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    Turning Customer Information Into Sales Knowledge

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    HEM BANSAL
    Sales forecasts are important for many areas of a company. Developing a customer knowledge competence through customer data integration can help create more accurate sales forecasts. Effective sales forecasting requires gathering and analyzing customer data from salespeople and other sources. Companies use various forecasting techniques including time series analysis, correlational analysis using leading indicators, response modeling considering marketing factors, and judgmental methods like executive opinions and customer surveys. While not exact, forecast accuracy can be improved by committing resources, using multiple appropriate methods, and adjusting forecasts over time as more information becomes available.

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    Turning Customer Information Into Sales Knowledge

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    HEM BANSAL
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    Sales forecasts are important for many areas of a company. Developing a customer knowledge competence through customer data integration can help create more accurate sales forecasts. Effective sales forecasting requires gathering and analyzing customer data from salespeople and other sources. Companies use various forecasting techniques including time series analysis, correlational analysis using leading indicators, response modeling considering marketing factors, and judgmental methods like executive opinions and customer surveys. While not exact, forecast accuracy can be improved by committing resources, using multiple appropriate methods, and adjusting forecasts over time as more information becomes available.

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    Sales forecasts are important for many areas of a company. Developing a customer knowledge competence through customer data integration can help create more accurate sales forecasts. Effective sales forecasting requires gathering and analyzing customer data from salespeople and other sources. Companies use various forecasting techniques including time series analysis, correlational analysis using leading indicators, response modeling considering marketing factors, and judgmental methods like executive opinions and customer surveys. While not exact, forecast accuracy can be improved by committing resources, using multiple appropriate methods, and adjusting forecasts over time as more information becomes available.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    28 views1 page

    Turning Customer Information Into Sales Knowledge

    Uploaded by

    HEM BANSAL
    Sales forecasts are important for many areas of a company. Developing a customer knowledge competence through customer data integration can help create more accurate sales forecasts. Effective sales forecasting requires gathering and analyzing customer data from salespeople and other sources. Companies use various forecasting techniques including time series analysis, correlational analysis using leading indicators, response modeling considering marketing factors, and judgmental methods like executive opinions and customer surveys. While not exact, forecast accuracy can be improved by committing resources, using multiple appropriate methods, and adjusting forecasts over time as more information becomes available.

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    of 1

    Turning Customer information into sales

    knowledge
    Summary

    Understanding what to offer to what market requires understanding customers, but making that
    understanding actionable requires more. Creating a customer knowledge competence, or the ability
    to gather, analyze, and utilize customer knowledge effectively at the organizational level is an
    important goal to which salespeople can contribute. A first step in developing that competence is
    customer data integration or CDI.

    Many areas of the firm rely on customer data gathered by salespeople and through other means.
    Manufacturing, product development, marketing, sales management, human resources, and others
    rely on such data in order to create forecasts for their area of operations. Sales forecasting, then, is
    an important role for the sales force

    One of the first estimates a company tries to make is an estimate of the market's potential or overall
    demand. Overall demand is influenced by a number of factors, such as elasticity, but also by the
    economy, laws and regulations, social factors, demographic factors, and others. Sales potential, or
    what the company could sell if all went well, is another estimate. In addition, executives also
    forecast what is likely to be sold.

    The methods used to generate these estimates are time series techniques, including trend analysis,
    moving averages, and the use of exponential smoothing. Correlational analysis is a form of trend
    analysis but instead of basing the trend on past sales, the trends of other variables are correlated.
    Variables that trend ahead of sales are called leading indicators. Some of the correlates are variables
    such as the Consumer Confidence Index.

    Response modelling is a growing area of forecasting. These are statistical models


    that consider the influence of marketing factors, such as how much the company is planning to
    spend on advertising and sales efforts. A specific form of response modelling is to conduct a market
    test, or a trial of all of the marketing factors, and see how customers respond.

    Judgment techniques are also used, including expert or executive opinions and surveys of customers
    or channel members. Even sales force composites are considered judgments of the sales team.

    Forecasts are limited by the quality of data used treat the forecasts, the degree
    to how rapid things change. length of the planning horizon, and how much the company wants to
    spend on creating a forecast. No matter how much money and time is made available, forecasting N
    not an exact science. To improve forecast accuracy, companies should make a commitment to
    forecasting accurately In addition, forecasting accuracy can be
    improved by using multiple methods, picking the night methods for the business, using as much
    information is possible, planning for multiple entries, and adjusting the forecast as things change.

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