{"id":134,"date":"2017-10-29T17:23:21","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T17:23:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/?p=134"},"modified":"2018-06-12T20:58:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T20:58:48","slug":"b2b-sales-forecasting-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sellingsherpa.com\/index.php\/2017\/10\/29\/b2b-sales-forecasting-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"B2B Sales Forecasting Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Dec 8, I attended Bowery Capital’s excellent Sales Summit 2016. Larry D’Angelo, SVP of Sales at LogMeIn, kicked things off by sharing his best practices for B2B sales forecasting.<\/p>\n

The biggest takeaway: Ask prospects directly if you are winning. “If no one says you are winning, then you are losing”<\/p>\n

Here are my detailed notes on his process:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Train managers first then AEs on a standard, best-practice questioning methodology (QM) for pipeline management\n
      \n
    • Discovery<\/li>\n
    • Qualify: BANT + process + competition + scope\n
        \n
      • BANT\n
          \n
        • B: Do they have the budget? Is it approved?<\/li>\n
        • A: Who has to say yes to this purchase? Who can say no?<\/li>\n
        • N: Did the customer say we can meet their needs? Do they want to buy our product?<\/li>\n
        • T: Whey will they buy? Why? What compelling event did you create? What if they do nothing – what bad thing happens?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • Process: What are the approval, buying, and legal processes? (they are different)<\/li>\n
        • Competition: Is the customer looking at other solutions? If so, where do you stand?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • Analyze: Evaluation criteria\/process; Decision-making process; reconfirm BANT+C (checkbox)<\/li>\n
        • Evaluate: Initial pricing sent; Prospect confirmed we are winning (checkbox; \u201cHelp me understand which way you are leaning?\u201d); legal & purchasing process; evaluation outcomes<\/li>\n
        • Negotiation: negotiation & price; hurdles to close?<\/li>\n
        • Sale Pending: details & references; timelines for signature and payment; use cases<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
        • Embed pipeline management into CRM opportunities (instead of having AEs select stages and\/or probabilities)\n
            \n
          • Most, if not all, fields should be textboxes for notes rather than checkboxes<\/li>\n
          • Base on client actions (not AE actions) and on information shared by prospect (not AE opinion)<\/li>\n
          • Keep as simple as possible; fields exist for the benefit of AEs to close deals, not solely for management inspection<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
          • \u201cThe Science\u201d: Algorithmically determine probabilities based on pipeline management field completion of previously won & lost deals<\/li>\n
          • \u201cThe Art\u201d: Build the forecast deal by deal\n
              \n
            • Do not just rely on the aggregate weighted pipeline<\/li>\n
            • Managers should start by asking:\n
                \n
              • (a) Why should the prospect buy anything?<\/li>\n
              • (b) Why should they buy now? What bad thing will happen if they don\u2019t take action?<\/li>\n
              • (c) Why should they buy our product? Which of our key differentiators has the prospect locked on to?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
              • Then ask, \u201cAre we winning, losing, or are you unsure?\u201d<\/li>\n
              • If the answer is anything other than winning, then the deal should not be included in the forecast for the quarter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                One later speaker, Steve Hirschfeld of Medidata, added a good additional point on improving forecast outcomes: make introductions between your execs and the prospects execs.<\/p>\n

                Finally, (unrelated to forecasting), Kristen Habacht of Trello stressed the following:<\/p>\n

                  \n
                • Specialize – SDRs –> hunters + solutions engineers –> account managers + CSMs<\/li>\n
                • Build your sales operations function early<\/li>\n
                • When hiring, audition candidates by having them pitch your product to you (give them a deck to prep with a couple days in advance; however, Kristen has found that the best hires do not “pitch” using a deck)<\/li>\n
                • Create a clear progression\/promotion path for people with an expected timeframe<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  On Dec 8, I attended Bowery Capital’s excellent Sales Summit 2016. Larry D’Angelo, SVP of Sales at LogMeIn, kicked things off by sharing his best practices for B2B sales forecasting. The biggest takeaway: Ask prospects directly if you are winning. “If no one says you are winning, then you are losing” Here are my detailed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_import_markdown_pro_load_document_selector":0,"_import_markdown_pro_submit_text_textarea":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"B2B Sales Forecasting Tips","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-uncategorized","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t