Strategic Account Planning & Revenue Forecasting

Strategic Account Planning & Revenue Forecasting

 

Bring precision and predictability to your ad-sales engine—turning data chaos into quota confidence.

The Strategic Challenge

Most ad-sales organizations struggle to produce forecasts that leaders trust. Data lives in silos (CRM, OMS, ad servers), pipelines are incomplete, and planning cadences lag the market. Inventory realities, agency–brand hierarchies, and seasonal demand are rarely reflected in a single model, so managers lack a consistent view of risk and coverage. When forecasting becomes a manual, retrospective exercise, it doesn’t just slow decisions—it distorts them, leading to misallocated resources, missed targets, and lost credibility with the field.

Our Point of View

Forecasting is not a finance report, it’s a strategic operating discipline. The best organizations run a closed loop that connects top-down targets and bottom-up opportunity quality, ties plans to inventory and capacity, and tests scenarios before the quarter is at risk. Definitions matter: stages, product taxonomies, and coverage expectations must be unambiguous if accuracy is going to improve.

Our approach blends commercial judgment with system design. We align leaders on how the business wants to steer—by segment, territory, and agency hierarchy, then embed that logic in day-to-day tools so the process sellers follow is the process the forecast reflects. The aim is simple: fewer surprises, faster course corrections, and a culture that treats forecast accuracy as a shared responsibility.

How V2 Helps

V2 brings two decades of ad-sales experience and deep Salesforce delivery to make planning and forecasting dependable. We start by aligning executive sponsors on goals and decision rights, then design a planning rhythm that the field will actually use. From there, we translate intent into practical ways of working, clarifying stage gates, codifying coverage targets, and distinguishing commit from upside, while wiring the system so leaders see risk early enough to act.

We help ad-sales leaders:

    • Design dynamic planning and forecasting models that combine CRM pipeline, historical bookings, and inventory signals.
    • Align planning strategies to segment, territory, and agency hierarchies so targets and accountability are clear.
    • Provide real-time visibility to pacing, coverage, and forecast accuracy through executive-ready dashboards.
    • Establish processes for quota setting, capacity planning, and territory performance reviews that drive consistent behavior.
    • Define taxonomies and governance protocols so data quality improves and accuracy compounds over time.
    • Identify gaps in the planning cycle and introduce scenarios and checkpoints that enable in-quarter agility.

Integrated Salesforce Solutions

Our forecasting programs typically standardize on the four products below. Together, they connect process, data, and governance, so accuracy becomes a habit, not a heroics exercise.

Sales Cloud

Sales Cloud: The system of record for opportunities, plans, and stage definitions. We configure planning cadences, coverage targets, and approvals so sellers, managers, and RevOps see the same truth and execute the same playbook.

Sales Cloud

CRM Analytics (CRMA): Decision support for leaders: pacing vs. plan, pipeline quality, price realization, and forecast accuracy by segment or territory. CRMA turns reports into signals—enabling earlier interventions and better end-of-quarter outcomes.

V2 does data cloud for ad sales

Data Cloud: A unified, consent-aware view of buyers and behavior that enriches segments and improves forecast quality. When teams are early in the journey, readiness work clarifies taxonomy, identity, and governance so modeling scales with confidence.

V2 does data cloud for ad sales

CPQ & Revenue Lifecycle Management: Structured pricing, terms, and approvals that connect what’s proposed to what’s forecasted. CPQ/RLM protects margin discipline, reduces variance between plan and realized revenue, and shortens proposal-to-close without sacrificing control.

Recent Customer Success: From Forecasting Blind Spots to Pipeline Confidence 

The Business Challenge
A North American, multi-market publisher faced an unreliable, labor-intensive forecasting process. Regional teams used different stage definitions, pipelines were incomplete, and holding-company/brand hierarchies weren’t reflected in planning. Leadership couldn’t see coverage by segment or anticipate slippage with enough time to act. Inventory planning ran on a separate cadence, and performance reviews devolved into reconciliations rather than decisions.

Our Approach & Solution

V2 began with a strategy-led discovery to align executives on targets, decision rights, and planning cadence, then mapped how opportunities actually moved through the system. We established a common taxonomy and stage gating, clarified commit vs. upside, and defined coverage expectations by territory and agency hierarchy. Technically, we anchored planning in Sales Cloud, stood up executive views in CRMA for pacing, accuracy, and risk, and completed a Data Cloud readiness assessment to standardize buyer identity and traits for future modeling.

Within two cycles, managers had a shared language and earlier sightlines to risk. Forecast calls focused on actions rather than reconciliation, regional plans aligned with inventory constraints, and leadership used CRMA to steer in-quarter, reallocating effort where it would matter most. The program also created a durable foundation for adjacent initiatives, including campaign fulfillment visibility and revenue reconciliation.

We’d Be Glad To Help

If your teams spend more time debating the forecast than improving it, we can help. V2 brings the mix of management-consulting discipline and Salesforce execution needed to make planning reliable and forecasting credible.

Reach out below, and we’ll schedule a conversation with your team.

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