Which sales reports are worth opening every month

Before the reports: one name for one customer

A report is only as accurate as the data beneath it. If one customer is recorded as "Ivanov & Son Ltd", "Ivanov and Son" and "IVANOV & SON – Ruse", their turnover splits into three lines and they look smaller than they are. Before you read the numbers, tidy up the customer and product names. Check the period too: has the whole month been entered, and has it been entered only once?

Turnover by customer: who brings the sales

Rank customers by turnover for the month and for the last twelve months. First see how much of the turnover comes from the top few customers: if one of them leaves, how big is the hole? Then see who is moving in the list — who is climbing, and who has slipped for the third month running. A customer on the way down rarely rings to say why. Ask them yourself, while they are still buying.

Turnover is not profit. A large customer with a large discount who pays late may bring you less than a mid-sized one who pays on time. If your report shows only turnover and quantity, set beside it what you know about the customer's terms and payments.

Turnover by product: what sells, and to whom

The same ranking, this time by item. Which items make the turnover and which only take up shelf space? Which product sells well, but to just two customers? A customers-by-products table helps too: the empty cells show what you have not yet offered to whom. Look at quantities as well as amounts — after a price change turnover can rise while the cartons sold go down.

Who has stopped buying?

This report is easy to skip, because it shows what is not there. It lists the customers who used to buy regularly and have not done so in the last month or quarter. The reasons are usually simple: a new supplier, a change of sales rep, a forgotten quote, an unresolved complaint. Many of them are cleared up with one phone call, if it comes in time.

Give the list to the sales reps at the start of the month and ask for a note against every name saying what they found out. For example, SellM8 Analytics has a separate report for customers with no purchases in the chosen period, and a purchase history for every customer.

Sales reps: turnover and coverage

Turnover per rep is half the picture. The other half is coverage: how many of the outlets in their area they supplied during the month. A rep with high turnover from three large customers and twenty unvisited outlets is a cause for concern, not for praise. Compare each rep with their own figures a year ago, not with a colleague — no two areas are alike. Look at the average order size too: it shows whether the whole range is being sold or just two items.

• Turnover and quantity for the month
• Outlets supplied against all outlets in the area
• Average order size
• The same month a year ago

Seasonality: compare with the same month last year

In many trades January looks weak after December without anything having gone wrong. That is why a month is compared with the same month a year earlier, not with the one before it. A report going back thirteen months shows exactly that: this month and the same month last year in one row. When you know your season, you also know when to order from the supplier — before the peak, not during it. One weak month is not a trend; three in a row are a reason to ask.

Forecasts: a guide, not a promise

A forecast carries the past forward. It does not know that you lost a large customer yesterday or that a competitor has closed. Trust it only as far as the data beneath it: three months of history show no seasonality. A good forecast says how confident it is and how it was calculated, and says so when the data is not enough. Use it for supplier orders and for the reps' plan, and every month compare it with what really happened.