Need to predict the future?
What you'll learn
- Goal: Improve sales forecast accuracy, resulting in higher sales (fewer stock-outs) and lower inventory holding costs (better inventory turnover)
- Objective 1: Apply exponential smoothing to your sales data
- Objective 2: Test various forecasting methods and settings to find the best combination
- Objective 3: Measure your forecasting accuracy
Requirements
- Comfort with basic Excel spreadsheets
- Access to exponential smoothing software, or the ability to download and install a free exponential smoothing software package
Description
In about one hour you can learn to:
- Use exponential smoothing, the most popular forecasting method.
- Test your forecasts before putting the company (or your reputation) at risk.
- Assess whether your forecasts are adding value.
Most managers involved in forecasting are missing one or more skills in basic forecasting. We boil it down to five steps, and show you how to master each one.
This course is all about doing. You look over our shoulders and view the computer screen as we forecast sales for multiple products and industries.
Every forecaster should be able to do exponential smoothing. It is by far the most popular forecasting approach among experienced forecasters.
One of the biggest leaps you can make as a forecaster is in accuracy measurement. We show you the best way, and we demonstrate it throughout the course.
Forecasting software works, so you don't need to understand detailed forecasting formulas. Instead, we focus on how to use forecasting software wisely.
We are confident that mastery of the basic concepts provided in this course will significantly increase your forecast accuracy. The result: fewer stock-outs, higher sales, and lower inventory costs.
Included in this course:
- 9 lectures
- 6 Excel workbooks (actual spreadsheets from lectures)
We tap into the very latest thinking on forecasting. But rather than bore you with our technical mastery of the subject, we focus on simplicity and practicality. Only the essential ingredients of forecasting excellence are presented. And we do so with passion.
We hope you enjoy the course. Good luck and good forecasting!
Who this course is for:
- Individuals involved in sales or demand forecasting
- Finance managers
- Product managers
- Sales managers
- Sales operations
- Marketing managers
- Salespeople
Course content
- Preview03:41
- Preview06:04
- Preview10:58
- 06:08Testing
- 07:19Linear Extension
- 09:12Exponential Smoothing
- 07:05Data Cleaning
- 09:48Multiple Forecasts
- 10:28Five-Step Forecasting
Instructors
![Mark Blessington](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.2 Instructor Rating
- 18 Reviews
- 160 Students
- 1 Course
Mark Blessington is a highly respected sales and marketing consultant. He has worked for many of the world's largest corporations (e.g., Pfizer, Wells Fargo, GE, AT&T). He has published two books (Sales Quotas: An Analytical Approach to Quota Setting; Sales and Marketing Reengineering) and over 20 articles on sales and marketing topics. He has been widely quoted in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Mark's particular areas of expertise include: sales compensation, sales forecasting, and skills training in sales and marketing.
- 4.2 Instructor Rating
- 18 Reviews
- 160 Students
- 1 Course
Karl is a new breed of consultant, speaker, and writer, combining fascinating “real life” sales and marketing stories with powerful principles and best practices. Karl’s work is well published and includes The Customer Learning Curve, a book he co-authored. Karl’s astuteness and humor quickly engage students in his eLearning courses. He earned his Doctorate in Business Administration at Georgia State University, where his dissertation topic was “Optimizing Investment in Different Levels of Key Account Relationships.”
- 4.2 Instructor Rating
- 18 Reviews
- 151 Students
- 1 Course
Kevin O'Connell is a sales and marketing consultant with 25 years experience. His client work involves developing and implementing sales effectiveness strategies to improve revenue growth, profitability, and alignment. Clients cross multiple industries (pharmaceutical/bio-tech, digital media, insurance and financial services, etc.) enabling Kevin to bring a broad perspective to address sales and marketing challenges. Kevin's expertise includes sales compensation; sales forecasting and quota setting; and sales, marketing, business strategy alignment.