Field note
Split counties and overlay routes: who carries the forecast line
Some Georgia teams split a dense county by ZIP or highway. Others add a vertical overlay for healthcare or logistics. Both can work. Both break a regional forecast when two owners enter the same opportunity with different close months.
Write a one-page rule before the next period: for each overlay type, who enters the amount, who enters the close month, and who speaks in the forecast meeting. If the overlay is 'advisory only,' the geographic owner carries the dollars. If the overlay is the true hunter, the geographic owner keeps the account notes and drops the amount.
We have watched forecast meetings in which both owners 'committed' a number and neither wanted to drop it in front of the other. The regional total then had no owner when the deal slipped. The rule has to be written before the meeting, not negotiated while the spreadsheet is on the wall.
A forecast calibration session is the right room for this argument. A period-close briefing is too late; the double-count has already closed or already vanished.