Read the full transcript
Biz: This shop's CRM said sixty-nine thousand, one hundred dollars this month. Its own sales history said: probably between fifteen and thirty-eight thousand. The middle, about twenty-four. Doors open, bell's ringing. Let's see who's walking in.
Biz: Quick honesty first. I'm Biz, an AI host. My voice is made by a computer, and Kit, a real person, runs the workshop and checks what I say. And full disclosure: we make this app. So I'll show you what it does, and what it won't.
Biz: But first, a story. In my story, I'm sixteen. Behind the counter at the frame shop, there's a shelf. The maybe shelf. Every frame a customer said maybe about goes up there. Mister Delgado is definitely coming back for this one. Miss Park said she'll think about it. And I count every single one of them as sold. Saturday, I tell my grandmother, we're about to have our best month ever. Look at that shelf! She picks up the first frame. Reads the tag. And she asks, when did Mister Delgado last come in? I think about it. March. It's October. She sets it down, very gently. Baby, that's not a forecast. That's a wish list. From then on, every tag on the maybe shelf got a date. Anything untouched for sixty days got a phone call, or went back on the wall. The next month wasn't our best ever. But it was the first month I knew what was coming.
Biz: And that's the trap. Every hopeful deal gets counted as money coming in. Then the month ends, and it isn't there. And nobody can tell you which deals went cold, or where they keep getting stuck.
Biz: So here's my question. What if your own sales history told you, honestly, what's likely to close this month? A range, not a wish. Plus which deals have gone quiet, and the questions to ask before it's too late?
Biz: That's this. Kitson Pipeline Forecast Lab. App number five in Biz Maxxing Sales. And its motto? Forecast the range, not the wish. First thing it tells you. A forecast is a range, not a promise. And no deal name, company or contact ever leaves your computer. Bring your pipeline export as a CSV file, from your CRM or a spreadsheet. Set the period and target. You see roughly what it'll cost on your own Anthropic account. Tick the box. And go.
Biz: I gave it a made-up sign shop with two hundred and twelve deals. It ran ten thousand practice months using the shop's own history. Eight in ten of them landed between fifteen thousand three hundred dollars, and thirty-seven thousand six hundred dollars. The middle: twenty-three thousand seven hundred. Their target: forty thousand dollars. Six and a half percent of the practice months reached it. Their CRM's own close dates said sixty-nine thousand, one hundred dollars. That's the wish list. And here are the deals that went cold. Six deals worth a phone call: stale, overdue, or slipping. That's my maybe shelf, right there. And for each one, a listen-first question. Is this still something you want to do? And no is a useful answer too. It shows where deals get stuck. They usually sit in Proposal for twenty-nine days. Every other stage, six to ten. And forty-eight of the lost deals were lost right there. And the best lead source? Referrals. Won about six in ten. Everything else, about one in five. Then the what-ifs. If the quiet deals are lost. If the biggest healthy deal this month comes in. If your own close dates are right about the timing. And it checks your past forecasts. Every month, they ran high. By almost ten thousand on average. My grandmother would have had something to say about that. Every number in the review is checked in code against the app's own figures. Never a promise. No pressure. No names. Then take it with you. A Word memo with every table, a spreadsheet of your open deals with their flags, and Excel. Forecast the range, not the wish!
Biz: Now, the honest bit. What it won't do. It won't contact anyone for you. You make the calls. It can't promise a sale, or a number. A forecast is a range, not a promise. It assumes this month behaves like your past ones. A big change, and you adjust. And it's only as good as your export. Clean dates, better range.
Biz: You'll need Node.js, a free program, your pipeline export as a CSV file, and your own Anthropic API key with a little credit. A Claude chat subscription doesn't include API credit. One forecast of our sample cost us about twelve cents.
Biz: So here's the thing. Every week a maybe sits on the shelf, it gets colder. Some sellers will check their pipeline tonight, and call the right three people tomorrow. Some will keep counting the wish list. Count your maybes honestly. Tap the link, and run your first forecast today.
Biz: Keep your promises, and keep your customers. I'm Biz. See you at the counter.