There are four common pitfalls that take place during the forecasting process that every sales leader should avoid.

Poor data management is the first error. Lack of data in a company's CRM – or worse, bad data – prevents sales organizations from properly assessing their pipeline.

The second error might be called misreading the buyer's journey. Most sales organizations try to shorten their sales cycles by finding the shortest possible path to the decision maker. This works if the meeting with the decision maker covers every element of your product.

The third error, relying on historical performance, is a common mistake in the sales world, and for companies in turbulent or emerging markets, it frequently leads to missed forecasts.

Then there's downward pressure, in which company leadership pressure on the sales team results in the prioritization of forecast accuracy over sales effectiveness.

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