• 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

Existing Businesses

The starting point for your sales forecast is last year's sales.  Before you factor in a new product launch, or an economic trend, look at the level of sales for each customer last year. Do you know of any customers who are going to buy more - or less - from you next year?

In the case of customers who account for a significant value of sales, you may want to ask them if they plan to change their purchase level in the foreseeable future.

Consider how many new customers do you gain and lose each year, the average level of sales you make to each customer, whether there are particular months where you gain or lose more customers than usual.  How much does each customer buy? 

Every year is different, so you need to consider any changing circumstances that could significantly affect your sales. These factors - known as the sales forecast assumptions - form the basis of your forecast.

Being over optimistic with your sales forecasting will not help your business. It's a good idea to look back at the previous year's forecast to see if your figures were realistic.

For specific examples and detail on forecasting visit the Business Link site.