Source: Swayne Hill, SVP Global Field Operations, Cloud9 Analytics
Sales forecasts are critical to assessing performance, determining whether sales goals will be met, and anticipating resource utilization.
Let’s face it, creating accurate sales forecasts isn’t easy. We can’t look into a crystal ball and see which deals in the pipeline are going to close in the next X days, which will drag on for X months, or which will flame out and never come to fruition. Fortunately, sales forecasts don’t need to be 100 percent accurate to be valuable.
In fact, forecasting is simply about identifying a specific sales target in a specific time frame, as accurately as possible. It’s about coming up with a number and growing and planning around that number. Ultimately, a sales forecast is an incredibly valuable tool that brings clarity to an entire organization, particularly those at the expansion stage.
Of course, that’s assuming you’re creating your sales forecasts the right way.
“Sales Forecasts: A Question of Method, Not Magic” is intended for the VP of sales at expansion-stage companies with direct sales organizations responsible for ensuring, administering, and reviewing accurate forecasts. The eBook:
- Explains what forecasting is and why it’s important
- Outlines the components of a sales forecast
- Describes how to create a successful forecasting process through forecast review meetings
- Offers tips to help you improve your forecasting accuracy and utilize the best technology possible.
The eBook also focuses heavily on small, but crucial, adjustments you can make to your process to improve the accuracy of your sales forecasts over time, especially as your business continues to scale.
Like most things worth doing, creating accurate sales forecasts is hard work. It requires diligence, discipline, and persistence as well as commitment, honesty, and consistency. It’s is a complex mixture of people, responsibilities, tools, and tactics that, collectively, produce a reliable, deployable output. If your organization’s forecasting practice isn’t taking each of these things into account, then it’s likely void of critical information that might shine a light on potential flaws or imperfections.
Find out how you can create accurate sales forecasts by downloading your free copy of “Sales Forecasts: A Question of Method, Not Magic” today!
http://labs.openviewpartners.com/files/2012/07/Forecasting-eBook-FINAL.pdf
Sales forecasts are critical for both large and small companies. Your ability to deliver on your forecast is a reflection of how well you know your business, and how well you manage the organization. Without this competency, the already difficult challenges of scaling a sales organization, raising money, and building a great company become even more difficult.
About Scale Finance
Scale Finance LLC (www.scalefinance.com) provides contract CFO services, Controller solutions, and support in raising capital, or executing M&A transactions, to entrepreneurial companies. The firm specializes in cost-effective financial reporting, budgeting & forecasting, implementing controls, complex modeling, business valuations, and other financial management, and provides strategic help for companies raising growth capital or considering M&A/recapitalization opportunities. Most of the firm’s clients are growing technology, healthcare, business services, consumer, and industrial companies at various stages of development from start-up to tens of millions in annual revenue. Scale Finance LLC has offices throughout the southeast including Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham, Greensboro, Wilmington, Washington D.C. and South Florida with a team of more than 30 professionals serving more than 100 companies throughout the region.
