125 salespeople. Six countries. Five languages. And every market reading the pipeline its own way.
Here's how Pacnet replaced polite pipeline reviews with a forecast leadership could rely on, right up to its merger with Telstra.
Pacnet sold telecommunications and data centre services across Asia Pacific and the United States. Its sales team of 125 worked in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan and the United States.
Each market had its own language, its own culture and its own way of reading a pipeline. A deal marked "likely" in one country meant something different in another.
Pipeline reviews were polite. Nobody wanted to challenge a colleague's deal in front of the team. So the forecast was built on courtesy, not evidence.
We built a single pipeline standard and gave every manager the same questions to ask, in every market, every week:
The standard was deployed in five languages, so every manager could hold it in the language their team works in. What counted as a real deal in Tokyo was exactly what counted in Sydney.
Pipeline reviews became honest conversations. Weak deals surfaced early, while there was still time to act.
The forecast became reliable, and the business grew steadily.
When Pacnet merged with Telstra, the merger was completed successfully, with a sales organisation whose pipeline leadership could trust.
“Before Robert, our pipeline reviews were diplomatic. After, they were accurate. That is a different business.”
Cardi Prinzi · VP Sales · Pacnet (Telstra)
Culture and language differences don't have to mean different forecasts. One standard, held by every manager in their own language, gave Pacnet one version of the truth.
Read the full guide: why your sales forecast is always wrong, and how to fix it →
Every manager in every market used the same pipeline standard and asked the same evidence questions each week, so deals were judged the same way everywhere.
Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, China, Japan and the United States, with the standard deployed in five languages.
Yes. The standard is built on facts, such as a booked next meeting, not on opinions. Facts translate across languages and cultures.
The merger was completed successfully, with a sales team running on a pipeline and forecast leadership could rely on.
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