Scott Smith OneAccord Partners Achieving Committed and Reliable Sales Forecast
Introductions… Your Name / Position Company / Industry What are you hoping to accomplish today? What is your experience with Sales Forecasts?
143 Steps to a Perfect Forecast 1.Train your Sales Team to what you are looking for 2.Give them documents that need to be filled out perfectly and signed by the customer to certify their authenticity 3.Send to your CFO & Analytics Department to do variance testing and make sure your sample sizes are correct 4.On a monthly basis, beat the crap out of your sales rep for any variances of over 1%
Does Your Sales Forecast look like this? ….
But the Results look like this?…
Like this Money…. most forecasts are not worth the paper they are written on!
What is the BEST Predictor of Future Performance? Historical Performance!
Example 1: Fred’s Forecast Will you accept Fred’s Forecast?
Example 2: Customer “A” Forecast Will you accept Customer “A” Forecast?
Trust but verify. – Ronald Reagan
Tools: B2B Rep: Six month average, then adjust forecast with exceptions Manufacturers to OEM’s: – Calculate customer spend based upon units. –Example: Every exercise machine they build has $100 of our parts on it. How many are they building each day? Validate production schedule with customer build schedule ELIMINATE inventory from the Channel!!!! –Never trust a forecast from someone who is managing their balance sheet on a quarterly basis –Safety stock is your enemy
What Have You Tried?