Sales forecasting software can save you time and money by taking all of your data and quickly putting it into a format that is accurate and usable. From managing your staffing and inventory resources to forecasting budgets, timelines and projects, a sales forecasting system can help to eliminate errors and save resources while utilizing your management team more efficiently.

Use sales forecasting techniques to follow every aspect of your business, from purchasing to marketing and consumer behavior. Get your entire team involved in sales forecasting solutions by making sure they know how to gather and enter the data that will produce the best results. Set more goals and prepare more realistic budgets by using the latest sales forecasting tools.

1. Use a sales forecasting system to manage your staffing requirements.

2. Use revenue forecasting tools for more accurate budgeting.

3. Use online sales forecasting management to refine your marketing efforts.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Plan more accurately with sales projecting software

Utilize the latest sales forecasting techniques to allow managers the ability to bring in the right amount of staff to handle peak sales periods and to cover the least productive times with fewer workers. Use the data from previous reports and continuous tracking to achieve the most accurate forecasts.

I recommend: View the free online demo of the latest sales forecasting software from Prophix that can help manage personnel needs as part of budgeting throughout the entire process. Look into Salesforce for customizable dashboards and forecasts based on real-time analysis across the full spectrum of your business.

Manage inventory levels with sales forecast solutions

Integrate a software system into your company to make quicker and more accurate decisions about the levels of inventory you need to keep at various times. Save resources on overstock that you can eliminate. React to market changes that you can often forecast before they happen with accurate, updated software applications.

I recommend: Try some of the free downloads from Lokad to try the open source sales forecasting software they develop to get and keep the proper inventory levels. Use the services and resources of a market research firm like Decision Analyst as the basis for inputs into your sales forecasting models.

Meet market demands with sales forecasting techniques

Keep track of your sales figures in real time so that you can adjust your marketing resources to keep up with the sales patterns that you see emerging. Online sales forecasting programs can give you the ability to plug in numbers as they appear to keep your sales forecasting flexible.

I recommend: Check out the features of the online standard and advanced sales forecasting automation from Netsuite. Download free demos and PDF files to see the details of the web-based forecasting tools you can get put on your desktop in a dashboard format from Actuate.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Send the employee who is the using sales forecasting software to additional training to learn how to better understand and utilize the results of the forecasts.

A business owner without a sales forecast is like a ship's captain without a destination: Both operate on whim and reaction. A better approach is a sales forecast set at the beginning of each year and looking as far down the road as is practical. A sales forecast becomes essential to your business plan when you seek a loan or other financing because it predicts how well you expect your company to do. To create a vital sales forecast, you'll need to take this approach:

1. Analyze your company's current situation — its strengths and weaknesses; competition now and in the future; keys to success; customer demographics; and anticipated changes and opportunities in the market.
2. Look at past sales figures to predict future years.
3. Use your sales forecast as a roadmap to your productivity goals. Will you need more marketing, more employees, a price increase? Let your forecast be your guide.

Action Steps
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Profile your potential customers

Sources of statistical and anecdotal information can give you a good picture of who will buy your product or services. Such sources can also be used to predict the economic and population growth of your trading area.

I recommend: U.S. Census Bureau examines the makeup of communities now and in the future. Claritas will segment your customers and target growth opportunities.

You can do it yourself

You don't need to be a math genius to create a sales forecast — just a record-keeper who makes well-informed guesses.

I recommend: Pull your information into forecasts and reports with QuickBooks Premier Editions.

Or you can let software lead the way

Give Web-based programs your information, and they'll return forecasts and reports to you.

I recommend: OutlookSoft Corp. provides a scalable platform. NetSuite Inc. specializes in solutions for small and midsize businesses.

Follow up every day

Web-based software that tracks your business daily can give you real-time forecasts and highlight sales tasks needing special attention.

I recommend: Ross Systems Inc.'s iRenaissance was designed especially for process manufacturers. Salesforce.com offers real-time sales force automation.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Your forecast need not be perfect, only reasonable.
• •  The most recent past data can be used to predict future sales.
• •  To predict sales of a new product, let sales of an existing similar product be your forecasting guide.
• •  Project your prices as you make your sales forecast.
• •  Also figure the cost of sales — costs of the good sold rather than expenses that come out of profits.

Sales projecting can be broken down into a marketing science for many professionals. With new software products and sales forecasting techniques constantly being developed, you have to keep up with the vast amounts of information to make sure you're utilizing every advantage to increase sales.

Follow trends affecting revenue forecasting to make the most of your efforts. Find sales forecasting management information that shows you how to collect customer information and input it into appropriate diagnostics, how to read the data to identify patterns and how to react to your findings. Integrate sales forecasting tools in your business through a variety of avenues.

1. Get sales forecasting management information to start a new business.

2. Utilize sales forecasting techniques to create new marketing strategies for greater profits.

3. Bring in sales forecasting companies to plan and implement your data collection and forecasting strategies.

Action Steps
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Look for a sales forecasting system to get started

Make the most of sales forecasting before you even open your doors by learning about your competition, understanding your market and its needs and realizing the potential in the economy in which you will work. Set your initial business goals based on the forecasting results.

I recommend: Use the vast assortment of information at Statistical Forecasting to begin taking advantage of the procedures. Decision Analyst provides detailed coverage of the various sales forecasting techniques and how you should apply them to your new business practices.

Improve your bottom line with better sales forecasting management

Subscribe to and read reports that offer reviews of new forecasting programs and how they are being implemented. Look for plans that give you additional information to increase sales and rearrange your marketing efforts to fit the latest data as you receive it.

I recommend: BASES is a division of the Nielsen group, which is a leader in pre-market consumer insights. Use the programs at BASES to get a detailed, insightful plan for increasing sales. Intelligent Enterprise is a good resource for information about sales forecasting and many other topics for the small and large business executive ready to move into the next level.

Use revenue forecasting groups to consult for your company

Take advantage of experts who have the software tools and experience to get you started in the right direction. Forecasting consultants can set up the programs that you can use, analyze the market data you collect and make recommendations about how to meet those demands so that you can make the most of the data.

I recommend: Demand Planning provides training so that you can perform your own forecasting or they can come in and do the work. They also provide information and networking opportunities to learn more about the field. Rockhopper Research is a full-service sales forecasting consultant that can provide a realm of services, research and sales forecasting software to get your business on track to be more profitable.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Watch the latest trendy sales forecast techniques to find innovations that could work for you, such as interactive websites and contests using mobile phones and social networks.

Sales forecasting provides a statistical method for you to determine the probability of your sales. Whether you want to establish your bottom line, or you want to determine your average monthly sales, you can use sales forecasting. Key terms in this industry can help you determine which forecasting techniques to use. Some key terms to know include predictive modeling, consensus, collaboration, and modeling algorithms.

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Predictive modeling

Predictive modeling takes historical data and analyzes it to find the results for future sales. Usually this statistical model works best to figure out specific equations for forecasting sales.

I recommend: Rosella offers more information on predictive modeling, explains its use in sales forecasting and shows other applications for predictive modeling.

Qualitative forecasting

Sales forecasting shouldn't rely strictly on statistical methods; it should also use qualitative forecasting. This type of forecasting uses techniques like visionary forecasting, panel consensus and other methods like the Delphi technique. The goal for each of these techniques is to use new technology and information to add to historical data in order to get a better consensus for sales forecasting.

I recommend: Markitsoft provides a summary for different methods of qualitative forecasting.

The Delphi technique

The Delphi technique aims to create a consensus among experts in the industry with the hope of gaining insight into complex problems or scenarios for which few models exist. Some critics hold that this method is unscientific, or coercive and therefore unethical.

I recommend: Carolla Development hosts a white paper detailing the Delphi technique.

Quantitative forecasting

Quantitative forecasting uses numbers as the data to predict future sales. These numbers are then manipulated through mathematical techniques to determine probability.

I recommend: L2S provides a detailed description of quantitative forecasting in its guide on sales forecasting.

Customer profile

When it comes to sales forecasting, a customer profile can help a new business determine future profit. The customer profile identifies the client base for the business and takes into consideration such factors as demographics, age and income level.

I recommend: Extension Journal offers an overview for defining your customer profile.

Bottom line

The bottom line is often a synonym for a business's profit. In actuality, the bottom line can refer to profit and loss, and the term derives from the last line of a financial statement, which shows the calculations for profit and loss.

I recommend: WiseGeek discusses the bottom line and provides the background for the term.