Forecasting in Sales
Why is Forecasting in Sales Tricky?
Forecasting in sales can be tricky and a cause for much anxiety for a sales rep. There are always the forecasting capabilities that are built into Salesforce or your CRM, but they often are a harder visual for sales reps to use to really understand their pipeline, the likelihood of closing and how to forecast for the month or quarter.
The Problem with Forecasting Sales Methods
This is often because the forecasting sales methods are vertical funnels, making it challenging to think about and see how a deal that is further back in the funnel could move through quicker.
The other challenge of the forecasting sales methods in CRM is that they are based on sales process steps and not necessarily on an understanding of a customer’s timeline or compelling event. As you will learn in my Sales Guide (if you purchase), the same Sales Process could take one week to close a deal or 1+ years, depending on the number of people involved in the deal and how many meetings it takes to get to the next step in the Sales Process.
The Challenge with CRM and Sales Forecasting for a Sales Rep
This is a fundamental problem with CRM from a sales rep’s perspective. Now, on the backend of CRM with Sale Operations, they are often able to run reports to look at the average time that opportunities stay in different Opportunity Stages to more accurately forecast for the overall business.
However, when asking a sales rep, “How much revenue will you do this month/quarter?”, those kinds of back-end sales operation statistics are either not available or too hard to put into action.
A Simple and Accurate way for Sales Reps to Forecast their Sales
In my Sales Guide, I talk about a simple way for sales reps to classify their deals at the beginning of the sales cadence (month, quarter, year). The categories are as follows:
Closed Won
Reviewing Contracts
Most Likely
Best Case
In the Sales Guide, I dive deep into the definitions of what deals fall in these categories and apply a percentage for likelihood to close. This has been a sure-fire method for forecasting in sales for me over the years.
Sales Guide for Sales Reps
Written by a Sales Rep for Sales Rep. This guide is purely tactical information that you as a sales rep can implement into your selling behavior immediately to drive near term impact to your quota and achievements.
No sales theory, no complicated sales process or sales methodology, no fluff.
The Guide contains:
- Training Content
- Sales Agendas For Each Stage of Sales process
- Scripts (Pitches, Meeting Opening, 60 Sec Elevator Pitch, Meeting Closing)
- Business Case Templates
- Email FollowUp Templates
- Forecast Calculator
- and much much more!
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About Emily
the Author
I have been selling software for nearly 13 years and have been the #1 sales rep at every organization I have been apart of. I would often outsell entire sales teams of 4-5 reps in a given month or quarter. I am not some kind of sales prodigy or savant. The reason I am good at sales and was the top sales rep, was because I LEARNED how to do it. SALES IS 80% learned and 20% innate skill. Writing these guides is my way of giving back to the community and giving Sales Reps and Sales Leadership easy yet effective tools to increase revenue.
What Real Reps Are Saying
“Before learning from Emily’s methods, I was an 80% performer. After learning the tactics and process, I was able to get to 130% for 2 years in a row and secure a spot as a top producer and presidents club attendee. Any sales rep looking to exceed quota, should read this guide.”
Australia
"I was lucky to work with Emily my first few years as a Sales Rep. The lessons she taught me on the importance of the basics- never short change rapport, consulting = control = predictability of a deal, and don't be afraid to ask for the business when you know you have delivered value. These items were paramount in my success then and now. I couldn't recommend Emily's guide more to "tell you like it is" just like she did with all her customers and prospects as a Sales Rep."
San Francisco
“Emily’s guide is an absolute knock out. Her ability to laser focus and drive a succinct, repeatable process is unmatched. Her process has grown me as a sales person to be customer focused, business results oriented and always selling top value, strategic initiatives that have high propensity to convert into happy customers.”
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