A sales forecast template is an articulation of expected sales revenue, prepared on a single sheet as and when required by management or owner. It is used to roughly calculate how much your organization or company is planning to sell their products or services within a certain period, which is usually a month, half a year or a year. We can also say that a sales forecast is a method to predict how much sales volume a company can achieve in the future. The sales forecast template is one of the important documents that is prepared by a company or an organization every year or quarter. This sheet vitally plays a very crucial role in the strategic planning and decision-making process. Moreover, a proper sales report includes the data provided by the sales forecast sheet and budget estimation.
Components of Sales Forecast:
There are two components that you need to keep in mind when making a sales forecast report and this report must answer both of these questions. These are given below;
• Expected sale:
The first one is to make sure that you know your expected sales volume. To find out how many sales you are expected to make in the future, you have to come up with a number. Therefore, to come up with this number you have to take into account everything you know about the prospect.
• Hit your Sales Targets:
The second one is that you are aware of and that is how to hit your sales target. In your sales forecast it is important to pinpoint when you expect to earn the amount from your sales, whether it is a month, 6 months or a year. Without it your sales forecast would be incomplete.
What is the Importance of Sales Forecast?
The sales forecast format is really important for any business organization because, with the help of it, you can plan everything related to the sale of your products. Such as the resources you are planning to use to ship the products, the cost of marketing, the employees you will have to hire and how you will increase your sales. With the help of a sales forecast report, you are able to meet the demands of a customer for a well-made product. Internally, it will help in planning everything for the sales team, which will make things easier for them. If you are able to make a well predicted forecast, it will have a great effect on your company, such as the price of the company and much more. And your company has the advantage of making a lot of good investments.
People Involved in Making a Sales Forecast?
Different organizations choose different people for the responsibility of making a sales forecast, but a few of the people usually involved are:
Leaders of sales: The sales leader is responsible for achieving a specific amount of sales volume that they expect their team to deliver. Since there is more than one sales leader, all of them predict the numbers by different methods such as opportunities. And when they all estimate a number, they come up with the closest rate of what all of them expect.
Leader of products: They are responsible for telling what products they will be selling in the future and when they will sell them.
Sales representatives: They are also asked to give their own predictions of the numbers of sales to the manager of sales forecast.
Advantages of using a Sales Forecast:
No matter whether the sales volume of your business is low, you will still find the sales forecast tool important. This is because it has many advantages, which are given below:
• Working Capital:
The requirement of working capital, which plays a sound role in providing resources to produce the desirable number of products or units, can be calculated using a sales forecast sheet. The management can decide to go for financial assistance if they are facing trouble with arranging funds for production.
• Effective Strategies and Planning:
A sales forecast can raise alarm for management to take precautionary measures well before time. The downward trend of low sales volume can help management to revisit their sales strategies and planning. This way, they can revise their targets and encourage their sales team to work accordingly to new targets.
• Sales Activities:
Sales activities can increase the sales volume of any business. That is the reason why a sales forecast is significant for management as it can alert them to start boosting their sales activities. Sales activities include providing discounts, credit offers, rebates on early payments and bonus units on purchasing a specific number of products.
• Flexibility in Budget:
A sales forecast template enables users to prepare a flexible budget to overcome expectations. If there is a downward trend in sales volume, then there would certainly be low sales in the current year. Therefore, a wise manager or individual will take this crucial element in his/her mind while budgeting.
Templates for Sales Forecast:
Free Sales Forecast Template
Sales Forecast Format
www.officetemplates.org/Sales Forecast Example
www.officetemplates.org/Annual Sales Forecast Template
www.smartsheet.comMonthly Sales Forecast Template
www.smartsheet.com