Backstories
In the drill-in view listing individual opportunities, click the Backstory logo to access detailed deal-level context, including potential risks, engagement metrics, meeting summaries, and key topics.
Backstory Assistant
In the drill-in view, click the chat icon to open the AI-powered Backstory Assistant. Use the Assistant to ask natural-language questions about the deals or accounts in your Forecast. For example:
"Which deals are putting my forecast at risk?"
"What has changed since last week?"
"Which opportunities need attention?"
Submit Your Forecast
If your organization requires periodic Forecast submissions, use the following process.
Open your Forecast.
Click Submit.
If you are at the manager level or above, review deal or team rollup values. Select any adjustment fields that require overrides and enter the updated values.
Add any submission notes.
Click Submit to finalize your Forecast.
Managers can apply adjustments at the team level, but individual rep and deal-level adjustments are not supported. Forecast submissions can be made for the current quarter, next quarter, or up to four quarters in the future.
Export Your Forecast Data
You can download forecast data directly from the Forecasting page as a CSV file.
Open your Forecast.
Confirm your date range and period are set correctly in the time period dropdown.
Click the download icon to the left of the date selector.
Choose your export option:
Export this rollup view only: Downloads a CSV containing just the current rollup view.
Export this rollup view and all levels below: Downloads a CSV containing the current view plus every level nested beneath it in the rollup hierarchy.
Your CSV file will download automatically.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does every user need to submit a Forecast?
It depends on your organization's policy and workflow. Some organizations require reps to submit a committed number each week or every two weeks, while others do not require reps to submit at all.
Can a manager change the reps’ submitted numbers?
Yes. Managers are not locked into the rollup value (the sum of their reps' commitments) and can apply an upward or downward adjustment on top of the rollup when submitting their own Forecast.
What time periods does Forecasting support?
Forecasting is built around a quarterly forecast period with a weekly submission cadence. You can view the current quarter, up to two quarters in the past, and up to four quarters in the future. Monthly and bi-weekly cadences are not officially supported, and some features (such as the pipeline changes and week-over-week diffs) will not work as expected outside of a weekly cadence.
Can multiple people share credit on a deal?
Not currently. The system supports only cases where one person owns 100% of a deal. Support for split-credit across multiple reps is in development.
Does Forecasting work with CRMs other than Salesforce?
No. Backstory Forecasting currently works only with Salesforce. The integration is real-time, so updates made in Salesforce are reflected in Backstory without delay.
Do users receive submission reminders?
No. Backstory does not currently have a notification system to remind users about Forecast submissions or updates.
Need Help?
Contact your Customer Success Manager or support@backstory.ai.