Top 5 Mistakes Companies Make When Planning for the New Fiscal Year
- Rebecca Thachil
- 14 minutes ago
- 4 min read
(And How to Avoid Them With a Strong RevOps Strategy)
1. Planning Without Data, or With “Dirty” Data
Why this is important
Your fiscal-year plan is only as strong as the data informing it. If conversion rates, pipeline numbers, or win rates are inaccurate, every decision — hiring, budgeting, quota setting, revenue forecasting — becomes a gamble. Clean data gives you confidence. Dirty data creates false optimism.
Pitfalls
Relying on inflated pipeline because nobody closed out dead deals
Making targets based on last year’s “gut feel” instead of validated metrics
Overestimating rep performance due to inconsistent stage usage
Misreporting marketing contribution because of poor attribution
Building headcount plans based on incorrect capacity assumptions
End result: Leaders think they’re building a strategic plan, but they’re really building a fantasy.
How to fix it
Run a full year-end data hygiene audit
Validate conversion rates for all major funnel stages
Remove or recycle stale deals
Standardize and enforce stage definitions
Optimize attribution models
Align on a single “source of truth” dashboard for planning
Clean your data before your planning meetings. It transforms everything.
2. Setting Targets Without Aligning Sales, Marketing, and CS
Why this is important
Revenue is cross-functional. You can’t hit a sales number unless marketing produces the right pipeline and CS protects and expands existing accounts. Planning in silos leads to missed targets, miscommunication, and wasted effort.
Pitfalls
Sales demands pipeline that marketing wasn’t resourced to generate
Marketing campaigns target personas Sales doesn’t want
CS gets blindsided by aggressive growth goals that ignore retention risks
Teams argue about definitions (SQL, MQL, SAL, ICP)
Everyone builds their plans around different assumptions
End result: Internal friction replaces revenue momentum.
How to fix it
Facilitate cross-functional revenue planning meetings led by RevOps
Use shared numbers and conversion rates, not separate spreadsheets
Align on ICP, segments, territories, lifecycle stages, and funnel definitions
Present one unified revenue model showing:
Pipeline needed
MQL volume needed
SQL targets
Forecast inputs
Renewal and expansion expectations
Use the PATH Framework for structured alignment
When teams align early, execution becomes smooth later.
3. Building a Commission Plan That Doesn’t Match the GTM Strategy
Why this is important
Compensation is the strongest behaviour driver in any GTM organization. If the plan rewards the wrong actions — or is confusing — reps won’t perform the way leadership expects. Your commission plan must reinforce the revenue strategy, not contradict it.
Pitfalls
Paying equally for low-value and high-value deals
Overcomplicated accelerators that reps don’t trust
Incentivizing discounting or bad-fit deals
Commission plans that reps don't understand (leading to lowered motivation)
Changing comp mid-year without a communication plan
End result: Revenue becomes inconsistent and morale drops because reps don’t trust the plan.
How to fix it
Build comp plans after the revenue strategy and segmentation decisions
Keep the structure simple, fair, and transparent
Include clear guardrails for discounting
Implement SPIFs aligned with Q1–Q4 priorities
Model at least 3 performance scenarios (low, expected, high) to forecast comp cost
Provide a one-page visual summary so reps know exactly how they get paid
A well-designed compensation plan is one of the strongest growth levers.
4. Ignoring Process Gaps Until Q1 Is Already Lost
Why this is important
Most companies lose the first 60–90 days of the fiscal year fixing preventable process issues. Every gap in routing, follow-up, forecasting, handoffs, or CRM usage slows revenue. If processes aren’t clean, predictable, and adopted, strategy doesn’t matter.
Pitfalls
Leads going cold because routing rules are outdated or not monitored
Sales and SDRs using different lead or deal stage definitions
No SLA enforcement between Marketing → Sales → CS
Manual work slowing teams down
Inconsistent follow-up behaviour across reps
Forecasting errors due to poor CRM hygiene
End result: The revenue engine sputters while competitors accelerate.
How to fix it
Run a RevOps Gap Assessment before Q1 begins
Review and update routing, lifecycle, and stage definitions
Standardize handoffs between teams with clear SLAs
Automate manual workflows where possible
Clean up reporting — no more custom rep dashboards with mismatched numbers
Train teams on the updated processes before the year starts
Fixing process early is the difference between reactive and proactive growth.
5. Building a Plan Without Accounting for Sales Capacity
Why this is important
Ambitious revenue targets often crumble because the team simply doesn’t have the capacity to handle the pipeline. You can’t hit a $10M target with a $6M team, no matter how motivated they are. Capacity determines what is realistically achievable.
Pitfalls
Setting quotas higher than the territory potential
Ignoring ramp time for new hires (especially in Sales + CS)
Overloading reps with too many accounts or deals to manage effectively
Hiring too late to impact early-year revenue
Assuming reps work 40 hours on selling (capacity is closer to 25–30 hours)
Underestimating the pipeline required to support the target
End result: Reps burn out, leaders panic, and revenue stalls early in the year.
How to fix it
Build a capacity model that includes:
Realistic number of deals a rep can manage
Expected conversion rates
Territory/account potential
Rep ramp time
Required pipeline coverage ratio
Plan hiring before the fiscal year starts
Align quotas with realistic capacity, not hope
Use historical rep performance to validate assumptions
Capacity planning prevents overcommitting and underdelivering.
