Start from your revenue target or from your current pipeline. Get pipeline velocity, the coverage you need, the number of AEs and their quota, and the marketing budget to hold the plan.
I start from a revenue target: enter your new-revenue target for the next 12 months, deal size, win rate, sales cycle and quota per AE, plus your lead-to-opportunity rate and cost per lead. I start from my current pipeline: enter open opportunities, the quarter target and the size of your sales team.
The usual B2B range is 3 to 4× the target. Below 2× the quarter is at risk whatever the sales effort, because pipeline created today closes after the quarter ends. Above 4×, the problem is usually qualification rather than volume: improving the win rate is cheaper than buying more pipeline.
It answers the question asked in every planning meeting: what does it take to hit the number? Pipeline, headcount and marketing budget come out of the same assumptions, so sales and marketing can argue about the assumptions instead of the outputs.
Use the TAM SAM SOM calculator to check that your market holds enough accounts, and the CAC & LTV calculator to check the plan is profitable.
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