Cognos solutions for sales

What drives the sales plan and performance?

Sales planning is a control mechanism, tied to the corporate budget and planning process. But it is also a way to manage change and understand the ebb and flow of your business. By monitoring performance, frontline levels of the organization can better address the where and why of existing or missed revenue targets and correct any gaps.

The best sales plans work from the bottom up. Every department provides feedback on revenue objectives, markets, customers, channels and products. This process may need adjustments to fit with top-down corporate objectives. But fundamentally, it allows departments to own their own numbers and be accountable for true performance management.

With the Sales Plan Variance decision area, you can set planning goals and scorecarding metrics for elements such as:

• Sales order ($).
• Sales plan ($ and %).
• Sales growth rate (%).
• Units ordered and sold (#).

Most importantly, you can analyze these goals and metrics by a number of dimensions to find the hidden gems underpinning performance management:

• Plan/actual/forecast.
• Time (year, quarter, month, week).
• Market segment (macro & micro).
• Brand and product line.
• Sales territory and sales channel.

Using the Sales Plan Variance decision area

You set targets based on your goals and metrics in Sales Plan Variance. You monitor your success by looking at how you measure up against your targets. Further, you dive into your results to find the factors behind your performance.

• Sales order ($): Do our revenue targets mean we will generate enough activity for a given customer segment?
• Sales plan ($ and %): Is our actual overall income in line with projected income? What can be done to close the gap between planned and actual?
• Sales growth rate (%): What is our long -term, year-by-year strategy for increasing sales growth in a given region?