Sales Manager Workflows for Opportunity Management

Overview

As a sales manager, your primary focuses are opportunity management and deal reviews. With Outreach, you can access the metrics, actionable insights, and reports needed to achieve this goal. To do this, we’ve rounded up the key workflows every sales manager needs to conduct efficient pipeline reviews, monitor deals, and maximize productivity.

Check out our opportunity management, rep coaching, and forecasting guides for managers and sellers for more workflows.

Workflows

Pipeline Reviews with Insights from Deal Overview

1. Navigate to the Forecasting tab in Outreach and select Forecast Rollup.
2. To drill down into a specific rep, find the drop-down located directly below the Your Forecast section and search for the rep you are curious about. You’ll now see the Forecast Rollup for the specific rep you selected.
3. Below the forecast cards, you will see the opportunities owned by this particular rep.
   • Please note, the default filters applied to this opportunity view will be the same as the default view you have set up within the Records > Opportunities page of Outreach. 
   • You can toggle between saved views or add filters as needed to narrow in on the opportunities most pertinent to review. Ex. adding a close date filter to focus on the current sales period, or a forecast category filter to look at deals more likely to close. 
4. From here, you can begin reviewing the specific opportunities in your rep’s pipeline. We recommend that you sort by Amount, largest to smallest, so that you focus on the largest deals. Look for the following to identify deals you want to connect with your rep on during a pipeline review:
   • Empty fields (e.g., MEDDPICC, Next Steps, etc.)
   • Low inbound and outbound email activity
   • Lack of upcoming tasks or meetings
   • Stage and forecast categories that aren’t aligned with overall deal health score (e.g., Deals in the proposal stage are forecasted as commit but have a low deal health score)
5. Dig into the details of at-risk deals by selecting the opportunity’s name. This will pull up the Deal Overview page. Here, you’ll find the additional context you need as a manager when it comes to this specific deal. Review the following sections of the overview page:
   • Key Details: Amount, Close Date, Stage, Next Meeting (note field change indicators will highlight if changes have recently happened to these fields - i.e., close date pushed out or amount decreased)
   • Engagement: Review the back and forth engagement on this deal
   • Kaia recordings: Review the latest Kaia recording, overall sentiment & key topics discussed 
   • Health insights: Review the deal health insights over the last 7 days for an overview of what’s going well, where to focus, and suggested actions.
   • Next steps: Confirm that there are next steps in place and check in with your rep to ensure they’re making progress
   • Plan: Confirm that a Success Plan is in place for the deal if desired and review the current step & overall engagement from the prospect
6. Use these findings to inform your upcoming pipeline review, assign the appropriate forecast category, and help reps get deals back on track using these workflows.

Prepare for Next Period Pipeline Reviews

1. Navigate to the Forecasting tab in Outreach and select Forecast Rollup.
2. To drill down into a specific team or rep, search for your desired level within the drop down directly below “Your Forecast”. Once selected, you’ll now see the Forecast Rollup for that specific team or rep.
3. Below the forecast cards, you will see the opportunities owned by this particular team or rep.
   • Please note, the default filters applied to this opportunity view will be the same as the default view you have set up within the Records > Opportunities page of Outreach. 
4. To narrow in on next period deals, apply a Close Date filter and select either next quarter or next month, depending on your sales period.
5. From here, you can begin reviewing opportunities in the pipeline for the next sales period. We recommend that you sort by Amount, largest to smallest, so that you focus on the largest deals. 
   • TIP: Save this view for quick reference in the future. To do this, click the Save View link beside the Opportunities section title.  
6. Review opportunities for the following:
   • Stage: Review what stages these deals are in to get an understanding of the overall pipeline breakdown
   • Health: Review the associated deal health scores, to get an understanding of what deals may be at risk
7. For opportunities that you want more detail on, select their name to pull up the Deal Overview page. Here, you’ll find the context you need as a manager when it comes to this specific deal. Review the following sections and metrics in the overview page:
   • Key Details: Amount, Close Date, Stage, Next Meeting (note field change indicators will highlight if changes have recently happened to these fields - i.e. close date pushed out or amount decreased)
   • Engagement: Review the back and forth engagement on this deal
   • Kaia recordings: Review the latest Kaia recording, overall sentiment & key topics discussed 
   • Health insights: Review the deal health insights over the last 7 days for an overall overview of what’s going well, where to focus, and suggested actions.
   • Next steps: Confirm that there are next steps in place and check in with your rep to ensure they’re making progress
   • Plan: Confirm that a Success Plan is in place for the deal if desired and review the current step & overall engagement from the prospect