Sales forecasting is a vital element in taking the temperature of your business at any given point in time, as the forecast itself is your future upon which decisions need to be made or strategies put into place.
There are many shortcomings associated with sales forecasting but whatever shortcoming, it is access to information and trends that is the key between success and failure.
Because business conditions are continually changing, you need to constantly be on top of the situation in order to make key decisions that effect the future of your business.
These decisions could be based around but not limited too:
- Individual sales persons performance
- Sales team performance or structure
- Resources
- Product Planning
- Financing
The Forecasting Tool is easy to use and can provide a variety of information such as (but not limited to):
- A snap shot of your current forecast
- A snap shot of your closed sales
- The accuracy of your forecast and trends
- Length of time between original forecast and actual as well as trend
- Length of time that forecast sales have been open as well as trend
- Statistics on products forecast & sold.
These can be measured on an unlimited number of criteria but commonly this would be:
- Monthly or quarterly basis or both
- Sales or margin or both
- Slippage/Gain
- Actual numbers, percentages, averages, trends.
Furthermore the Forecast Tool does not just provide information on the business as a whole but it drills down into the performance of your individual sales persons and/or sales teams, branches, office etc.
Many of the decisions that commonly need to be made, based around sales forecasting, relate to the performances of individuals, teams, branches, offices etc, whether that be the identification of a training need, more intervention/supervision, change in structure, or potentially disciplinary action.
For more information or to access this service please contact Peter Lambe, Business Services Manager at
