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If you don't know where you're going, it's difficult to get there. Setting goals for yourself or your B2B sales team will tighten your focus. Carefully calculated goalsetting will also clarify your strategy and increase your efficiency.
It is widely known that sales representatives' motivation rises more in response to specific goals than by simply aspiring toward superior achievement. That crucial data leads to the vital question, "How do you set sales goals, and which goals should you set?"
Let's commence your journey of discovery with the "North Star": your overarching goal toward your company's success. To construct your goals, you may coordinate with North Star objectives across your organization. Companywide ambitions may include substantially increased revenues or a higher percentage of customer acquisition.
Once you've visualized the pinnacle of the mountain, you're prepared to determine how to set the sales goals required to reach the summit.
Progress toward achieving these goals builds confidence and promotes higher morale. Defining these goals may involve working backward from the North Star. For example, if your objective is to achieve a specific yearly revenue, you'll be breaking it down into the number of closed deals required each month. Other stepwise goals include:
● Waterfall or team ramp-up goals. This type of goal applies to sales teams. Members working together begin at their current levels, but you encourage them to increase performance as they grow in experience and confidence. For example, for a team of four representatives, each member would increase revenue by $10,000 each subsequent quarter. A member's $20,000 Q1 revenue would become $50,000 by Q4, for a total growth of $160,000. The mutual support of this system decreases employee stress and prevents burnout. If one team member falls behind, the other members can assist them toward hitting the ultimate target.
● Sequenced goals. This type of goal is similar to a waterfall goal, but you apply it to individuals. A new or junior sales rep can start at a lower level and aim for higher numbers as time goes on. Meeting a series of goals provides ongoing positive feedback.
● Activity goals. These goals outline the individual tasks to reach the ultimate financial target. These may include specific numbers of cold calls, presentations, meetings, or emails per day, week, or month.
● Stretch goals. These goals apply to more experienced and top-performing sales representatives. You can present your organization's most valuable players with the challenge of seemingly unattainable goals. An example would be closing with five times the number of customers they did the previous month. This type of goal provides an incentive to shoot for the stars.
● Skill-building goals. When you or a member of your team hits a rough patch, setting a goal involving a mentor or an educational activity can vanquish the doldrums. One such goal would be attending a professional development event each month. Another would be building a relationship with a high-performing sales representative who can provide advice and guidance.
● Collective goals. While team members can offer support and encouragement, a little healthy competition can also spur sales. Team members can strive for targets such as most phone calls, meetings, client visits, or emails per day. Objectives can also encompass the highest revenue and greatest client retention.
The varying kinds of goals apply in diverse situations and to different categories of organizations. However, you must formulate goals in a way that can be unambiguously met. Goals described by the acronym SMART promote understanding and attainment.
SMART objectives must meet five criteria. SMART goals are always:
1. Specific. You don't merely instruct representatives to increase revenue or the customer base. SMART goals describe how. For example, they might include expanding sales calls to a new industry sector.
2. Measurable. A SMART goal not only demands an increase in revenue but also involves the metrics and tools to track progress, such as software.
3. Achievable. While stretch goals may provide a push to the highest achievers, you can't make SMART goals impossible. While a goal may require hard, conscientious work, a competent representative should be able to meet it.
4. Realistic. A goal shouldn't exceed the current capabilities of your company. For example, if you're new to social media, don't expect Twitter or Instagram to generate a cascade of sales. Keep the challenges of learning curves in mind.
5. Time-based. Metrics delineated by months, quarters, or years will determine if reps or teams are achieving their goals. Without an endpoint, you can't evaluate improvement or growth.
While you have data to determine if you meet a goal, you also need math to calculate how to get there. Suppose you have a goal of $100,000 per month in deals. Each deal averages $3,000. You will need a little more than 33 deals per month to make your goal.
Assume that you are really convincing at meetings and close about half of your deals. That means you need 66–67 meetings per month to make your goal. However, you have to call people to set up appointments. Again, assume that you're incredibly proficient on the phone and half of your call recipients take a meeting. You've made at least 138 calls to prospects. That you've completed that verbal marathon implies that you've previously done the qualifying research to fill your sales funnel with 138 potential dealmakers. How do you access the resources to accomplish that feat?
You need two types of resources to set and meet your sales goals successfully. Generating sales prospects requires executives' names, email addresses, and the positions of decision-makers empowered to set up meetings and authorize purchases. To monitor sales goals, you'll want to collaborate with sales teams, share notes and information, and generate intelligent reliable reports. IndustrySelect can help you meet the requirements for both objectives. Try a free demo to find out how.
Article Sources:
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/b2b-sales-process
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/important-sales-goals-strategies
https://www.dominican.edu/sites/default/files/2020-02/gailmatthews-harvard-goals-researchsummary.pdf
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2022/04/15/how-to-align-marketing-and-sales-goals-for-success/?sh=42b4e8a56c39
https://www.industryselect.com
https://www.industryselect.com/register/
https://360adsales.com/learn-your-sales-math-or-else-video/
https://www.highspot.com/blog/sales-goals/