World-class companies can’t afford to make big forecasting errors. They create a culture of measurement in which sales and marketing managers work in synch to achieve their goals. Forecasting helps to respond faster to the market.
The VP of sales of a software company showed how his sales team follows a documented sales process that gives the CEO a monthly forecast that’s 98 percent accurate. The VP of sales shared more reasons for pushing up forecasting accuracy.
He said that higher forecasting accuracy allows him to catch market changes earlier. “You can respond faster with special promotions when the market slows down, or you can step up sales quickly if the market goes up. Speed drives ROI.”
While many organizations are stuck tracking forecasting with spreadsheets, world-class companies use purposefully built, sales-forecasting software, such as Salesforce.com, that’s integrated with their CRM solution. These solutions both capture the data and provide exceptional analytics to drive better insight and accurate action.
“As the economy moves into the recovery phase, now is the time to invest in better sales-forecasting tools that will eliminate expensive errors and give your company the flexibility to respond quickly to market changes”, he said. “Run your company based on science, not on hunches, so you can cut costs and maximize productivity.”