You're involved in an intense debate with your co-worker at the pharmaceutical manufacturing firm where you both work. As the head of sales, he maintains that his salespeople are the best source of sales forecasting data. As the head of marketing, you feel that trend analysis is the best choice for forecasting sales. What is the best solution to this dilemma?
A) He's right. When you have a sales force with specialized knowledge of the marketplace, that's all you need.
B) You're right. When you have sales data going back several years on a product, that's all you need.
C) Neither of these techniques is appropriate for this situation. You should be using the Delphi technique.
D) Since both techniques have limitations, you should use both approaches and compare.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Both the sales force's specialized knowledge and trend analysis from historical sales data are valuable for forecasting sales. Using both approaches allows for a more comprehensive understanding and mitigates the limitations of relying on a single method.

You're Involved in an Intense Debate with Your Co-Worker at the Pharmaceutical