How to forecast the sales based on the historical data on the sales

NetSuite’s Sales Force Automation module offers features such as lead and opportunity management, sales forecasting, pipeline tracking, and quote and order management. Sales Force Automation (SFA) in NetSuite refers to the tools and processes used to automate the sales cycle, from lead generation to closing deals. It allows sales teams to manage customer information, automate sales processes, and collaborate with other teams, such as marketing and customer service, to drive revenue growth. 

Some key benefits of using NetSuite’s SFA module include: 

• Improved sales productivity: NetSuite’s SFA streamlines sales processes, automates administrative tasks, and provides real-time visibility into the sales pipeline, allowing sales reps to focus on selling and closing deals. 
• Better customer insights: With NetSuite’s SFA, sales teams can access customer data in real-time, including buying history, preferences, and interactions with the company, allowing them to tailor their sales approach and improve customer engagement. Information is in the form of reports, dashboards, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), etc. 

• Increased revenue: By streamlining sales processes, improving sales productivity, and providing better customer insights, NetSuite’s SFA can help companies close more deals, increase customer retention, and drive revenue growth.

To set up Sales Force Automation (SFA) in NetSuite, follow the following general steps: 

• Enable SFA: First, ensure that the NetSuite account has the SFA feature enabled. To do this, go to Setup > Company> Enable Features, and select the SFA checkbox. 

• Set up SFA preferences: Once SFA is enabled, the Sales Preferences page lets sales administrators set customer status preferences that specify how the company should use the Sales Force Automation feature.  

This includes setting up lead and opportunity stages, assigning sales reps, defining lead sources, and setting up sales territories. 

On the General subtab at Setup > Sales & Marketing Automation > Sales Preferences, 

1. Lead Status – Select the default status assigned to new lead records. 
2. Prospect Status – New – Select the default status assigned to prospects who do not yet have a transaction associated with them. 
3. Prospect Status – Opportunity – Select the default status assigned to prospects who have an opportunity created for them. 
4. Prospect Status – Estimate – Select the default status assigned to prospects who have an estimate created for them. 
5. Customer Status – Select the default status assigned to customers. 

• Create Customer Statuses. 

A customer status describes a lead, prospect, or customer’s stage in the sales cycle. All statuses have a probability level associated with them. This probability reflects the percentage chance that a lead or prospect will purchase from a business. Leads should have a zero probability. If the probability increases, they are then considered prospects. 

To create a customer status: 

1. Go to Setup > Sales & Marketing Automation > Customer Statuses > New. 
2. In the Status field, enter the name for the new status.  
3. In the Stage field, select Lead, Prospect, or Customer as the stage. 
4. In the Probability field, if the prospect is selected as the stage, enter the percent likelihood that a prospect with this status will become a customer. 
5. In the Description field, enter a brief definition of this status. 
6. Check the Include in Lead Reports box if the customers with this status want to appear in lead reports. 
7. Click Save to view the Customer Statuses list. 

• Designate which employees are sales reps. 

Assign a sales role on the employee record for the person you want to add to a sale group. In the ‘Employee Subtab’ section, click the ‘Sales Rep’ checkbox. 

• Set up the Team Selling feature. 

The team selling feature allows multiple sales reps to collaborate and work together on a single sales opportunity as a sales team. In addition to sales reps and managers, sales teams can include engineers, account managers, and other employees that aid in the sales process. 

To enable the Team Selling feature, go to Setup > Company > Enable Features > CRM. Check the Team Selling box, and then click Save.  

• Define Sales Rules and Sales Territories. 

A sales rule is a set of parameters for how NetSuite assigns potential customers to sales reps. Sales rules are based on standard and custom fields found on lead, prospect, and customer records. To create a sales rule: Go to Setup > Sales & Marketing Automation > Set Up Sales Rules > New. 

Sales territories use sales rules to determine how NetSuite distributes new potential customers to the sales reps, sales groups, and sales teams. The information in a lead, prospect, or customer’s record must match one or all the criteria of the sales rules to be assigned to that territory. To set up a sales territory: Go to Setup > Sales > Sales Management > Sales Territories > New. 

• Set quotas for sales reps. 

Quotas are goals you set for sales representatives. You can create and track quotas for sales reps by item, class, location, or department.

Go to Forecast > Setup > Establish Quotas.

You can set quotas for sales reps based on company sales goals. Then, edit forecasts by a sales rep to determine how close a sales rep is to their quota. You can also adjust the forecasted amount to reflect deals that do not yet have transactions. Go to Transactions > Quota/Forecast > Edit Sales Rep Forecast (Administrator).

To track quarterly quotas, an administrator can go to Setup > Sales > Preferences > Sales Preferences (Administrator). Click the Forecasts subtab, and then check the Forecast Quarterly (vs. Monthly) box.