Sales Process & Forecasting in Salesforce

Salesforce is known for its robust sales objects, each playing a crucial role in streamlining the sales process. In this blog, you will:

• Learn about the fundamental components that drive your sales process within Salesforce.
• Gain insights into how Salesforce tracks opportunities and provides guidance at every stage.
• Explore how forecasting tools help predict sales outcomes and manage expectations.
• Read through use cases and solutions for implementing Salesforce in various business scenarios.

Join us as we unravel the essentials of Salesforce’s functionalities to help you streamline your sales cycle for better efficiency and results.

Key Sales Objects 

Leads

Leads are potential customers showing interest in your products or services. They form the starting point of the sales cycle in Salesforce.

Campaigns

Campaigns are pivotal for measuring and tracking your marketing efforts, playing a significant role in understanding your return on investment.

Campaign Members

Campaign members link leads, contacts, or accounts to a campaign, allowing you to track responses and gauge the effectiveness of your marketing strategies.

Accounts

Accounts represent the entities you do business with. Business accounts pertain to companies, while Person accounts relate to individuals.

Contacts

Contacts store information about people associated with your business dealings, typically linked to accounts but also connecting to opportunities through Contact Roles.

Opportunities

Opportunities represent potential deals in progress, enabling you to track and manage these deals effectively.

Products

Products refer to items or services that your company offers, integral to the sales and inventory management within Salesforce.

Price Books

Price Books are collections of products and their prices, essential for managing sales pricing strategies.

Orders

Orders are agreements between your company and customers, specifying the quantity, price, and delivery date of products or services.

Contracts

Contracts define the terms of business between parties, critical for formalizing business relationships.

Understanding the Sales Process

The Sales Process is a sequence of stages that an opportunity follows through its sales cycle, acting as a roadmap for your sales team.

Key Features of the Sales Process

• Opportunity Stages: Mapped to types indicating whether the stage is open or closed, influencing reporting and forecasting.
• Probability Mapping: Used to calculate expected revenue, playing a vital role in sales forecasting.
• Forecast Categories: Further categorize opportunity stages for more precise forecasting.

Use Case: Implementing a New Sales Process

• Scenario: Cosmo Property is venturing into commercial real estate, requiring a different sales process with distinct stages.
• Solution: Implement a new Sales Process and Record Type.
• Reason: Aligning the sales process with the new business line’s requirements ensures accurate representation and management of the sales stages.

Salesforce Sales Path

The Sales Path in Salesforce guides users through business processes, enhancing the efficiency of working through opportunities.

Key Features of Sales Path

• Key Fields: Essential fields required before advancing to the next stage.
• Guidance for Success: Customizable advice provided at each stage.
• Path Order: Determined by the sequence of picklist values.

Forecasts in Salesforce

Forecasting in Salesforce is a critical tool for sales teams, aiding in the prediction and planning of the sales cycle from the pipeline to closed sales. Understanding and utilizing Forecasts effectively is key to managing sales expectations across the company.

The Essence of Forecasting

• Subset of the Opportunity Pipeline: Forecasts include only those deals expected to close within a specific period.
• Mapping Opportunity Stages: Before using Forecasting, Opportunity Stages must be mapped to Forecast Categories.

Forecast Categories

Forecasts are categorized into Pipeline, Best Case, Commit, and Closed, each representing different stages of opportunity progression.

• Pipeline: Encompasses all open opportunities, representing the early stages of the sales cycle.
• Best Case: Includes opportunities under the commit category and closed-won.
• Commit: Indicates a high probability of winning, also including closed-won opportunities.
• Closed: Refers to deals that have been finalized, either won or lost.
• Omitted: Applies to opportunities that are lost or disqualified, not contributing to the overall forecast.

Key Features of Collaborative Forecasts

• Opportunity Roll-Ups: A list of opportunities rolls up to the selected forecast in the forecasts grid.
• Multiple Currencies: Admins can set a forecast currency, which could be either corporate or the forecast owner’s personal currency.
• Active Forecast Types: Up to four active types based on object, measure, data type, and hierarchy.
• Forecast Hierarchy: Based on the user role hierarchy, determining the roll-up of forecasts.
• Default Forecast Date Range: Can be set to show forecasts for individual months, quarters, or a specific range.

Example Scenario

Consider a sales team aiming to predict their revenue from the pipeline. The sales manager sets up forecast types based on Opportunity Amount and Close Date, ensuring the opportunity value is accurately reflected in the forecasts.

Next, explore – Salesforce Einstein Opportunity Scoring

Summing Up

As we wrap up our exploration of Salesforce’s key sales objects and the art of forecasting, it’s clear that mastering these tools is vital for steering your sales strategy towards success. These elements are the backbone of an effective Salesforce implementation, ensuring you have the right insights at your fingertips to make informed decisions.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What is sales life cycle in Salesforce?

The sales life cycle in Salesforce refers to the sequence of stages an opportunity goes through, from initial contact to the final sale closure. This cycle is pivotal in managing and tracking the progress of deals. Understanding what is sales process in Salesforce is essential, as it provides a structured approach to navigate through different phases of sales, ensuring systematic follow-ups and better closure rates.

2. How to create sales process in Salesforce?

Creating a sales process in Salesforce involves customizing the Opportunity object to reflect your unique sales stages. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Navigate to Setup and enter ‘Sales Processes’ in the Quick Find box.
2. Select ‘Sales Processes’ then click ‘New’.
3. Choose a master sales process to start from and enter a name for your new process.
4. Customize by adding, removing, or renaming stages to match your business’s sales life cycle.
5. Save your sales process.

This method structures the flow of opportunities, ensuring alignment with your business’s sales cycle.

3. How to edit sales process in Salesforce?

To edit a sales process in Salesforce:

1. Go to Setup and use the Quick Find box to search for ‘Sales Processes’.
2. Click on the name of the sales process you wish to modify.
3. Use the ‘Edit’ button to make changes to the stages of your sales process. You can add new stages, rename existing ones, or change the stage order to better fit your current sales life cycle.
4. Save your changes to update the sales process.

Remember, editing a sales process can impact how opportunities are tracked and managed, so ensure the modifications reflect your evolving sales strategy accurately.

4. How to deploy sales process in Salesforce?

Deploying a sales process in Salesforce to your team involves a few key steps after creation:

1. Assign the sales process to a specific Opportunity Record Type. This allows different teams or product lines to utilize distinct sales processes if needed.
2. Navigate to ‘Record Types’ in Setup. Select the appropriate Opportunity Record Type or create a new one.
3. Assign your newly created or edited sales process to the record type by selecting it from the ‘Picklist Available for Editing’ section.
4. Ensure your team members are aware of the new or updated sales process. Training or informational sessions can help with the transition.
5. Monitor and gather feedback on the new process to make any necessary adjustments.

Deploying the sales process effectively ensures that your sales team follows a consistent methodology tailored to your business needs, enhancing overall efficiency and success rates in closing deals.