Uncertain Outlook – Managing the Sales Management Process with Vulnerabilities and Opportunities

By: Andy Walker and Debbie Bowen-Heaton

Effective demand management is increasingly the fundamental component of modern business planning. These are challenging times – the-ever-changing demands of customers, transient fashion, fast moving technology, increasingly sophisticated in a continuously uncertain market.

In this environment, predicting what the business will look like in two or three years time is more difficult but more important than ever. A robust Integrated Business Planning process is non-negotiable and this stands or falls by the accuracy of the demand plan. Management of the sales pipeline is key, as is identifying opportunities and vulnerabilities and managing the variability around them through to fruition or otherwise.