COMPOSITE OF SALES FORCE OPINIONS When buyer interviewing is impractical, the
company may ask its sales representatives to estimate their future sales. Few companies use these
estimates without making some adjustments, however. Sales representatives might be pessimistic
or optimistic, they might not know how their company’s marketing plans will influence future sales
in their territory, and they might deliberately underestimate demand so the company will set a low
sales quota. To encourage better estimating, the company could offer incentives or assistance, such
as information about marketing plans or past forecasts compared to actual sales.
Sales force forecasts yield a number of benefits. Sales reps might have better insight into developing
trends than any other group, and forecasting might give them greater confidence in their
sales quotas and more incentive to achieve them. A “grassroots” forecasting procedure provides
detailed estimates broken down by product, territory, customer, and sales rep