A BASIS FOR SALES FORECASTS
Sales forecasts enable you to manage your business
more effectively. Before you begin, there are a few
questions that may help clarify your position:
How many new customers do you gain each year?
How many customers do you lose each year?
What is the average level of sales you make to each
customer?
Are there particular months where you acquire or
lose more customers than usual?
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.
New businesses
New businesses have to make assumptions based on
market research and good judgement.
Every business can also add in the new customers
that it expects to attract without actually knowing
who they are, or what they will buy. Simply enter
"new customer" on your forecast.
Depending on your type of business, you may want to
specify the volume of sales in the forecast - for
example, how many 3.78-litre cans of paint you sell -
as well as the value of sales. By knowing the volume,
you can plan the necessary resources in areas such
as production, storage and transport.