As the consumer goods industry continues to grow and evolve, so does the complexity of customer planning and forecasting. Excel spreadsheets have been the go-to tool for many companies. Still, they come with several obstacles to planning success, including inaccuracies, lack of visibility and analytics, siloed departments, ongoing forecast accuracy, and problems with tracking. These challenges often result in reduced profitability, missed sales targets, and suboptimal decision-making.
Did you know?
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- 55% don’t trust their forecast (Gartner)
- 53% Don’t believe they have the right details (Salesforce)
- 75% Believe their data is too siloed (Gartner)
- 80% lack analytics to identify issues and trends (McKinsey)
To address these challenges, Salesforce offers a comprehensive solution called Salesforce Customer Planning & Forecasting (CPF), which is part of the Salesforce Consumer Goods Cloud.
Salesforce Customer Planning & Forecasting Benefits
Salesforce Customer Planning & Forecasting enables companies to make accurate sales forecasts, improve collaboration, and streamline workflows. It offers a range of benefits, including:
Improved Accuracy: With Salesforce CPF, companies can leverage real-time data to make informed decisions about inventory levels, production planning, and sales strategies. The platform’s algorithms can help identify trends and patterns that may have been missed using traditional forecasting methods.
Real-time Data: Access to data from across the organization, enabling teams to work together seamlessly and make informed decisions. Sales teams can quickly update the platform with the latest information on customer orders, inventory levels, and promotions, allowing everyone to stay on the same page.
Streamlined Workflows: Salesforce CPF offers a range of features that help streamline workflows and improve collaboration. Teams can share information easily, reduce manual data entry, and automate routine tasks, freeing up time for more strategic work.
Better Collaboration: Enables teams to work together more effectively by providing a centralized platform for data sharing, collaboration, and communication. Sales teams can work closely with supply chain, marketing, and finance teams to ensure that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.
Increased Efficiency: With Salesforce CPF, companies can streamline their forecasting and planning processes, reducing the time and effort required to make decisions. This allows teams to focus on more strategic work and helps to increase efficiency across the organization.
Get Started With Salesforce CPF
Corrao Group, a leading Salesforce implementation partner for Consumer Goods Cloud, offers a comprehensive CPF package for companies looking to improve their customer planning and forecasting processes. The package includes a Salesforce CPF license, a 2-3 month implementation timeline, and a range of features designed to help companies maximize their Salesforce CPF investment. Some of the key features of our CPF package include:
Customer Hierarchy: The CPF package includes a customer hierarchy feature that enables companies to view customer data at different levels, such as by region, store, or product category.
Product Hierarchy: The product hierarchy feature allows companies to view product data at different levels, such as by category, brand, or SKU.
Real-time Business Reporting: Configuration of real-time business reporting features that provide insights into sales performance, inventory levels, and other key metrics.
KPI Tracking: The package also includes KPI tracking features that enable companies to monitor progress against key performance indicators and adjust their strategies as needed.
Customer Planning Time Frames: The CPF package includes customer planning time frames (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly), which help companies plan for future sales and inventory needs based on historical data and trends.
Walkthrough & Handoff: A comprehensive walkthrough and handoff process, ensuring that teams are fully trained and prepared to use the platform effectively.
In summary, the consumer goods industry faces many challenges regarding customer planning & forecasting. However, the Salesforce CPF package offers a comprehensive solution to help companies overcome these challenges and make more informed data-driven decisions. Our CPF package is an excellent option for companies looking to implement this solution quickly and effectively, with a range of features designed to improve accuracy, streamline workflows, and increase efficiency. Learn more by visiting our Salesforce Customer Planning & Forecasting page.
About Corrao Group
As everyday Salesforce power users, Corrao Group understands how flexible the Salesforce platform is to support every business department. Since 2002, we have been helping B2B organizations of all sizes optimize their business processes with Salesforce and their third-party applications. We’ve worked with nearly 1,100+ customers, implementing, customizing, and optimizing over 2,150+ Salesforce projects. We are proud to be on the Consumer Goods Cloud Partner Advisory Board and Salesforce Managed Service Board, in addition to being the exclusive US launch partner of the Salesforce Trade Promotion Management (TPM) Pilot. If you want to learn more about how Corrao Group can help your company, read our reviews on G2!
