A Simple Guide To Predictive Sales Analytics Tools

Who wouldn’t be aware of a crystal ball, a magical ball that allows the user to see into the future? Whether it’s a crystal ball that shows all the horrors that are coming your way or a crystal ball that shows exactly what you want your life to look like, fictional characters like Hildy and Glim Groom (from The 7D, an American animated series) knew best how to use it! Likewise, Predictive Sales Analytics Tools (PSATs) are somewhat like crystal balls that allow companies to analyze their sales pipeline, identify trends and make accurate predictions! #ExploringSimiliarities

You see, crystal balls and Predictive Sales Analytics Tools, both involve predicting something based on past occurrences. PSATs predict what will happen in the future, while the latter helps you boost the performance of sales teams and make decisions with a high level of accuracy. PSATs use past data as well as current data to predict what might happen shortly and also to generate future insights for sales professionals. It's a technology in which data from multiple sources is analyzed and algorithms are used to predict future events.

There’s a lot more to explore about PSATs, let’s seek insight into its concept in detail in our next section.
 

Predictive Sales Analytics Tools: Your Crystal Ball

You may have seen a movie where a salesman is a protagonist who despite his efforts can't sell any product (just like Chris Gardner from Pursuit of Happyness). Although Chris mostly sold portable X-ray scanners, the bridge between the sales and ever-growing financial demands was a challenge. #StrugglesStrugglesEverywhere
 
Nobody’s life is perfect. But nobody’s all bad, either. That’s Chris spilling beans about life. Surprisingly this quote blends perfectly with sales as it can be a difficult sea to sail in. There are endless data points, metrics and reports that are all essential to understanding your sales channels. Although which metrics could be the best indicators of success? How would you assess the effectiveness of your campaigns or promotions? are a couple of questions that you need answers to. The answer to all these questions is Predictive Sales Analytics Tools.

Predictive Sales Analytics Tools are a type of Business Intelligence (BI) tool that uses past data to predict future trends. They're used by businesses with physical stores as well as by online retailers who want to make smarter decisions for their customers. PSATs incorporate technology that uses mathematical models that analyze large amounts of data and produce predictions based on the conclusions drawn from the analysis. These predictions usually consider things like time of day, location, gender, age (of both customer and store associate), weather, holidays, product availability, and more. It can also help you reduce the risk of losing customers (just like a crystal ball alerts you regarding future risks!) Interesting, isn’t it?

Now, let’s unfold how this crystal ball evolved, shall we?
 

Evolution Of Predictive Sales Analytics Tools

 
‘Heigh-Ho!’ Here’s the timeline of PSATs….
 

• Predictive analytics was first introduced in the 1940s, as the government began using early computers. It was the time when Alan Turing developed the Bombe Machine to decode the German Enigma Communications during World War 2.

• From 1939 to 1945, the Manhattan Project team used Monte Carlo simulation to predict the behavior of atoms. Push cards were invented to store computer-generated data and by 1950 they were widely used by businesses and governments.

• In 1973, Black Scholes was developed to predict the optimal stock options price over time. The year 1975 was all rainbows and sunshine as Amazon and eBay accelerated the pace of online personalization. Later, terms like Big Data, data science and Business Intelligence have coined right after the introduction of Google implied algorithms to web searches.

• 2006 stepped in with the launch of Google Analytics. During the same year, software verticalization emerged as a development of industry-specific tools that contributed to the adoption of predictive analytics across all industries.

• Self-service visualization software helped businesses to utilize data analytics tools without dependence on IT teams. Predictive Sales Analytics Tools made an entry as a powerful tool to mine historical data to produce future forecasts and the rest is history!

Hold your breath as we are about to decode the working of PSATs!
 

How Do These PSATs Work?

Here are the steps describing the working of this fantastic crystal ball:
 

• Data Collection

  Predictive Sales Analytics Tools kick-start the work by collecting data from various data sources and integrating it. However, your sales representative (as the experts call it, sales reps) team needs to be very diligent and timely in uploading their data to databases, as the road to proper sales forecasting leads through clean and consistent data.

• Lead Scoring

  With Predictive Sales Analytics Tools, you can streamline and simplify the entire lead-scoring process a lot better. These tools help you draw thoughtful buyer personas based on demographic data, historical information and patterns in customer activities.

• Customer Retention

  Understanding your customer seems a challenge. Not anymore! As Predictive Sales Analytics Tools work on this area of your organization and make this step as flawless as possible. These tools assist you with getting an analytical perspective of the decision-making power of your customers. This insight eventually opens the gates for improving customer retention.

Now that you are aware of the working of PSATs, let’s shed some light on their benefits.
 

Benefits Of These Tools

 
What do you call a crystal ball that cracks bad jokes? Broken!  Haha, never mind! That’s Hildy (from The 7D) talking to the crystal ball, about the crystal ball (we told you, never mind!) Jokes apart, we all know what could be the benefits of having a crystal ball but are you aware of the benefits of having a crystal ball? Fret not, here we present them in no particular order.
 

• Accurate Forecasting Like Never Before

  Prediction is the process of making a forecast about the future (duh!) and PSATs do exactly the same for you! These tools analyze historical data and predict future trends. This helps sales reps accurately forecast future sales. Additionally, these tools help sales managers and sales teams better prepare for future sales opportunities. As a result, selling more confidently and making better sales forecasts becomes a piece of cake.

• Championing Lead Generation

  PSATs are a different breed and can be used for both marketing and sales #OneStoneTwoBirds. These tools make an entry with the capability of identifying and predicting trends and patterns in your business’s data so that you can rock and roll the lead-to-sale conversion! Besides, these tools also help in lead generation, which is one of the key objectives for any business.

• Top-notch Deal Guidance

  PSATs are designed to analyze data to anticipate future events and opportunities. It is a highly effective tool for deal advisors to predict the deal outcome and help clients make better decisions. They help to deal with the uncertainty and risks of deals in a more informed manner. PSATs are just like your crystal ball, making this task easy-peasy by predicting the probability of a deal happening based on historical data.

• Seamless Pipeline Visibility

  Predictive Sales Analytics Tools help you keep a tab on the data in your sales pipeline, predict the future performance of your sales team and optimize the sales activities most efficiently. With the help of these tools, you can predict the future performance of your sales team and plan for the future accordingly!

On that note, it’s time to reveal the future of this crystal ball and the good thing is you don’t need any crystal ball for that!
 

The Bright Future Of Predictive Sales Analytics Tools

Seeking insights into the future of PSATs. #LetsGetSneakyPeaky

X analytics is all set to take you by surprise! What is X analytics you may ask? Well, X analytics is a phenomenon coined by Gartner for the trendiest class of intelligent technology with an ability to capture much of the scattered business process information that has resisted measurement in the past. X resembles data input models that can accommodate text analytics, audio analytics, or video analytics! Methods like recoding, parsing audio and video communication will continue to provide organizations with deal insights, competitive intelligence and pricing recommendations. #MayTheSalesForceBeWithYou

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology will be all bells and whistles as it will boost decision-making power by flagging patterns and forecasting broader outcomes that are beyond human capabilities. Furthermore, technological advancements will upgrade the PSATs and will help sales leaders come up with better strategies by integrating customer requirements. 
 

Summing It Up

In the world of sales, no company is an island. To succeed, companies need to understand what makes their customers tick. They need to understand their customers’ needs, wants, and motivations to do that. Once they know what their customers want, they can work to provide it to them. Sales teams can then use this information to help predict when customers might want to buy, how much each customer might be willing to spend and which of their competitors might have the best chance of getting a deal. Guess what, that’s exactly when your crystal ball AKA Predictive Sales Analytics Tools, comes into the picture!

We hope this article served its purpose of helping you to understand these tools better! So, what are you waiting for? Grab the best tool for your organization!