The Link Between Customer Relationship Management And Sales Forecasting

By Author: Vikram Kuamr
Total Articles: 2912
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Many people do not understand how customer relationship management and sales forecasting are related to each other, and indeed, at first glance, they seem like two very different and separate topics. On closer inspection, however, the ways in which they are related to each other become very much evident. In the world of business, managing customer relations is integral to the success of a business, and so is being able to forecast sales through coming months in order to inform business decisions. The way in which customer relations are managed, however, ultimately impact the accuracy of any efforts to forecast sales.

Managing customer relationships is a nightmare for some companies and a walk in the park for others. No matter what the case may be, however, it is indisputable that managing customer relationships is one of the most important parts of running a business. Any business that wishes to succeed and thrive treats its customers like kings, because only then will those customers provide repeat business as well as recommend the business to friends and relatives. The advantages of such forms of “free advertising” ...
... should definitely not be discounted, as they can make significant contributions to a company’s bottom line.

Forecasting sales, on the other hand, is an entirely different animal. The art of forecasting sales involves making a pre-determination, based on available figures and statistics, of the probably sales volumes in upcoming months. This is essentially an exercise in predicting the future, and despite having the support of financial information and sales data, the figures that are eventually produced are still not much more than educated guesses.

Business managers depend heavily on sales forecasts, however, as they need some basis on which they can make business decisions such as what production volumes should be like and whether or not attempts should be made to expand the business or even expand product ranges. The accuracy of sales forecasts is therefore extremely important, and at the same time extremely difficult to achieve.

Through better management of customer relations, however, the accuracy of sales forecasts can be improved. By better managing relationships with customers, the business will slowly but surely gain the confidence of their existing customers, and gradually build a name for itself. Consumer trust and confidence is not a thing to be taken lightly, as its presence or absence can make or break a company. Greater consumer confidence in the business translates into a greater willingness to patronize the company and, for companies that make use of sales techniques such as telemarketing, a better reception of such efforts.

Business owners and managers that are looking for ways in which to improve the accuracy of their sales forecasting should therefore seek to improve customer relationship management. With better management of customer relationships, demand for the company’s products or services will not only rise, directly increasing profits, but also become more consistent, enabling better prediction of future sales figures and volume.

Author Bio.

For improved Sales forecasting and a better foundation on which to base business decisions, then you need the systems available from Management CRM that will enable better Customer relationship management in your business or company.