When it comes to forecasts, sales leaders are often left scratching their heads trying to determine which opportunities are just ‘hype’ and which ones are ‘reality’. This makes it difficult for sales leaders to know if their sales reps will actually deliver on revenue goals. And we all know that you can’t manage what you don’t measure. How much insight do you have on what your sales reps are doing each day, and if those activities will translate into closed deals?
How do you create a sales forecast? I was looking into my crystal ball this morning to determine whether my team was going to make their sales numbers this month. Everything looks very solid! Now all I have to do is keep my fingers crossed and hope my reps hit their quota! CSO Insights reports fewer than 50% of deals close as predicted. This leaves sales managers with a challenging job. If you are constantly looking into your sales crystal ball for answers, here are a few things that can help you predict and forecast sales revenue more accurately.
What are the behaviors to look for in your sales crystal ball that help predict an accurate sales forecast? The best indicator of long-term sales success is looking at the sales activities that were conducted by my reps three months prior to the current month. That’s right. What my sales reps are doing everyday matters to what happens in a few months.