By now, nearly everyone has implemented some type of sales forecasting solution. In most cases, Microsoft® is the de facto solution. Some organizations have customized functionality in their CRM system as an alternative, and a handful of companies have built their own home-grown solution. All of these solutions may fit the bill in some fashion, but what are the things that really make a sales forecasting solution great?
- Adoption
- Value
- Flexibility
A sales forecasting solution must address the needs of the users and the business first. The technology or tool that is used to solve the problem should be molded to fit these core requirements. Anything else would be akin to hammering a square peg into a round hole.
Technology requirements such as security, scalability and maintainability all need to be included as part of the discussion, but should be evaluated with the core principles in mind. Over the next few weeks, we will cover the importance of these three areas and why they can make or break your solution.