How a Senior RevOps Manager forecasts with Outreach

Senior RevOps Manager Nicole Conley has her eye on the horizon — and her Outreach dash. When leaders are looking for answers, Nicole uses Outreach to forecast and provide real-time information to the leadership team. In this video, she breaks down how she forecasts for new revenue, expansions, and renewals:

Forecasting at Outreach

Hi. I'm Nicole Conley, and I lead the customer success and renewals operations teams here at Outreach. A big part of my role is making sure that our leaders have access to real-time data and forecasting information. So today, I'm going to show you how we forecast using Commit here at Outreach.

Here at Outreach, we look at our forecast data from three different perspectives. First, we look at total CARR. This is our all-up, roll-up number of how we're doing in terms of new logos, expansion, and renewal revenue. From there, we break it down into two more focused views: our new logo and expansion number, and our churn and contraction, which accounts for all our renewal revenue and forecast.

Starting with Total CARR

When using Commit at Outreach, we start by looking at the total CARR numbers. During leadership calls, I begin by sharing the total CARR number to assess how we are performing from a total revenue perspective for the quarter.

You can see the total CARR forecast here. This forecast is based on what our leadership team believes the outcome will be, as they manually input their forecasts. We also pull in additional revenue numbers to see the potential upside and track progress towards the forecasted number, including closed-won deals so far within the quarter. This high-level perspective helps us understand our overall performance and how it breaks down into new logo and expansion as well as renewals.

New Logo and Expansion

From there, I break down these specific areas a bit deeper by diving into our new logo and expansion view. Here, I can see the forecast specifically for new logo and expansion revenue. This view shows the potential upside if everything goes well, the gap between the forecast and our actual goal, and the revenue already secured (closed-won deals).

Renewal Forecasting

Once we are comfortable with the new logo and expansion pieces, we dig into our renewal forecasting. We assess the gross renewal rate to understand our overall performance from a renewal perspective. Additionally, we look at metrics such as the total available amount to renew, forecasted churn or contraction within that total, what is still open, and the sum of churn and contraction that has closed within the quarter.