Three Tips for Better Sales Forecasting

The numbers really matter. Think of how many sales management decisions are made on the basis of your sales forecasts. The more accurate they are, the better the business decisions they drive. You want educated sales planning, not crystal ball guesses.

Here are three value selling training tips for getting the numbers as close to actual sales results as possible:

1. Evaluate regularly.   Be disciplined and set aside a time on a regular basis to gather and assess the numbers and the results based upon agreed upon customer behaviors. Adjust as necessary.
2. Use multiple data.  Finance will want your revenue numbers. Operations will need your product-specific numbers. Provide different data points and then management can come up with an integrated picture of what you expect to sell and when.
3. Keep it simple.  There are software programs that can help you analyze the data but avoid those that are too complicated. Forecasting should not be advanced level math but should give you numbers that allow educated planning for each territory, product, rep and customer.

The better your numbers - the better your business planning. Do it often, collaborate with others in the organization and keep it simple.