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“We’re using Salesforce to accelerate sales and scale from a $1bn company to a $2bn company," exclaimed Sanjeev Babel, Associate VP of Corporate Strategy, Planning, M&A, and Sales Excellence at Mindtree.
The boldness it requires to make such a demanding foresight come true not only depends on perseverance but rich, actionable analytical data. Mindtree recorded a 40 % increase in pipeline volume, a 15% increase in pipeline velocity, and a 9% increase in productivity, and all credit goes to Einstein Analytics, a reliable sales forecasting software, Pardot, and Tableau CRM.
Mindtree, a global technology service, assists some of the world's largest organizations with digital transformation and technology needs. Mindtree collaborated with Salesforce to analyze the predictive movements and improve the sales pipeline.
“We have a big opportunity to grow in these markets, but we need to be very disciplined and smart about what we sell and how we sell and that’s why we brought in Salesforce,” claimed Babel.
The collaboration with the Salesforce platform allowed Mindtree to scale through automation and make life easier for reps. So, one can say that with the right sales forecasting tools, one can identify where improvement is needed, and deploy assistance in time.
But there's more to a sales forecasting tool than just crunching data. This blog will ground a basic understanding of what sales forecasting software is, how to find the one that suits your needs, and more.
What is a sales forecast?
However, to put it in a layman's term sales forecasting refers to a crucial element in a company's financial planning process. It helps predict future sales based on several factors. These factors include a company's past sales history, statistical analysis of trends, and consideration of the broader economic climate.
For instance, a company selling winter clothing would consider historical sales data showing strong sales in the colder months. Statistical analysis might reveal an upward trend in sales, and economic factors like rising disposable income could further support a positive sales forecast.
So, an organization that uses sales forecasting software might benefit from:
- Analyzing vast amounts of data and identifying trends to create more accurate forecasts.
- Gaining insights that can inform strategic decisions about resource allocation, hiring, marketing efforts, and production schedules.
- Enhanced collaboration within the software.
- Increased efficiency as automation frees up time
- Identifying potential shortfalls or overestimations to mitigate risks before they impact performance.
- Knowing future sales projections will help companies allocate resources more effectively.
The benefits of sales forecasting software stem from its ability to provide data-driven insights. However, its role in an organization doesn't end here.
What is the role of sales forecast software in an organization?
Here's a breakdown of how the role of sales forecasting software contributes to a successful sales team:
- Predict future sales outcomes and revenue: This is the core function. By analyzing historical data, market trends, and current sales pipeline information, the software creates a reliable picture of what future sales might look like. This allows businesses to prepare for fluctuations and set realistic goals.
- Optimize resource allocation and planning: Knowing projected sales helps organizations allocate resources like personnel, budget, and marketing efforts strategically. They can prioritize high-potential opportunities, adjust staffing levels based on demand, and ensure they have the right resources in place to achieve their sales goals.
- Enhance decision-making and risk management: Sales forecasting software provides valuable insights that inform strategic decisions. Businesses can identify potential risks, like overestimating sales or understaffing, and take proactive measures to mitigate them. Additionally, data-driven insights allow for better decision-making on pricing strategies, product development, and market expansion.
- Improve sales performance and drive growth: With accurate forecasts, businesses can set achievable goals, optimize sales processes, and motivate sales teams. Additionally, proactive risk management helps prevent missed opportunities and ensures resources are used effectively. Ultimately, it drives sales growth.
- According to NASDAQ, the future of sales forecasting will be AI-driven.
- A Salesforce report has shared that 79% of high-performing sales teams vowed to use sales analytics tools. They have been using it for at least three years.
- According to Forbes, 60% of organizations lack a well-defined or scientific approach to forecasting. This inefficiency can lead to inaccurate predictions.
- A Deloitte report has shared that more than half of the executives, 58% to be exact, questioned the performance management approach that drives neither employee engagement nor high performance.
Now that we have gotten to understanding the role sales forecasting software plays in an organization, let us discuss how it works.
How does sales forecast software work?
Sales forecast software utilizes a multi-step process to predict future sales figures. Here's a breakdown of its functionalities:
- Analyzing past performance: The software examines your company's historical sales data to identify trends and patterns.
- Gauging current activity: It then considers the activity within your sales pipeline, which reflects potential upcoming sales.
- Incorporating all data points: To gain a more comprehensive view, the software can integrate data from both internal sources (e.g., inventory levels) and external sources (e.g., market trends).
- Leveraging predictive power: The software applies forecasting techniques, such as statistical algorithms, to make data-driven predictions about future sales.
- Offering various models: It provides different forecasting models based on your specific needs and the level of detail you require.
- Simulating different scenarios: The software allows you to create "what-if" scenarios to explore how future sales might be impacted by changes in various factors.
- Delivering clear insights: Finally, the software generates reports and visualizations that present the sales forecast in an easy-to-understand format.
The function of software, however, would depend on the information you are trying to gauge, and the directive the tool has to perform. For that, we need to know the types of sales forecasting software that are there.
What are the different types of sales forecasting software?
There are two main categories of sales forecasting software.
1. Revenue management software
It is designed to predict future income and oversee a company's overall financial health. It often includes features like budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning tools to help businesses maximize their revenue generation.
- Utility: Focuses on the big picture, helping businesses predict and manage their overall financial health.
- Enables: Budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning.
- Benefits: Maximizes revenue generation by optimizing financial strategies and resource allocation.
--> Sybit integrates SAP Sales Clouds for revenue automation and notices 50% timesaving
Sybit provides digital marketing and IT services, specializing in SAP Hybris clouds for digital global sales, marketing, and service processing. Sybit focuses on end-to-end processes for its clients. Therefore, it requires a high level of integration with other systems. The goal of Sybit was to increase conversion rates and revenues. So, they integrated their services with SAP Sales Cloud to improve the forecasting, and to add intelligent sales add-on.
Challenges Sybit faced:
Sybil noticed that the team of sales management did not have a dashboard that provided a quick overview of all relevant KPIs. it also recognized the need to incorporate a seamless tool that would simplify the exhaustion of data to drive revenue and easily maintain customer experience. So, what Sybil needed in today's complex sales environment was a user-friendly, and intelligent sales automation tool to give employees more time to focus on fostering customer relationships. So, they chose SAP.
Solutions SAP provided:
Sybit chose SAP solutions due to the experience it has created by working on over 350 customer projects. In addition to this, the common data basis for the sales and marketing units makes the integration as well as functionality easy and seamless. The tools they used were SAP Sales Cloud as an add-on to drive value and have more transparency throughout the process of revenue automation and sales forecasting.
Results they encountered:
After the implementation of SAP Sales Cloud, the company noticed:
- 50% time-saving using the forecast tracker tool.
- Value-driven results through automation.
- Transparency and more efficient control of sales processes to derive minute details.
- Clearly defined roles and responsibilities due to the territory management and mapping of the sales process in the new CRM.
- A shifted focus on the right opportunities with up to 7000 opportunities mapped.
- A higher conversion rate in the lead-to-order process due to targeted planning and better forecasting.
- Better generation of revenue.
"Our standards are high, both for customer projects and our own internal sales processes. That's why we decided to deploy SAP Sales Cloud, an intelligent sales add-on. We saw the value immediately: greater transparency, better conversion rates, more revenue." Thilo Kerner, Chief Revenue Officer, Sybit GmbH
2. Sales performance management software
It focuses on improving the effectiveness of sales teams. It provides tools for sales forecasting, analyzing sales data, and empowering salespeople. This software aims to boost sales team productivity by offering insights into sales trends, pipeline management tools, and sales performance metrics.
- Utility: Zeros in on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of sales teams.
- Enables: Sales forecasting, sales analytics, sales enablement.
- Benefits: Boosts sales team productivity by providing insights into sales trends, pipeline management, and individual performance metrics.
--> Mindtree collaborates with Salesforce to improve the sales pipeline and notices a 40% increase in pipeline volume
Mindtree, an Indian multinational company, whose expertise lies in infrastructure and application management, faced challenges in exceeding their revenue. Their success in their field has led them to expand from their headquarters in India to the United States and surpass $1 billion in annual revenue. Currently, 70% of their business comes from the US, and they have a global workforce of 20,000 employees.
Challenge:
For further growth, Mindtree strategized the sales team to take the lead on showcasing their services and collaborating closely with partners to deliver IT solutions to clients more efficiently. For this to happen smoothly, they needed to automate, streamline, and analyze their sales process closely. Comes Salesforce. Mindtree utilized Salesforce to streamline its sales process and achieve its goal of scaling from a $1 billion to a $2 billion company. For this to happen, they used three tools, Sales cloud, Einstein, Tableau, and Pardot.
Solution:
In collaboration with Salesforce, Mindtree developed a plan to implement Sales Cloud in stages. This involved:
- Going from the Classic to the Lightening model of the CRM
- Automating tasks like lead nurturing and pipeline management.
- They also created mobile-friendly dashboards for sales representatives.
- Mindtree has also implemented additional automation. For instance, they have a system to move inactive leads to a separate holding area. It allows the sales reps to focus on qualified leads. Another automation triggers legal and compliance checks when a deal reaches a certain stage.
- Placed a system to capture dropped leads and opportunities. These can be reactivated later to ensure a healthy pipeline for new sales representatives.
All these automations were done to keep the pipeline realistic while providing opportunities for new hires. Mindtree further enhanced its sales operation by adopting Pardot. This marketing automation tool helped:
- Foster collaboration between sales and marketing teams
- Enable more effective lead nurturing.
- Accelerate the sales cycle.
To streamline the sales performance, Mindtree integrated Einstein Analytics. It helped the reps:
- Get past three years of sales data
- Improve win rates and streamline sales cycles.
Results:
The integration of sales performance management tools like Tableau, Pardot, Sales Cloud, and Einstein Analytics has helped Mindtree record:
- A 40% increase in pipeline volume.
- A 10-15% increase in pipeline velocity within the past year.
- 8-9% increase in productivity. Get actionable data using Einstein Analytics that can be used for sales forecasting.
“Salesforce provides instant gratification to our sales team by giving them all of the tools they need to get the job done,” claimed Babel. He added, “Now that we have deployed Einstein Analytics, it will help them even more by identifying where they should focus their energies to achieve their goals.”
How to choose the right sales forecasting software?
Choosing the right sales forecasting software involves looking at your company's needs and the software's capabilities. Here's a breakdown of the key factors to consider:
1. Understanding your needs
- Business size: Are you a small startup, a mid-sized company, or a large enterprise? Scalability and features will differ depending on the software.
- Data needs: How much historical data do you have? What other data sources (e.g., CRM, marketing automation) do you use? Does the software integrate easily with your existing data infrastructure?
- Ease of use: How comfortable are your sales reps with technology? Choose software with a user-friendly interface and consider training options.
- Budget: Sales forecasting software can range from free (with limited features) to quite expensive. Determine your budget beforehand.
2. Evaluating software features
- Pipeline visibility: Can you see the sales pipeline in detail, including deal stages, close dates, and associated values?
- Data integration: Does the software integrate with your CRM and other data sources to provide a holistic view?
- Reporting: Does it offer customizable reports with visualizations to analyze trends and identify forecast accuracy?
3. Forecasting approaches
- Sales pipeline forecasting: This approach forecasts based on the current state of your sales pipeline, considering deal sizes, probabilities, and close dates.
- Historical sales forecasting: This approach uses historical sales data to identify trends and seasonality to predict future sales.
4. Choosing the right approach
- Sales pipeline forecasting: Ideal for companies with a predictable sales cycle and good data on deal sizes and probabilities.
- Historical sales forecasting: Better suited for companies with a longer sales cycle or limited data on individual deals.
5. Making the decision
- Consider demos and free trials: Most software offers demos or free trials. Take advantage of this to see how the software works and if it meets your needs.
- Read user reviews: See what other users have to say about the software's ease of use, functionality, and customer support.
Conclusion
Make smarter choices with sales forecasting software and empower your sales representatives to optimize operations and achieve better sales results. Upgrade your forecasting game with Compass, a sales incentive management software that helps with sales forecasting by providing a comprehensive platform for automating and managing sales incentive programs. It offers a range of features that support sales forecasting, including:
- Establishing, monitoring, and maintaining incentive plans for their sales teams, which helps in forecasting sales performance based on the incentives offered.
- Providing detailed performance analytics to track sales performance and identify trends that can inform their forecasting models.
- Supporting API integrations, which can be used to integrate with other systems and tools.
Improve sales forecasting capabilities and make data-driven decisions to drive business growth.
