If you’ve ever spent hours chasing down forecast numbers from your team, you know how soul-crushing and error-prone manual updates can be. This guide is for sales ops folks, sales leaders, or anyone tired of spreadsheet chaos who wants to actually trust their pipeline numbers. We’ll break down—step by step—how to automate forecasting updates using Clari Co-Pilot. No fluff, no corporate double-speak, just what you need to know to get it working and avoid common headaches.
Why Automate Forecasting Updates?
Let’s be real: manual forecasting is a mess. People forget, numbers lag behind reality, and the “final” forecast is often a week out of date. Automation doesn’t magically fix forecasting (no tool will!), but it does mean less hounding your team and more reliable updates.
Here’s what’s worth automating: - Pushing CRM data into Clari automatically - Nudging reps for updates at the right time - Rolling up forecasts without hunting through endless email chains
Here’s what’s not worth automating: - Overly complex workflows nobody understands or maintains - “AI” that promises to forecast for you but just spits out nonsense
With that, let’s get into the step-by-step process.
Step 1: Get Your Data House in Order
Don’t skip this. If your CRM data is a dumpster fire, no automation will help. Garbage in, garbage out.
What to check: - Opportunity stages: Are they consistent? Are reps actually using them? - Close dates: Are these real, or just whatever makes the pipeline look good? - Forecast fields: Decide which fields matter (commit, best case, upside, etc.) and make sure they’re required.
Pro Tip: Run a quick report on your CRM to spot missing or outdated forecast fields. If more than 10% are blank or stale, fix that first.
Step 2: Connect Your CRM to Clari Co-Pilot
Clari Co-Pilot can pull data from Salesforce, HubSpot, or a handful of other CRMs. The setup is pretty straightforward, but you’ll need admin access on both sides.
How to connect: 1. Go to Clari Co-Pilot Settings. 2. Find “Integrations” and select your CRM. 3. Authenticate (usually OAuth; you’ll need admin credentials). 4. Map fields: This part matters. Make sure your CRM fields match what Clari expects (e.g., stage, amount, close date, forecast category).
What can go wrong: - Field mismatches (e.g., you call it “Forecast Category,” Clari calls it “Forecast_Type”). - Permissions issues (you need “read” access at a minimum, but “read/write” is better for automation).
Pro Tip: Don’t sync every field—just what’s essential for forecasting. More data means more stuff to break.
Step 3: Set Up Forecasting Cadence
Automating updates isn’t just about plugging in the tech; it’s about when you want updates to happen.
Decide: - How often? Weekly is the default for most teams, but some want daily. - Who updates? Reps, managers, or both? - When to nudge? Best practice: a day before and morning of the deadline.
How to set it up in Co-Pilot: 1. Go to the Forecasting module. 2. Set the cadence: Weekly, bi-weekly, etc. 3. Configure notifications: Choose who gets reminders and when.
What works: - Gentle nudges a day before, then a firmer reminder on deadline day. - Letting managers override or escalate for stragglers.
What doesn’t: - Bombarding everyone with daily reminders (they’ll tune it out). - Setting a cadence nobody actually follows.
Step 4: Automate Rep Reminders
Clari Co-Pilot can ping reps by email, Slack, or in-app. The trick is to make these reminders useful, not just more noise.
Tips: - Customize the message. “Update your forecast” is better than “Reminder: forecast due.” - Include a direct link to the update screen—don’t make them dig for it. - Highlight stale deals in the reminder. (“You haven’t touched these 3 opportunities in 2 weeks.”)
How to set up: 1. Go to Notification Settings. 2. Pick your channels (email, Slack, both). 3. Write your custom message. 4. Set the schedule (relative to forecast deadline).
Pro Tip: Test the reminders on yourself or a friendly manager first. If they’re annoying, your team will hate them even more.
Step 5: Set Up Automated Rollups
Once reps update their numbers, you want rollups to happen without manual copying and pasting.
How to do it: 1. Go to Forecast Views. 2. Set up your hierarchy: Reps → Managers → Execs. 3. Choose rollup method: Manual (each manager reviews and submits) or automatic (numbers flow up as soon as reps update).
What works: - Letting managers review before submitting up the chain—some deals need a sanity check. - Automating rollups for smaller teams or when you trust the data.
What doesn’t: - Blindly auto-submitting all numbers (someone will fat-finger a big deal and it’ll look like you’re about to hit 300% of quota).
Step 6: Build Simple Dashboards for Visibility
Automation is pointless if nobody sees the numbers. Clari Co-Pilot lets you set up dashboards for execs, managers, and reps.
How to build: 1. Go to the Dashboard builder. 2. Pick your metrics: Total pipeline, forecast by stage, changes since last week, etc. 3. Set filters and views for different roles (execs probably don’t care about individual deal details).
Pro Tip: Less is more. A handful of clear, reliable charts beats 40 dashboards nobody reads.
Step 7: Review, Debug, and Iterate
No automation is perfect out of the box. Plan on a 2-4 week shakedown period.
What to watch for: - Are reps actually updating on time? - Are numbers flowing up correctly? - Any weird gaps or duplicate deals showing up? - Are reminders going to the right people?
How to fix: - Adjust cadence or message if folks are ignoring reminders. - Double-check field mappings if numbers look off. - Keep an open channel (Slack, email, etc.) for feedback during rollout.
Pro Tip: Keep the process simple. Every extra automation is another thing to break.
What to Ignore (For Now)
- “AI-powered” forecasting: Unless you’re swimming in years of clean data, it’s just as likely to confuse as to help. Use the automation for collecting numbers, not predicting them.
- Over-customized workflows: Every custom rule is another headache when you need to change something.
- Automated pipeline hygiene rules: Focus on forecasting first. You can automate pipeline cleanup later.
Wrapping Up
Automating forecasting updates in Clari Co-Pilot isn’t rocket science, but it does require a little discipline up front. Start with clean data, keep your process lightweight, and don’t buy into the hype that automation will magically fix everything. Get the basics working, watch how your team uses it, and tweak as you go. Simple, reliable, and boring beats fancy and broken every time.