Two Ways to Write a Weekly Sales Report

Shala Munroe reports:

"Weekly sales reports can be in a memorandum style or as a standardized report. Compare the two to see which works best for your firm. Sales reports are key to helping you gauge how well your company is meeting its sales goals. A weekly sales report can be written as basic memorandum or as a standard, more formalized report. Either method will provide the opportunity to notice trends in sales numbers before they become so low that they can't be brought up to meet quarterly or annual sales predictions, or before an increase in sales becomes a lack of inventory problem. Weekly sales reports also provide an opportunity to share success or potential problems on a weekly basis, allowing for immediate action if necessary...Start the sales report with the date. Include the dates the report covers, the specific department and other pertinent information, such as the sales region cover or specific product. Lead with the main accomplishment or most significant number of the week...Give the week's sales numbers, then compare them. After giving the week's biggest accomplishment, break down the sales numbers for the week. This could be broken down by product or salesperson, or whatever makes sense for the product or service you're selling. Then, include a summary of how this week's numbers compare to this time last [year or] to last week's numbers or how much closer you are to your quarterly sales goal. Add other relevant statistics, such as the number of cold calls made versus the number of resulting sales. Discuss any challenges that hindered sales for the week, such as rainy weather keeping your staff from selling outdoor equipment...Fill in categories to track the sales from your team each day. The categories might include information on how many of each product were sold, the number of cold calls made, the number of follow-up calls made, the number of incoming sales calls and the total sales by each salesperson and the department as a whole. Fill out the same standardized report each week to help you compare the sales numbers later. Add an explanation at the bottom of the page for any numbers that look abnormal...Describe any specific successes or failures for the week, but be brief. For example, praise one salesperson who might have doubled her typical weekly sales. Or explain that another salesperson's numbers were low because he was on vacation half the week...File your sales reports by month to make it easier to compile monthly and quarterly sales reports."