What Does It Actually Take to Hit Your Revenue Goal?

The example behind the starting numbers

The starting values come from a sharp example Sean Henry, CEO of Stord, shared about working backward from a goal: $1M in 12 weeks at a $50K average contract value is 20 customers. At a 5% conversion rate, that's 400 sales conversations. With a 4-week sales cycle and 2 weeks to get a prospect engaged, only 6 of the 12 weeks are left to start those conversations. That works out to 67 a week, more than 13 every business day.

I see the same gap with the founders I work with. The goal gets set, the weekly activity behind it never does, and the quarter is half over before anyone runs the numbers. This calculator does that math in a minute, with your numbers.

The formulas

• Revenue still needed = revenue goal − revenue already closed or committed.
• Customers needed = revenue still needed ÷ average contract value, rounded up.
• Sales conversations needed = customers needed ÷ conversion rate, rounded up.
• Weeks to start new conversations = timeframe − sales cycle − time to get a prospect engaged.
• Conversations per week = conversations needed ÷ weeks to start them, rounded up.
• Conversations per business day = conversations needed ÷ (weeks to start them × 5).

Assumptions worth knowing

• Every new conversation has to start early enough to close. A conversation that starts after the window can't become revenue inside the timeframe, which is why the calculator only counts the weeks before engagement time and the sales cycle run out.
• Deals already in motion count. If you have deals already closed or committed, put them in the optional field so they come off the goal.
• The conversion rate is conversation to customer. It's not your email reply rate or meeting booking rate. If you only know those, the demo generation calculator can help you work out how much outreach it takes to get the conversations.

How to use the result

If the weekly number is more than your team can realistically handle, you have four levers: a longer timeframe, a higher conversion rate, a bigger average deal, or a shorter sales cycle. The two tables above show how much each one moves the plan. Then put the weekly number on the calendar and track it every week.