Recently, Right90 hosted a thought leader roundtable in Portland, OR attended by leading companies like Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas, LaCrosse Footwear, Merix Corporation, Planar Systems, and Trimble. Three topics that are critical to delivering a successful sales forecast were covered in the roundtable :
- Maximizing sales adoption
- Sales and marketing collaboration
- Driving trust in the sales forecast.
I’ll be covering each topic in separate blogs – there were so many great insights that were shared amongst the attendees.
First, maximizing sales adoption. This discussion focused around one of those deceptively simple and critically underestimated phases in the rollout of any new process and application. Rolling out any new application for sales people is especially challenging, but sales adoption can be greatly improved with these key learnings.
Key learning #1: Sales forecasting is fundamental to improving revenue and maximizing sales.
Make the sales forecast not only easy to create but also easy to consume. This will drive a more effective dialog between sales, products/marketing, and operations. This dialogue becomes a discussion about how the data can be leveraged by these groups to drive the various aspects of the business rather than a dialogue focused on who has the right data. Adoption of the forecast across the company is just as important as within sales. Nothing fosters adoption faster than seeing the results of your efforts delivering value back to you.
Key learning #2: User adoption revolves around people’s motivations.
Many companies view the forecast as an incredible time sink that takes the sales team away from selling and is widely ignored by the rest of the organization. A highly motivating situation. How can you combat that?
First, motivate your sales people by showing them it’s easier than what they were doing before (remove the pain). You may not want to go cold turkey on them and pull their familiar forecast spreadsheet, but one of the thought leaders did. They found that when their sales team actually tried the new way, they realized the new application was much better. Why? Because it allowed them to forecast faster, and then provided them with improved visibility “around the curves”. The forecast became the tool that prevented them from slamming into walls at the end of the quarter. Less hassle, better insights will always motivate people.
Key learning #3: Show them you care.
We heard stories of sales people randomly changing their Excel-based forecast just to see if anyone was watching. Sadly, at many companies, no one is. But, if you give feedback on the forecast consistently and directly to the sales team, they will adopt the behavior you want. One of our VPs of Sales occasionally sends out emails to the sales reps making changes in their forecast asking questions about their updates. Combine this level of executive attention with an easy to use application for forecasting, and the sales team pays attention.
Key learning #4: A little competition goes a long way.
Carrot or stick? With sales people, competition and a carrot can really move the needle. For example, set up a competition between the forecast sales produces vs. marketing’s. Or, between sales teams in different regions or countries. For extra credit, set up a competition between operations and sales. Winning any of these competitions really means the company wins by getting an actionable forecast.
Next, key learnings around sales and marketing collaboration.