Tracking Inquiries, Sales, and Cash Flow
This week we are discussing the concept of having a lull in your inquiries and sales. This is a slow-down in business when you least expect it. (Make sure to revisit yesterday’s post to catch up.) We want to get a handle on this.
Now… let me set the record straight. You don’t often have any control over this. But, having knowledge and a plan for action will make you feel in charge. And, for me, this is the cure for feeling panic over these lulls in business.
Follow trends
After my first two years in business, I started to see this trend aka “the lull”. It still made me nervous. So, I wanted to get a better understanding of the flow of my business. I began to track the timing of inquiries and sales. This would allow me to look back at previous years and see the flow of inquiries, sales, and cash flow. This was incredible empowering to me!
In 2008 when the economy started to slow down, I was able to go back to 2006 & 2007 and see if the “lull” was just that or if there was something more serious. Like many other business owners I experienced more than just a lull. And, I also noticed that sales were coming in much later in the season. I had inquiries and sales in March and April that were much higher than usual. Yet, my January and February were much slower.
Knowing these trends helped me adjust my promotional strategy, rethink my spending, and make adjustments to my staffing.
TRACK everything
You probably know by now that I’m a numbers fool. I like to track and measure and assess and analyze and reassess til my eyes pop out of my head. Don’t hate me… I’m going to give you yet ANOTHER thing to track: the timing of your sales. (This one is easy.)
Here’s how to track the timing of your inquiries and sales using Excel:
- Make 2 columns to track the date, the client.
- Make 4 columns to indicate if this was an inquiry, appointment, sale, or cash flow. (You’ll have client names repeating throughout the sheet as they go thru the 4 stages: inquiry, appointment, sale, cash.)
- Tracking inquiries that don’t book is as important as tracking those that do.
You know why I love this sheet? Because Quickbooks doesn’t give me this information. It tells me when I made the sale and collected the cash. But, it doesn’t tell me when inquiries come in. It also doesn’t combine all the info in one neat and tidy sheet.
TIMING of INQUIRY AND SALES DOWNLOAD
Want to download our inquiry and sales tracking sheet?
Here you go:
Sage Wedding Pros – Inquiry & Sales Tracking Sheet – $5
If you can, go back and identify the timing of your inquiries and sales for 2010 so that you have something with which to compare 2011. (I realize this could be crazy. If it’s too crazy, then just move forward.)
Tomorrow… we get MOVING! Let’s get over the lull!