Forecasters whose sales analytics automation allows them to pull a reliable forecast in under a half-hour consistently outperform slow forecasters in several key performance metrics.
One of the pain/pleasure aspects of sales forecasting is the trade-off between the efforts it can take to produce a solid, accurate view of the sales pipeline versus the effort it takes a stakeholder to gather, calculate and publish the numbers. The amount and quality of effort put in to gather and utilize key information on the sales pipeline reduces the time it takes to produce accurate and reliable forecasts.
In analyzing the performance of rapid forecasters whose sales analytics automation allowed them to pull a reliable forecast in under a half-hour, data reveals that they consistently outperform slow forecasters in several key performance metrics.
Research reflects that in order to support sales forecasting efforts, rapid forecasters leverage certain differentiators. Regular forecast reviews among sales reps and line managers is one such differentiator adopted 30 percent more by companies that forecast rapidly, compared to slow forecasters. Having such a “health-check” mechanism is crucial to decrease the possibility/risk of last-minute adjustments as well as to ensure further accuracy into the sales forecasts.
This differentiator becomes even more critical for companies with low levels of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology adoption; line managers and senior management in these companies have rather limited visibility on what will be going into the top line, and hence having such a process in place is indeed beneficial to reduce the risk in planning and managing the financial and operational balance of these organizations.