Chart Settings in Analytics
Overview
The Analytics Modules (Flow, Pulse, and Trend) answer the most important questions about your business. In order to glean accurate and actionable insights from these modules, it is critical to configure your filters in accordance with the information that you’re looking for.
Scope
The first important Chart Setting to consider is the Scope. The Scope in Clari will reflect your CRM hierarchy*. This setting will limit or expands the deals that are pulled in (or taken into account) depending on whether or not the owner of the deal is included within the node in the hierarchy that you select.
*Clari users with Advanced Admin permissions have the ability to make cosmetic changes to your hierarchy in Clari (i.e., renaming a node, or hiding a superfluous node).
How to set the Scope
Are you trying to examine how your overall business is trending or how your entire organization is performing? Or are you trying to examine how a specific region, team, or individual rep is performing? This will determine which node in your hierarchy you should select in the Scope.
Amount
The second Chart Setting to consider is the Amount. The Amount drop-down will include the amount fields (i.e., Deal Size, Net New ARR, Total Contract Value) that your organization elects to pull in. This filter determines which amount field is used to rollup the numbers in Flow, Pulse, and Trend.
A Note on the Amount Chart Setting
It’s useful to have various options for the Amount so that each individual can adjust the Amount according to their immediate needs. However, we find that individuals tend to use the same Amount most of the time — depending on what makes the most sense to them. This makes it more straightforward to spot changes and trends over time.
It's also important to consider the other Chart Settings that you have selected when choosing an Amount. We'll dive into this further at the end of this article.
Breakdown Field
The next Chart Setting to consider is the Breakdown Field. The Breakdown Field allows you to control the field by which your inventory of deals is segmented. Most organizations segment their inventory of deals by Forecast Category (i.e. Pipeline, Best Case, Commit) or stage (i.e. S0, S1, S2, S3, S4) in Pulse and Trend.
In the example above, we are using the Forecast Category as the Breakdown Field, so the pipeline is segmented by which of the Forecast Categories the open deals are in.
A Note on the Breakdown Field
Sometimes, it’s useful to have various options in the Breakdown Field in order to look at your business from different angles. However, we find that most individuals use the same Breakdown Field most of the time — depending on whether they find it more meaningful to see their distribution of deals across forecast categories or stages, for example. This makes it easier to spot changes and trends over time.
Overall Forecast
If you do have multiple tabs in the Forecasting Module, then select an option from the Overall Forecast filter to determine which tab Clari pulls the Quota, Commit Call, and Team Call from—whether that’s New Business, Renewals, or a specific Product Line, for example.
The Overall Forecast will determine which of your Forecast Tabs Clari pulls forecasting data from (i.e. Quota, Commit Call, Team Call) into the Analytics Modules.
A Note on the Overall Forecast and other Chart Settings
The Overall Forecast and Amount are a great example of two Chart Settings that should always be considered in relation to each other.
If you select "Renewals" from the Overall Forecast Chart Setting, then you should also select an Amount that corresponds to your Renewals tab in Forecasting.
When pulling forecasting data from the Renewals tab, you should select an Amount that corresponds to renewals such as "New New ARR" rather than an Amount like Total Contract Value (TCV).
Date
Another Chart Setting to consider is the Date. This is the date field that is used to determine whether or not an opportunity is associated with the selected date range (i.e. last quarter, this quarter, or next quarter).
The Date filter in the Analytics Modules will typically include the Close Date, but can also include other options if you have any other date field that reflects revenue recognition more accurately than the opportunity Close Date (i.e. a “Bookings” date field).
Additional Chart Settings
You may find additional filter options by clicking the Add Filter button. These filters will include fields that your specific organization has chosen to add in the Analytics Modules. Examples include:
- Opportunity Type: this may be useful to you if you want to focus on New Logos, Upsells, or Renewals deals specifically.
- Primary Campaign Source: this may be useful for your CMO, who wants to know which campaigns generate closed deals.
- Net New ARR: this may be useful if you categorize your deals based on Net New ARR amount (i.e. Enterprise = > 500k, Commercial = < 500k).
- Label: if you're using Splits Mode, you'll need to add a Label filter to tell Clari which split record to pull from.
Key Considerations when Configuring Chart Settings
When configuring your Chart Settings, the key is to consider all of the settings in relation to each other. If you are examining how the current quarter is playing out for your Net New Business in Pulse, for example, then you might use the following combination of Chart Settings:
Overall Forecast: New Business
It's helpful to select the Overall Forecast first, and then select your other Chart Settings in accordance with the forecast that you want to look at.
Scope: CRO (or head of Sales)
Simply select the Scope based on who's forecast you want to look at (i.e. CRO)!
Amount: Deal Size (Amount)
The out of the box Salesforce Amount field, or whatever custom amount field your organization uses when you're rolling up new deals is appropriate here.
Breakdown Field: Stage
Forecast Category can also be a useful Breakdown Field in this case depending on which one you feel like your team manages most closely, and how you prefer to look at the business.
Date: Close Date
If you use a custom date field outside of the out of the box Close Date in Salesforce, then you can select that date field here instead.
