If you are looking to know how your business will behave in a year, you do not have to go looking for a seer with a crystal ball, there are few things as powerful as an accurate sales forecast. At Dataknow we know very well that this doesnt sound as exciting as looking at a crystal ball, but we are almost equally passionate about it, also, we are talking about business and not magic (although to be honest, we do a bit of magic with our sales forecasting solution!)
If we want to continue looking at it from the magic point of view, the sales forecast would basically be the action of sprinkling a little fairy dust on your sales plan (we finished with the magic metaphors, we promise) . With a sales forecast, you get a detailed prediction of what an individual salesperson, your sales team or your entire organization will sell in a given period of time: weekly, monthly or yearly. it gives you a picture of a future that you can later plan on.
What is the sales forecast for?
Do you want to know if you will have enough sales to support the development of that new product or the marketing plan? Check the sales forecast. Do you want to excite investors and get additional financing to boost their growth? You got it. Check your sales forecast.
In fact, according to research by the Aberdeen Group, companies with accurate sales forecasts are 10% more likely to increase their revenue year-over-year and twice as likely to be at the top of their field.
Predictive analytics uses data collected from any number of internal and external sources along with advanced algorithms to find useful insights on potential customer needs, industry trends, and competitive behavior. Historical purchase data, website and email interactions, locations, demographics, and CRM data can be combined and analyzed to get an accurate sales forecast, predict who is most likely to buy your services, offer targeted discounts, and improve your prices.
1. Increase your sales
Sales forecast analyzes past performance, industry characteristics, competitive information, and economic trends to predict future sales. With predictive analytics, the sales forecast can be improved from the industry standard of 60-70% to more than 80%. To achieve this, at Dataknow we examine the available data and select forecasting models based on the specific business requirements of our clients.
In the following example, we show the best models to predict sales, with their respective statistics to measure their accuracy.
The model used data from different sources, including relevant macro and microeconomic trends, past performance, and typical customer behavior.
2. Predict the purchase probability
Would you like to have real, actionable information on who is likely to buy your products and services, whether as first-time buyers or as repeat customers?
At Dataknow we use predictive analytics to analyze your customer data, including past sales, your customers’ interactions with emails, social media and websites, demographics, location, and other information to predict the likelihood that a customer will potential buy your product or service or have a repeat customer do it again.
Our models compare the pre-purchase behavior of potential customers with the behavior of your regular or past customers to see which prospects behave more like their previous buyers. With this information, potential customers can be categorized and labeled according to their probability of buying your product or service.
Your sales and marketing departments will be able customize the way they interact with these prospects to increase the likelihood of closing the deal. For example, they can target specific customers with personalized product combinations, value-added services, discounts, and other informed sales tactics
3. Specific discounts
Everyone loves discounts. However, misdirected or blanket discounts can dramatically lower profit margins with little ROI on your marketing campaigns.
Whether your company is B2C or B2B, at Dataknow we use predictive analytics you can use it to view past and current data and see if one discount level is likely to generate more sales than a different discount level (for example, 20 % vs. 10%). We also make predictions that analyze different demographics, locations and types of customers and see which discounts have the highest conversion rates, giving you the ability to target customers with a high probability of buying at lower discounts (but with other less expensive benefits. to keep them happy) and those less likely to buy at higher discounts. This can lead to higher profit margins for those who are likely to buy and better conversion rates for those who are less likely to buy.
4. Improved pricing
By gathering data from your competitors, market conditions, past sales, internal costing, customer behavior, and many other sources, you can discover:
- What pricing and discounts are most likely to result in sales and lead conversions
- How you can apply dynamic changes in pricing to improve overall revenue and profitability
- Where your market is going and whether your pricing is likely to remain competitive
- Hidden costs, product and service issues, and profit opportunities
- Which value-added services and product combinations are likely to lead to sales, upsells, and customer retention
Dataknow’s sales forecasting solution enables you to establish an effective sales strategy, align your sales team with your overall goals, and optimize sales performance.
Our solution enables you to forecast faster and more reliably. Continuously monitor actual performance against targets and ultimately see the impact on your cash flow and financial results statement.
Dataknow’s sales forecasting, the capacity to foresee the future and make informed decisions from it.
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