Sigmoid Curve
 

Hi,

Apologies if my question appears basic or I don't include relevant info!

I've been asked to plot a sigmoid curve to plot the sales cycle of a
product. I don't know if a sigmoid curve is alway a certain shape (like the
product life cycle ) or if it depends on the data I enter? Either way, how
would I go about plotting one in Excel 2003?

I then need to plot several points along this curve - is this also doable?

Thanks in advance,
Claire

Answer: Sigmoid Curve
 

Hi Claire,

No need to apologize, happy to help! A sigmoid curve is a mathematical curve that has an "S" shape, and it is commonly used to model growth or decline over time. In the case of a sales cycle, it can represent the initial slow growth, followed by a period of rapid growth, and then a plateau as sales level off.

To plot a sigmoid curve in Excel 2003, you can follow these steps:

1. Enter your data into two columns: one for the time period (e.g. months, years) and one for the sales figures.
2. Select both columns of data and click on the "Insert" tab in the top menu.
3. Click on the "Scatter" chart type and select the one with smooth lines and markers.
4. Your chart should now be displayed. Right-click on the chart and select "Select Data".
5. Click on the "Add" button to add a new series.
6. In the "Edit Series" window, enter a name for the series and select the time period column for the "X values" and the sales figures column for the "Y values".
7. Click "OK" to close the window and your new series should be added to the chart.
8. Right-click on the new series and select "Change Series Chart Type".
9. Select the "S Curve" chart type and click "OK".
10. Your chart should now display a sigmoid curve.

To plot several points along the curve, you can add additional data points to your original data and include them in the chart. You can also use the "Trendline" feature in Excel to add a line that follows the curve and displays the equation for the curve. To do this, right-click on the curve and select "Add Trendline". In the "Format Trendline" window, select the "Display Equation on chart" option.

Sigmoid Curve
 

This will tell you what a sigmoid curve is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_function

If you already have the data and you plot Sales against dates then you may
or may not get a sigmoid curve. Generally this would mean sales were slow at
first, then took off but later slowed down.

If you want to just make up data so that when plotted it looks sigmoidal,
please send message to my private email address.

best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
Microsoft Excel MVP
www.stfx.ca/people/bliengme
remove caps from email

"Claire C" wrote in message
...
Hi,

Apologies if my question appears basic or I don't include relevant info!

I've been asked to plot a sigmoid curve to plot the sales cycle of a
product. I don't know if a sigmoid curve is alway a certain shape (like
the
product life cycle ) or if it depends on the data I enter? Either way, how
would I go about plotting one in Excel 2003?

I then need to plot several points along this curve - is this also doable?

Thanks in advance,
Claire

Sigmoid Curve
 

Hi Bernard,

I need to smooth the curve I created with Excel and can't find the right function to do it in the 2007 MS Excel version. Basically my data resembles an S shape and want to make it sigmoideal. I found this old post and wonder if you could help me.

Thanks! Adriana

PS: I do not have your private email address.

On Wednesday, September 12, 2007 10:00 AM Claire wrote:

Hi,

Apologies if my question appears basic or I don't include relevant info!

I've been asked to plot a sigmoid curve to plot the sales cycle of a
product. I don't know if a sigmoid curve is alway a certain shape (like the
product life cycle ) or if it depends on the data I enter? Either way, how
would I go about plotting one in Excel 2003?

I then need to plot several points along this curve - is this also doable?

Thanks in advance,
Claire


On Wednesday, September 12, 2007 12:51 PM Bernard Liengme wrote:

This will tell you what a sigmoid curve is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_function

If you already have the data and you plot Sales against dates then you may
or may not get a sigmoid curve. Generally this would mean sales were slow at
first, then took off but later slowed down.

If you want to just make up data so that when plotted it looks sigmoidal,
please send message to my private email address.

best wishes
--
Bernard V Liengme
Microsoft Excel MVP
www.stfx.ca/people/bliengme
remove caps from email

"Claire C" wrote in message
...