Which metric reflects the accuracy of sales forecasts compared to actual results?

• A. Forecast accuracy
• B. Win rate
• C. Sales cycle length
• D. Quota attainment

Answer: (A)

Forecast accuracy is the measure of how close your sales forecast is to what actually happens. It directly compares predicted revenue or units to realized results, highlighting how reliable your forecasting process is. In practice, teams look at how far off forecasts are, sometimes using metrics like absolute error, percent error, or mean absolute percentage error to quantify the gap. This helps you improve forecasting methods and adjust plans.

Win rate, by contrast, tracks the proportion of deals that close successfully, not how close your forecast was to the outcome. Sales cycle length measures the time from first contact to closing, and quota attainment shows how well you hit your targets. These capture different aspects of sales performance, not the accuracy of predicting results.