[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/09\/27\/intelligent-sales-forecasting\/#Article","articleBody":"We\u2019re witnessing a revolution in how we view CRM. Today intelligent enterprises are using AI to boost CRM capabilities, thereby delivering higher ROI to customers.\nTraditional CRM needs to fit more tightly into the broader sales process and encapsulate the ease-of-use that consumers associate with the Amazon sales experience. AI can also connect disparate sales data, delivering intelligent recommendations to help sales organizations gain a competitive advantage.\nForecasting and pipeline management are perfect places to start this return to value.\nGround control to major sales: Pipeline management and sales forecasting\nIf you manage a sales team, you know that effective pipeline management is key to delivering a good quarter.\nBut it\u2019s also the place where many organizations fall down.\nRelying on traditional, legacy CRM technology doesn\u2019t solve this problem. Expecting sales reps to manually input data results into outdated systems \u2013 or worse \u2013 enter inaccurate opportunity information \u2013 leaves your organization in the dust.\u00a0 According to CSO Insights, 47% of salespeople are too subjective when selecting a pipeline stage and value. Too many sales reps either withhold information, are too optimistic, or are overly pessimistic.\nMany sales managers know this, of course, but don\u2019t have enough hours in the day to go beyond the CRM, inspecting every deal and joining every sales call. Instead, they turn to lengthy forecasting calls or unpleasant rep interrogations, attempting to get the true story on the forecast, and also creating an unpleasant work environment.\nSales forecasting is tied intimately to pipeline transparency. If you aren\u2019t sure whether a deal is going to close, and for what amount, your total forecast, the sum of all committed deals, will miss the mark.\nConnecting all of your sales data, inside and outside of CRM, and employing AI purposefully can paint you an accurate picture of your relationships, pipeline, and forecast.\n \nWhat is sales forecasting: Definition, methods, best practices\n   An accurate sales forecast is vital for business success. Learn how organizations can improve the forecasting process and common mistakes to avoid.  \nRev up your ROI\nA modern solution for sales forecasting and pipeline management includes the ability to monitor CRM deals and correlates relationships, deal activity, and other engagement metrics taking place outside of CRM.\nThrough AI models, a deal score is generated, deals that are in trouble are flagged, and actions are prescribed to advance deals forward. Each of these tasks is automated, without asking reps to log every phone call, email, and meeting.\nPipeline management becomes more transparent and sales managers can maximize their limited time coaching reps, rescuing deals, or laying the groundwork to have deals close in the next quarter. Sales reps trust the sales process and enjoy an improved sales experience.\nForecasting also becomes more accurate thanks to AI \u2013 in fact, customers note it\u2019s \u201cscarily accurate.\u201d Intelligent forecasts predict which sales reps are too ambitious with their close date or deal amounts, and highlights who lacks pipeline to hit their number.\nFinance, operations, business planning, and even supply channel management all benefit from accurate sales forecasting.\nWhen your forecasts are accurate, pipeline transparent, and sales reps are focused on the right activity, your CRM ROI goes through the roof!\nIt\u2019s not your father\u2019s CRM. Find out who\u2019s leading the CRM revolution HERE.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/09\/27\/intelligent-sales-forecasting\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/09\/27\/intelligent-sales-forecasting\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Marcia_Yusavage-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Marcia Savage","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/marciasavage?lang=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/marcia-savage-9489411\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/marcia-yusavage\/"},"dateModified":"2021-09-07T15:40:19+00:00","datePublished":"2018-09-27T10:00:00+00:00","description":"Connecting all of your sales data with AI paints you an accurate picture of your relationships and pipeline, while boosting intelligent sales forecasting.","headline":"Knocked out by too much data? Sales forecasting AI + CRM pump up wins","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/09\/27\/intelligent-sales-forecasting\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/thumbnail-2b4092fb2be805657e564eb558fba6cc-1200x630.jpeg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/09\/27\/intelligent-sales-forecasting\/","name":"Knocked out by too much data? Sales forecasting AI + CRM pump up wins","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/09\/27\/intelligent-sales-forecasting\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2018","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"09","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/\/09\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"27","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/\/09\/\/27\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Knocked out by too much data? Sales forecasting AI + CRM pump up wins","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2018\/09\/27\/intelligent-sales-forecasting\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]