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Sales forecasting software is an application used by small businesses to get a rough estimate of the revenue that they can expect from their upcoming sales. Examples and uses for this type of software are listed, including some free options available online today.
The “sales forecasting software free” is a tool that helps small businesses forecast their sales. There are many examples and uses for the software.
Sales forecasting software assists organizations in estimating future sales revenue based on data inputs such as current agreements in the pipeline or a product’s yearly demand. Businesses may do this in one of three ways: by using specialist analytics software, utilizing reporting elements in their CRM, or by utilizing complicated spreadsheets.
The best sales forecasting software for a small firm will be determined by a team’s degree of experience with technology, how complicated or simple they want their predictions to be, and their budget. There are three primary kinds of sales forecasting software programs, each with its own set of features:
Applications for Analytics Software
Analytics software is a kind of software that is meant to report on data and provide insights into complex data. In general, it entails entering data to be processed for some form of output, such as monthly revenue estimates with growth assumptions to produce a yearly revenue estimate. It may, however, be integrated with certain databases to provide a more automated data processing system.
As a result, they are the most powerful sales forecasting software solution, but they are also the most expensive. Furthermore, these tools usually have a high learning curve, making them more hassle than they’re worth for small teams.
Here are a few examples of analytics software that may be used to predict sales:
Einstein Analytics by Salesforce
Einstein Analytics by Salesforce is an application native to Salesforce that can create advanced analytics on various performance metrics. It has basic sales forecasting models included in its Einstein Predictions package, which costs $75 per user, per month.
Users may additionally connect to Tableau data software for more sophisticated features and obtain access to an infinite number of reporting dashboards and mobile capabilities for $125 per user, per month.
Page 1 of the Einstein Prediction Builder (Source: Medium.com)
Visit Einstein Analytics by Salesforce
Zoho Analytics is a web-based analytics platform.
Zoho Analytics is a web-based analytics platform. is analytics software native to Zoho software products, offering an array of business data insights. The tool is free for up to two users. However, for more capabilities and integrations with other customer relationship management (CRM) systems like Zoho CRM, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and HubSpot, users need to upgrade to the Basic plan for $24 per user, per month.
Zoho Analytics is a web-based analytics platform. also offers artificial intelligence (AI) intelligence through its Ask Zia tools, which can answer some of your questions on data analytics simply by typing into a search bar on the reporting page.
Zoho Analytics is a web-based analytics platform. Ask Zia question bar (Source: Zoho)
Go to the Zoho Analytics website. is a web-based analytics platform.
Software for Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Software for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is primarily used to store contact information and develop business relationships through various built-in marketing tools and third-party integrations. However, some CRM providers also have built-in CRM reporting tools that can be used to report and analyze sales revenue trends based on various inputs.
Some CRMs with built-in reporting and sales forecasting features are listed below:
Pipedrive
Pipedrive’s Professional package, which costs $49.90 per user, per month, has built-in sales forecasting tools. Users may utilize cumulative sales revenue reports to account for recurring or subscription-based income in addition to typical revenue estimates.
Page for Pipedrive’s cumulative sales forecasts (Source: Pipedrive)
Go to Pipedrive.com.
HubSpot CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
HubSpot customers may get access to the sales forecasting tool by paying $450 per month for the Professional Sales Hub or $360 per month for the Professional Service Hub. Individual sales targets may be defined and tracked using HubSpot’s forecasting tools, which is one of the platform’s greatest features.
HubSpot CRM (Customer Relationship Management) sales goals example (Source: HubSpot)
Go to HubSpot.com to learn more.
Freshsales
Freshsales’ Growth plan, which costs $18 per user each month, includes sales forecasting features. Teams seeking for a more sophisticated upgrade may sign up for the Enterprise package ($69 per user, per month) and have access to Freddy, an AI bot that produces insights about which prospects are worth pursuing further.
Freddy Insights with Freshsales (Source: Freshsales)
Freshsales is a great place to start.
Looking for additional CRM choices that may be used by a variety of businesses? See our post on the top CRMs for small companies for more information.
Applications for Spreadsheets
Applications for Spreadsheets are typically used to collect and present data, making them solid, low-cost options for sales forecasting functionality. They may also include analytic add-ons that can be useful if the user understands how to navigate those functions. However, these tools require extensive manual data entry and can become easily out of date if not updated on a regular basis.
The following are some examples of these applications:
Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program.
Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program. is free for a personal plan. However, it is also included in Google Workspace for business teams starting at $6 per user, per month. Users can easily create sales forecasting reports through prebuilt templates by inputting data in the cells.
Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program. cell data converted into sales trend (Source: InfoInspired)
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program. is available to businesses through the Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan at $5 per user, per month. The analytics and forecasting functionality is virtually identical to Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program., since both applications are designed for the same purpose. The forecasts can also be presented through several prebuilt templates offered by Microsoft.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program. revenue forecasting example (Source: Excel Quant)
To increase the efficiency and productivity of your sales staff, read our post on the best sales forecasting templates for small firms.
How Do Companies Make Use of Sales Forecasting Software?
In addition to providing aggregate sales revenue estimates, sales forecasting tools, like Salesforce, Freshsales, or even Google Sheets is an online spreadsheet program., also provide insights on various trends, processes, and comparisons among different factors, such as sales reps, geography, products or services, and time periods.
Sales forecasting software assists firms in gaining these insights by allowing teams to look back on previous performance, compare growth to the market, and assign likelihood factors to ongoing transactions based on lead activity or agent confidence. Expand the tabs below to learn more about the most frequent ways firms utilize sales forecasting:
Forecasting based on the past
This sort of forecasting includes projecting future estimations based on historical facts. This is often used for retail sales forecasting, particularly when the company has been in operation for a while and has stable, predictable sales cycles.
For instance, ABC Cake Business sold $60,000 worth of cakes from January to July of last year, therefore we may anticipate selling at least $60,000 worth of cakes from January to July of this year.
Forecasting Market Trends
This approach of forecasting makes use of data from a market study conducted either internally (test market studies) or outside (market research) (industry demand reports). It is then compared to the company’s market share in order to forecast future sales revenue. It’s often utilized when launching a new product or assessing a developing market.
For instance, ABC Beverage Company is debuting a new flavor that market simulation testing indicate will be the favored soda of 4% of the market. We estimate that the overall income from the new soda will be at least $80 million, based on the $2 billion annual soft drink industry.
Forecasting Pipeline Opportunities
This method of forecasting examines each sales opportunity or possible transaction in the pipeline and forecasts future revenue based on the size of the contract and the chance of completing it.
To calculate sales forecasts, this approach often use multivariable analysis. Software companies, for example, are a regular user of this strategy since they can simply forecast how huge each sale will be.
ABC Software, for example, has eight prospective transactions in the works right now. They anticipate a 60 percent likelihood of closing each of the four agreements, which are valued at $20,000 apiece. The remaining four are each worth $50,000, but they have just a 40% probability of being closed.
As a result, the total predicted revenues for the existing pipeline transactions would be $128,000.
4 × $20,000 multiplied by 60% Equals $48,000
plus
$50,000 multiplied by 40% equals $80,000.
Forecasting Sales Rep Intelligence
To forecast revenue, this strategy relies on intuition or knowledge of present prospects in your sales funnel. It’s not the most precise method of predicting, but it’s often utilized when companies don’t have the funds to invest in sales forecasting software.
ABC Insurance, for example, is holding a sales meeting to discuss current possibilities. The first salesperson is reviewing their pipeline and prospects to determine which ones seem to be promising. The sales representative believes they will be able to close three of the 14 projects currently in the pipeline for a total premium of $32,000.
Sales Forecasting Software: Why Does Your Team Need It?
Using sales forecasting software provides firms with the luxury of increased efficiency and capability for bettering their performance. The following are some of the most typical advantages of utilizing sales forecasting software:
Automation of Forecasting & Budgeting
The key benefit of adopting sales forecasting software is that it enables data inputs to be automatically reported. This is in contrast to utilizing a calculator and a notebook to manually calculate how much income your company may anticipate to make.
Automated forecasting also enables firms to better establish their financial budgets in order to plan expenditures and marketing initiatives.
To Stay Current, It Synchronizes With Other Software Data.
Users may benefit from keeping their sales forecasting up to date as they fill in new leads and prospects since many sales forecasting systems are either incorporated into a CRM system or have native interfaces with one.
Sales Performance Can Be Improved Through Reporting
All personnel of the company may see several of the sales forecasting reports. This instills a sense of responsibility in each sales person, resulting in a more motivated workforce and improved corporate performance.
Sales forecasting also advises managers whether possibilities are worth investing more resources in or avoiding entirely. It enables them to optimize a variety of sales processes based on patterns they see.
For example, a sales manager may discover, based on a forecasting report, that the predicted deal closure rate for accounting firms is considerably greater than for legal service companies, and determines it is preferable to pursue more accounting firms. Then they buy lead lists targeted at that sector while avoiding sales prospecting operations targeted at law firms.
Most Commonly Asked Questions (FAQs)
What’s the difference between sales forecasting & budgeting?
The most significant distinction between sales forecasting and budgeting is what is being forecasted and planned. Sales forecasting is a method of predicting revenue or profitability for a company. Budgeting is the process of forecasting and budgeting business costs that will be spent or incurred by the company.
What additional sales forecasting KPIs can sales forecasting software be used to analyze?
Sales forecasting software lets firms estimate and track various performance measures such as opportunity closure rates, average transaction or deal size, revenue growth rates, and the average age of a sales opportunity, in addition to overall sales revenue during a specified time period.
What are some of the benefits of utilizing a CRM for sales forecasting or combining an analytics tool with a CRM?
The key benefit of merging CRM with sales forecasting capability is that most of the data is already being entered into the CRM throughout the sales process. Users may prevent duplicate data entering and develop up-to-date sales projections as a result.
Conclusion
Sales forecasting software may help firms save time and estimate company performance more precisely. This sort of software comes in a variety of formats, including standalone analytics tools, CRM built-in solutions, and spreadsheet functionalities.
The “salesforce forecasting tools” is a software that can be used to make sales forecasts. The software has many uses and examples of how it could be implemented by small businesses.
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