CFOs Can Help Themselves by Helping Sales Improve Forecasts – CFO.com

CFOs Can Help Themselves by Helping Sales Improve Forecasts – CFO.com:from 3forward by Matt Smith

 Improving Sales Forecasting

At fast-changing, high-growth organizations, finance executives need to work with sales to derisk the business plan. This is also a way to become a more strategic business partner.
The way many sales leaders forecast the next quarter’s sales reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day, in which Bill Murray finds himself repeating the same maddening day. For example, for several quarters the CFO of a $42 million software firm asked the vice president of sales for his projection for the upcoming quarter’s revenue. Over and over, the vice president provided a pleasing number. In the following quarter, sales missed again. But replacing the well-connected vice president was too high risk for the CEO, who had to frown and bear it.
READ MORE>>>
Source: CFO.com