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Flow vs. Waterfall

  • April 14, 2023
  • 6 replies
  • 178 views

David Ogborn
Esteemed Contributor
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Two of the best Analytics modules in Clari are Flow and Waterfall. Both of these modules help highlight movement within your pipeline yet they display the data in a slightly different way which can inform when you want to use one over the other. 

 

Put simply, Flow is outstanding for seeing how pipeline has shifted from a deal perspective. Flow helps you see how deals change between stages or forecast categories. It’s a very powerful tool for helping you understand what has or hasn’t moved in their pipeline. 

 

On the other hand, Waterfall is excellent at showing how pipeline has shifted from a dollar amount or currency perspective. Waterfall helps make clear how many dollars have been added to or removed from our open inventory of deals. Pipeline may shrink if you have deals slipping, being closed lost, or even closed won. Keeping track of how your pipeline’s size shifts has never been easier. 

 

What questions are you asking about your business when you use Flow or Waterfall? Let me know below!

6 replies

rdevanna
Engaged Member
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  • Engaged Member
  • April 17, 2023

@David Ogborn these modules certainly compliment each other. A common one - I’m seeing Sales Leaders use these to track their weekly forecast.

In Flow - they’re looking at how did my Commits move in the last 7 days?

In Waterfall - they’re looking at why did my forecast rollup change in the last 7 days?

Saved Views for Analytics now allows ROPs to streamline and package the answers to these types of questions to their revenue teams!


jparawan
Clari
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  • Clari
  • April 17, 2023

@David Ogborn - I agree, these two compliment each other well, like PB&J 🍞. Flow  can tell you pipe movement over a period of time and waterfall tells you the magnitude of pipeline $ changes in either direction. 


Eric Chappell
Engaged Member
  • Engaged Member
  • April 19, 2023

@Anjanette Jacalne timely post! 


Kenna
Community Manager
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  • Community Manager
  • April 19, 2023

Hey, @David Ogborn!

Some really great questions to ask Flow:
 

 

@Landon Scott, @NicoleA actually shared how they ask Clari these questions and what they do with the insights from Flow in the posts above. Good stuff!


NicoleA
Engaged Member
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  • Engaged Member
  • April 19, 2023

I started as a Flow gal, but lately Waterfall is taking the cake for my favorite analytics module.  I’ve been using it to answer how our Churn forecast has changed in the last 7 days.  It’s a bit of a mindset shift to look at churn on there, but it’s amazingly handy.  I can easily see which deals had an increase of amount (less churn forecasted) and report the good news.


Cameron McCann
Clari
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Utilizing saved views in analytics like Flow & Waterfall helps speed up time to value when using these modules. I’ve found that saving these views in the form of questions provides clarity around the data that is presented.

 

For example, a sales leader may want to know what exactly has happened in their pipeline in the last week. Once they find a filter set that provides the data they are looking for, they can label that saved view as “How has my pipeline changed since our last forecast call?” 

 

Now, within a few clicks, that sales leader can pop open Waterfall and have actionable data at their fingertips!