Requirements:
Salesforce Bulk API Access
Users' mailboxes need to be connected to sync to Ebsta: User Management
- Filtering the Insights
- Pipeline Insights (Table view) including Editing Opportunities
- Pipeline Insights (Chart view)
- Insights Sidebar including Deal Qualification Guide
- Submitting Manual Forecasts
Access Pipeline Insights from the main navigation bar in Ebsta's Console. Pipeline Insights offers complete visibility into your pipeline so that you’re able to identify deals at risk, uncover those likely to close and review and make forecast calls.
Filtering the Insights
By default Pipeline Insights will display all Opportunities that are set to close in the current quarter but you can use the filter to view a previous/future quarters or a specific time period of your choosing.
There are also a number of other filters including Opportunity and Record Type, Opportunity Owner or by Hierarchy, Product Type, Revenue Type and by Opportunity Stage.
By default, the Opportunity Stage filter is set to show Opportunities in Open Stages. Stages that display blue are selected and those in grey are inactive.
You can override this by clicking on any of the stages to create a new filter list. So in the example below, Opps Closed Won has been selected so only those Opps appear in the table.
To reset and return to the default filter click Reset.
Smart Insights can be used to quickly spot risk in the pipeline by filtering Opportunities with specific risk factors e.g. low relationship score. Use the check boxes to filter the display. Please note more than one filter can be selected but Opportunities only need to apply to one of the smart insights selected and not all of them.
More filters opens up a side bar to access additional filters including Forecast Category and Status, Relationship Score and Deal Value. Managers will see 2 Forecast Status filters so they can view the Forecast Status as set by the rep and that set by them.
You can also use the tabs at the top of the table to adjust the view by Forecast Status and those Opportunities that are categorised as High Risk*. Managers will have additional tabs to view the Forecast Status as set by the Sales rep and that set by them.
* Opportunities categorised as High Risk are those in the Best Case and Commit forecast categories with low relationship score (benchmarked against the average relationship score from your previous quarter).
Pipeline Insights (Table view)
Pipeline Insights displays key information about Opportunities in your pipeline. Clicking on a row, opens a sidebar which displays information relating to that Opportunity.
The table displays key information about the Opportunities from Salesforce including Opportunity Amount, Close Date, Next Step and Opportunity Stage (all of which can be edited directly from the table and will update in Salesforce - covered further on in this article).
Ebsta also displays a number of other insightful metrics and information. Please note, you'll need to use the scroll bar along the bottom of the table to view all of the columns of the table.
Relationship Score is a number between 0-100 that represents the strength of your relationship with this Account. The more interactions your company has with an Account – the higher their Score. It also takes into account the total Activity count and Days Since Last Activity, but it also looks at the type of activity, its direction (inbound/outbound), duration and timing to derive a single relationship percentage metric.
Deal Score is a number between 1-99 which highlights the health of an Opportunity in your pipeline. It is calculated using multiple factors including relationships, deal stage, close date, deal value to indicates how likely the deal is to close successfully.
Warnings refer to the number of negative factors that relate to this Opportunity (which display in the insights sidebar as above).
MEDDIPICC Score is the display of the scores assigned to the each of the criteria in the Deal Qualification Guide. To edit the scores click on the row of the Opportunity you wish to edit to open the sidebar and click the Qualify tab. This is covered in more detail later in this article.
Converted Amount is the Deal Amount displayed in an additional currency (only applicable for those customers that work in multiple currencies).
Projected Amount is a weighted pipeline revenue forecast based on the Deal Score. It is calculated by the sum of the projected revenue for all open opportunities in the current quarter (value x Deal Score %).
Forecast Status enables you to assign a forecast judgement to your Opportunities. Submitting manual forecasts will be covered further on in this article.
Negative and Positive Trends
You'll see at a glance where an Opportunity has trended positively or negatively from the previous period by the green and red boxes in the table. Where there has been a negative change (i.e. the Close Date has been pushed back and/or it has moved back a stage or the deal value has been lowered) the information is displayed in a red box. Where there has been a positive change (i.e. the Close Date has been brought forward, and/or it has moved forward a stage or the deal value has increased) the information is displayed in a green box.
Opportunity Change History
If you hover over the Opportunity Stage, Close Date or Amount, Ebsta displays the historical changes that have occurred including when the change was made, who made the change, whether the change is positive or negative and the details of the change.
Editing Opportunities
You can edit key values, such as Opportunity Amount, Close Date, Stage and Next Step directly from the table and the changes will automatically sync to Salesforce.
To edit a value, hover over the row of the Opportunity you wish to edit and a pencil icon will appear and/or the value will be underlined.
To edit the deal value, type in the new value and save using the green tick icon. To cancel this change, click the red cross.
To change the Close Date, select a new date using the calendar pop up.
To update Next Step, type directly into the notes pop up window and click Save.
To change Stage, select a new stage from the dropdown menu.
Pipeline Insights (Chart view)
By default Pipeline Insights open up in Table view. Click the Chart button at the top to view them visually.
This chart visually represents Opportunities in the pipeline as bubbles and plots them against Relationship Score and expected Close Date. The size of the the bubble represents the deal value, (i.e. the bigger the bubble, the bigger the deal size).
If you hover over a bubble, Ebsta will display key information relating to the Opportunity including the Opportunity Name and Owner, the Account it relates to, Deal Value, Close Date and the Relationship Score.
If you click on a bubble it will turn orange and Ebsta update a sidebar on the right to display more detailed insights relating to that Opportunity.
Insights Sidebar
Clicking on any row in the table or any bubble in the chart opens up a sidebar which provides in-depth insights into your pipeline's performance and highlights what needs attention, and why, to ensure you hit targets.
The Insights tab displays Positive & Negative Factors. These allow you to gauge how an opportunity is performing compared to the benchmark and identify possible risks on the opportunity being closed lost.
The Activity tab displays an Activity Timeline along with a list of the 10 most recent activities. The timeline is a comprehensive view of how the team is engaging with customers over time. Activities (Calls, Meetings and Inbound and Outbound Emails) related to the Opportunity are plotted along the timeline. By default, Ebsta displays the timeline for the last 14 days but you can adjust this using the date filter. Along the bottom of the timeline, Ebsta displays the total Activity count for this Opportunity.
Ebsta also displays key deal changes that have occurred. Hover over the icon in the timeline to view the detail.
The Relationships tab displays Contacts that relate to the Opportunity. The Contact card displays the Relationship Score for the contact, how many days since the last activity and the number of colleagues that have a connection to the Contact.
The Qualify section aligns to your sales methodology. Managers can view all the deal qualification information in one place when reviewing the pipeline. They can understand if sales teams have all of the necessary criteria to close a deal or if there are important areas that are being neglected.
The Deal Qualification Guide quantifies a deal under the following sections:
| Metrics | What is the economic impact of this solution? |
| Economic Buyer | Who has profit & loss responsibility for this? |
| Decision Criteria | What are their technical vendor and financial criteria? |
| Decision Process | Then what happens? Define validation & approval |
| Paper Process | What steps need to be taken to get a deal signed & how long will this take? |
| Implicate the pain | What problems are they trying to solve? |
| Champion | Who will sell on your behalf within the company? |
| Competitor | Who are we competing against and why? |
In each section, click the dropdown in Qualification Status and score the Opportunity accordingly.
Notes can be entered into the text boxes. There is no need to save notes as the sidebar will automatically save. All fields are saved at company level so all users will have visibility of the information related to this specific Opportunity.
You'll be able to view the MEDDIPICC Scores of each Opportunity in the table.
Submitting Manual Forecasts
You can use Ebsta to standardize and streamline your weekly, monthly and quarterly manual forecast submissions process. With Ebsta's Manager Forecast View, managers can review the pipeline, inspect Opportunities and change their reps forecast status as they see fit.
Opportunity Owner/Sales Rep Forecast Submission
1. Use the filters at the top to select the forecast period and click Submit Forecast.
2. This opens up the forecasting tab in the sidebar.
3. Use the Forecast Status toggle button in the Opportunity table to assign a forecast judgement to your Opportunities:
P means the Opportunity is Pipeline
U means the Opportunity is Upside (Best Case)
C means the Opportunity is Commit.
Note: The red and green background displayed on the toggle button denotes a negative or positive change from the previous submission. The blue background means no change or a manual forecast has not been submitted previously.
4. If you want to add a comment to your submission hover over the toggle button until a + icon appears and then click it to add your comment.
Type your comment into the pop up window and click Update.
5. The sidebar displays the forecast submission to be submitted.
Information:
This is the user who will be submitting the forecast, the pipeline and reporting period this applies to along with the date of the last submission if applicable. You can adjust the forecast period using the dropdown menu.
Commit Forecast:
Won Opps: Total value of Opportunities closed Won.
Selected Opps: Total value of (and number of) Opportunities labelled C*
Total Amount: Total value of Won Opps and Selected Opps combined.*
Team Rollup: Total sum of all forecasts submitted by each rep in the team or by each manager in the business.
* These values will automatically be calculated as the Opportunities in the table are assigned a forecast using the Manual Forecast toggle button.
Upside Forecast:
Won Opps: Total value of Opportunities closed Won.
Selected Ops: Total value of (and number of) Opportunities labelled U and C*
Total Amount: Total value of Won Opps and Selected Ops combined.*
Team Rollup: Total sum of all forecasts submitted by each rep in the team or by each manager in the business.
* These values will automatically be calculated as the Opportunities in the table are assigned a forecast using the Manual Forecast toggle button.
6. Once each of the Opportunities have been assigned a forecast status, a final forecast figure needs to be inputted in the My Forecast field. If you click on the Total Amount value in the Commit and in Upside sections, these values are automatically copied into the My Forecast field. Alternatively you can input an adjusted figure into the box. Input any relevant extra details, reasoning or evidence in the notes section.
7. If you wish to submit another forecast, check the tick box next to Submit another. When you are happy with your submission, click Submit.
Manager Forecast Submission
If you're assigned as a manager in the Forecast Hierarchy in Salesforce, you'll be able to review pipeline, inspect Opportunities and change your reps forecast status as you see fit. The sales reps will have no visibility of any changes made to the forecast status.
In the Opportunity table in the Forecast Status column you will see two toggles. The left-hand toggle is set by the Opportunity owner, the right is set by you the manager. As a manager, this separate forecast status for the Opportunity is only visible to you.
P means the Opportunity is Pipeline
U means the Opportunity is Upside (Best Case)
C means the Opportunity is Commit.
If the Opportunity owner has added a comment to accompany their forecast, a Note icon will display in the corner of the left hand toggle button. Hover over this to view the comment.
Use the right hand toggle to change the forecast if required.
You can add a comment to your forecast by hovering over the Forecast Status column so that a + icon appears. Click this to add comment.
Add your comment and click Update to save.
You can also amend the Close Date and Amount of the Opportunity based on your judgement. Hover over these fields and click the down arrow to edit the manager amount or to select a new date from the calendar.
The Forecast Calculator will prioritise the forecast status set by you and changes, if any, made to the Date and Amount. when calculating your forecasts. Click the Submit Forecast button to enter the submission.
Bulk API Access
Pipeline Insights require Bulk API access which is included with Enterprise, Unlimited, Developer and Performance editions. If you are using Professional edition, Bulk API access can be purchased by contacting Salesforce. Those using Essentials and Group will need to upgrade their edition.
More information about editions with API access is contained in this article from Salesforce: