• The Business plan
• Marketing and Sales Planning
  • Marketing Strategy
    • Lincolnshire Research Observatory
  • Marketing Plan
    • Analysis of the Market
    • The Four and Seven P's
    • Developing a Pricing Strategy
    • What else should be in the Marketing Plan?
  • Forecasting and Planning your Sales
    • Existing Businesses
    • Creating a sales plan
  • Selling and Advertising
    • Advertising
    • Direct Marketing
    • Trade Shows and Exhibitions
  • Looking after your Customer
    • Use customer care to increase sales
    • How to deal with customer complaints
  • Marketing - Expert Advice
    • Does your sales approach close more doors than it opens?
    • How do I determine my marketing budget?
    • Making an exhibition of yourself
    • Marketing in the credit crunch
    • Why might your competitors be doing better than you?
• Financial Planning
• Complying with the law
• Employing for the first time
• Innovation
• Support Schemes
• Resource Efficiency
• Business Sectors

Forecasting and Planning your Sales

A sales forecast is an essential tool for managing a business of any size. It is a month-by-month prediction of the level of sales you expect to achieve. Most businesses draw up a sales forecast once a year.  Armed with this information you can rapidly identify problems and opportunities, and do something about them.

For example, accurately forecasting your sales and building a sales plan can help you manage your production, staff and financing needs more effectively and possibly avoid unforeseen cashflow problems.

By predicting specific sales, you're forecasting what you think will be sold. This is generally far more accurate than starting with a target figure and then trying to work out how to achieve it.

The completed sales forecast isn't just used to plan and monitor your sales efforts. It's also a vital part of monitoring your cashflow.