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Forecasting: Not Just for the Weather Anymore

Written by Zach Gilbert

Published: 09/16/2019

You plan an outdoor party or barbecue and you no doubt check the weather forecast days ahead of time, right? You should do the same with your sales – forecast them. After all, a rainy day ruins….a day. If you miss in your sales forecasting you could lose….your media publishing company.

Sales Forecasting in Brief

Simply put, a sales forecast is a prognostication of your future sales revenue. These revenue expectations come about by looking at industry trends, historical sales data at your publishing company and how well – or not – your current sales pipeline is faring. Many businesses create monthly, quarterly, yearly forecasts (some do this weekly).

A sales forecast is different than a sales goal, which is what you want to accomplish. A forecast estimates what you’ll accomplish.

(Full disclosure: our own sales team here at MagHub uses sales forecasting a lot. It’s truly helped us meet our sales forecasts/goals.)

Forecasting Ad Sales Revenue

We recently presented “Forecasting: Pipeline Management for Better Sales Team Performance” at the MagHub Fall Forum 2019 and you’ll be able to download a PowerPoint of it below.

Before you do so, take a look below at an overview of our presentation, and how you and your account executives can forecast your own sales results.

Before you start, you should have the following data handy:

1) A clear and documented sales process.

2) Your sales goals and quotas for your account executives. (Remember, a sales goal isn’t a sales forecast.)

3) A benchmark of some typical sales metrics such as time it takes for a customer to express interest, how long it takes to close a deal, your average sale price, your renewal rates (an average will do), and more.

4) Know what’s in your current sales pipeline.

5) Make sure your CRM is up to date (your sales forecasting efforts will be harder without it. Not impossible; harder.)

Additional steps include noting who tracks leads, and how they do so. Who manages the sales pipeline, where, how often and what metrics do they use? Make sure you know how you manage your budget. That is, do you look at last year’s and go from there? Or do you use forecasted revenue?

As for the best forecasting method, we believe a custom forecast model that uses advanced CRM reports or an analytics tool that’s actually set up to help you make these forecasts is best Naturally, we recommend MagHub’s.

Why use such a tool? Your ad sales forecast will be a lot more accurate.

Just some of the things our CRM can help you with your sales forecasting:

– It can help you set up your sources, statuses, and forms in one handy spot.

– You also can set up automated workflows as well as ask for automated statuses, such as if a forecast has been created, if an order has been created, if an ad has sold, etc.

– As for sales opportunities and weighted orders:

– MagHub can help you in their creation/editing.

– Filtering close dates and issues.

– Weighting percentages, including additional weightings (such as manager approval, client approvals, finance department approval, etc.

Forecasting sales revenue can help you actually meet your sales goals. Download our MagHub Fall Forum 2019 presentation on forecasting to get your free copy and learn more about the process.

If you’d like more information on MagHub, email us at info@adorbit.com or via our contact us form. You also may call us at 734-997-9500.

MagHub is the most updated CRM/ERP Tool for Media Publishers of all sizes. Whether you manage B2B, B2C, or Niche publications, MagHub has all the tools needed to run every department of your business; from Sales to Production. Click Request Information to learn more today, or click One-Click Updates to follow MagHub.

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