When looking at revenue goals for the next quarter or next year, how confident are you in the numbers? Can you use your sales forecast to plan with confidence, or do you feel like you are caught in a trap of high expectations with average results?
The key to accurate forecasting is having your sales team truly understand their buyers’ behavior. Too many times sales reps make assumptions about how people are going to buy, and they end up getting burned. These assumptions on the front end lead to a bloated forecast, filled with inaccuracies. Does your company have questions that help determine the strength of your pipeline or is it based on gut feelings, or what people think is going to happen?
The only way to have a forecast that does its job is to have a clear and thorough understanding of your buyers’ behavior. Do your people know why people want to buy what you have, why they would want to buy from your company specifically, and why they want to take action now? These questions should be answered from the potential client in their own words, not what is relayed from your people to the potential customer.
Too many times sales reps assume the answers to these questions, or read between the lines and formulate their own opinion. When a rep is judged on the quantity of opportunities he or she brings in, it leads to more reps having happy ears and believing opportunities exist when in reality they don’t.
When your sales team has criteria that involve getting actual information from clients and prospects, your forecast will be much stronger. Forecasts shouldn’t be a roller coaster of results. By understanding the realities of buyer behavior, an accelerated consistency will happen within the organization.
