It’s no secret that forecasting is one of the most challenging aspects of sales. Sales teams struggle due to a few main factors:

• Predicting the future is hard. Predicting anything accurately is tough business, especially when you are projecting future sales from a broad team of reps.
• Forecasting needs to be real time. Business is dynamic and situations change. Forecasts need to be updated and viewed instantly to provide a clear picture.
• Accurate forecasting needs solid pipeline management. Ideal forecasts are built upon pipelines that have real data integrity.
• Getting to “real” pipeline requires constant oversight. It’s critical to stay on top of which deals need updating and/or intervention, and then you have to ensure stages, deal sizes, next steps and timing are correct.

To address some of these challenges, we’re excited to announce that sales executives, managers, and reps now can view their quota, commit, and pipeline in the new Salesforce1 Mobile App.

The forecast app in Salesforce1 is a vital tool for sales managers and sales reps to be more productive and smarter on the go. Here are a few key use cases:

• Sales managers get an overall performance snapshot in real time. Managers can view at a glance how far along their team is to meeting their quotas and how many days are left in the sales cycle; making business decisions faster right from their mobile device.
• Sales managers can monitor individual rep performance and intelligently take action. Managers can view which of their team members are on track to reach their quotas, and who needs some help. Sales managers can also drill down to view the pipeline of each of their team members, instantly tracking every deal.
• Sales reps get a snapshot of individual performance in real time. Reps can see how far along they are to reaching their individual quotas, and how many days are left in the sales cycle. They can also view the available opportunities they have in the pipeline, helping to plan and prioritize.
• Mobile optimized forecasts boosts productivity. Sales teams on the go can find their forecast data and sort faster with less scrolling on small, mobile devices. For example, sales managers can sort the list view of their team members and team members can sort the list view of the opportunities in their pipeline.

The forecast app is just one of the great new features in version 11 of the Salesforce1 Mobile App. To view a full list of new features and update to version 11, visit the App Store. Available on iOS and coming soon to Android.

Read how you can avoid common forecasting mistakes at Quotable.com.