Sales forecasting is the process of estimating future sales. Accurate sales forecasts enable companies to form informed business decisions and predict short-term and long-term performance. Companies can base their forecasts on past sales data, industry-wide comparisons, and economic trends.

Forecasting methods can be qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative methods are subjective in nature where the opinion of the experts is given importance while estimating the longer term sales. Quantitative methods imply objective or mathematical analysis of factors predicting sales.

There are three basic types—qualitative techniques, time series analysis, projection and causal models.

Best form of sales forecasting

Multivariable Analysis Forecasting

Incorporating various factors from other forecasting techniques like sales cycle length, individual rep performance, and opportunity stage probability, Multivariable Analysis is the most sophisticated and accurate forecasting method.