Do you want to increase the efficiency of your sales team? Use sales forecasting software to generate sales projections and set team targets accordingly.
Not only that, the applications assist you in making data-driven business decisions with an accurate estimate of your sales figures. Utilizing the generated data, companies can apply sales techniques quickly without having to spend hours on manual analysis of sales data.
Learn more about sales forecasting tools and their working process in this article. We will also share the list of top applications that businesses can use.
Sales Forecasting Software and Its Usage
Sales forecasting software is a tool for predicting and projecting the future sales of a company. It can predict the lead volume, pipeline value, and closing probability of deals. Businesses use this application to accurately set realistic sales goals and make strategic decisions.
The use of sales forecasting software is seen for:
- Planning demand for future sales volume
- Understanding the latest market trends
- Analyzing individual and team performance
- Allocating resources and budget
- Setting realistic financial goals
- Making informed business decisions
- Getting business forecasts for all teams
- Sales and operations planning
- Launching new products and expanding the market
How Sales Forecasting Software Works
The function of a sales forecasting application revolves around using historical sales data and analyzing it with different statistical techniques for future sales projections. The steps of its working process include:
- Collecting data from various sources, like CRM, ERP systems, point-of-sale systems, and e-commerce platforms. The collected data includes historical sales data, product details, customer information, and other vital variables
- Eliminating duplicates and inconsistent data for clean data essential for forecasting
- Applying techniques to analyze sales patterns, trends, and correlations with other variables according to the forecasting models and algorithms
- Generating sales forecasts and pipeline deal status for projecting future sales figures
- Analyzing scenarios and performing what-if simulations with changed variables
- Providing visual reports with charts, graphs, and dashboards to communicate sales performance
- Constantly monitoring and automatically updating forecasts in real-time
Reasons Companies Use Sales Forecasting Software
- Make data-driven decisions using precise sales projections
- Detect risk factors in the sales pipeline and sales process
- Save time in planning location coverage and quota
- Get necessary metrics for sales assessment
- Let the sales team focus on profitable opportunities for higher conversion rates
- Make accurate ROI forecast for the future
- Evaluate the performance of sales reps or sales teams
Features Sales Forecasting Software Should Have
- Insight into pipeline activities
- Historical and internal sales data import
- Tracking progress against goals
- Forecasting models for different scenarios
- Various forecast and revenue reports
- Setting business goals based on data
- Scenario analysis and real-time update
- Data collaboration for all teams and projects
- Customizable software for all business types
- Visual reports for a quick overview
- Integration with third-party tools
Here are the best sales forecasting solutions organizations should try.
Freshsales
Freshsales is a platform where you can get an idea about the potential of deals in your pipeline and project revenue for a given period for assigning sales quotas. Its Sales Forecast dashboard lets you access all the forecast data from a single place.
Key Features:
- Add 5 forecast categories in total with 2 built-in and 3 customizable
- Analyzes the sales cycle of all deals to get profit and loss probabilities
- Use historical data and market trends to generate the forecast
- Identifies top sales reps based on regions, teams, or products
- One-click visual report generation from a customizable dashboard
Zoho CRM
With Zoho CRM, you can build accurate forecasts and get all the necessary information to assign targets for your team. This tool can also let you track the individual performance of each team member and boost their efficiency by identifying bottlenecks.
Key Features:
- Create multiple forecasts consolidating all business deals
- Conditional forecasts for different time zones and locations
- Compare performances of reps and teams
- Greater visibility for setting up targets for the sales teams
- Forecast breakdown for a holistic view of your business
- Custom forecasts around metrics like deal value and purchased license
Anaplan
Anaplan provides reliable and dynamic forecasts that can optimize the process of decision-making across your organization. It also enables you to analyze sales forecasts according to location, product, or account with granular precision.
Key Features:
- Gets sales forecast+st metrics from historical data and third-party sources
- Uses dashboards and KPIs to analyze trends and patterns
- Provides accurate forecasts for all departments and units
- Sync real-time forecasts with different models and metrics
- Uses a single standard methodology for sales projection of the whole company
Gong
Gong offers you complete visibility into pipeline and next-level sales forecasting. Using AI technology, the platform captures every buyer interaction and provides you with deal status based on facts.
Key Features:
- Robust search filters to gather reliable data straight from the customers
- Reality-based view analyzing phone calls, emails, meetings, and contracts
- Automatically diagnose pipeline issues to address the risk factors
- Flexible and customizable deal boards with vital details
- Add real-time info about product, deal, category, and team
Salesmate
Salesmate is an application for revenue estimation and sales performance optimization. Offering you a clear view of the sales pipeline, it helps you avoid possible shortcomings and make informed decisions.
Key Features:
- Salesmate creates forecasts based on reps, teams, periods, and pipeline
- Identifies the best performer of the team and tracks others’ performances
- Develops a strategy to keep the reps motivated to achieve the growth target
- Uses pipeline deals and historical data to get accurate forecast
- Leverages predictive insights to perform statistical analysis
LivePlan
If you are looking for a winning sales forecast for your business projects, go for LivePlan. This platform is ideal for creating forecasts for any business type. Even if your business offers multiple products, it can generate forecasts for all of these and integrate the results into your financial plan.
Key Features:
- Visual forecasting tools to drag and drop and drawing features
- Automatically links sales forecast to Profit & Loss and other financial forecasts
- Integration support for QuickBooks or Xero accounting software
- Easy report sharing with employees and stakeholders
- View actual performance and forecast side by side to create a roadmap
Workday
Workday can utilize sales data to offer you precise sales forecasts for informed decisions and predictable performance of your teams. It provides you with all the necessary data to analyze and create action plans.
Key Features:
- Active dashboard to monitor and visualize sales metrics for strategic decisions
- Sales pipeline visibility for robust sales forecasting without spreadsheets
- Risk assessment through what-if analysis using multiple planning scenarios
- Multiple driver-based models for collaboration across teams and organizations
- Control sales forecast data by connecting it with funnel metrics and pipeline analytics
Revenue Grid
Using Revenue Grid, businesses can facilitate data-driven revenue projections and find out about the chances of the deal closing. It lets you develop a customized sales forecasting process for your sales and RevOps teams for better accuracy and more predictable revenue.
Key Features:
- Generate forecasts for segments like location, product type, etc.
- Creates reports for forecast categories (pipeline, commit, booked revenue)
- Real-time AI-based Signals for crucial forecast changes
- Retrospective analysis for particular reps and sales teams
- Custom Revenue Signals for the reps to meet their sales projections
Pipedrive
Pipedrive helps you visualize the complete picture of your business so that you can develop strategies for future growth and properly manage the cash flow.
Besides revenue projection, the Pipedrive also guides you with the deals you need to prioritize to achieve goals.
Key Features:
- Helps you create sales goals based on historical data
- Offers full insights into past sales performance and activities
- Captures all buyer interactions for trusted revenue forecasting
- Tracks subscription and loyal customers to report cash flow
- Interactive and customizable dashboard for data organization
Aviso
Aviso spares you from the spreadsheet struggle by using its AI technology to provide automatically updated forecasts. It offers 98% forecasting accuracy through deal tracking and progression analysis. Here, you can execute complex forecast models according to your preferred model.
Key Features:
- Gathers historical and current data from omnichannel
- Real-time forecast update across all reports
- Data collection and unification from multiple CRM and data lakes
- Combines traditional revenue forecasting with consumption forecasting
- Visualizes all possible scenarios as your forecasting model
- Integrates with any CRM, including Salesforce
Conclusion
Sales forecasting software utilizes sales data, statistical algorithms, and the latest analytical techniques to reveal patterns and trends in sales and make near-accurate projections. As a result, businesses can create their sales strategies and efficiently allocate resources.
Check out the platform listed here to find the most suitable platform for your organization. You might also be interested to read about inside sales and predictive analytics tools.
