How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): While setting sales goals can help your company grow and your business thrives, not all goals are the same. Setting goals is simple, but choosing the right ones requires a deeper understanding.
Learn more about the various sales goals available and how to choose the one that suits your company.
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): What are your sales goals?
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): Your sales goals are the objectives you set for your team. These goals usually focus on a key performance indicator (KPI) tied to overall company goals. Your company’s internal processes will decide who sets your sales goals. This could be your executive leadership, finance, sales, or any combination thereof.
They are set by the person who sets them. The sales team’s responsibility is to make a more significant goal achievable.
Setting sales goals: Best practices.
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): Remember these things when setting sales goals:
- Think about the company’s goals: Your company’s bigger ambitions should be reflected in your sales goals. Check your mission statement to ensure your goals align with the company’s values and purpose.
- Discuss with marketing: A team approach to sales can result in a 38% increase in sales. Make sure your sales goals are aligned with the marketing department’s information.
- Use what you have. Setting sales goals is crucial. Ensure your goals are compatible with current technology, finances, and human resources.
Examples of types of sales goals
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): There are many sales goals. However, they should all be SMART goals — specific, measurable, attainable, and relevant within a time limit.
They could also be:
- Short-term and long-term
- Qualitative or quantitative
- Process-oriented or outcome-oriented
These sales goals are examples of what you can do.
Long-term vs. short-term
Long-term goals are about the bigger picture, whether for the sales team, project, or company. Short-term objectives and goals are, on the other hand. They will be the milestones that your team will reach as they work towards their long-term goals.
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): Although long-term goals can be important, it is better to break them down into smaller goals that your group can achieve more frequently and consistently. Achieving a weekly or monthly milestone can help boost confidence and productivity while also helping you reach a larger goal.
Examples of long-term and short-term sales goals
Your long-term goal could be to lower your churn rates from 5 to 2.5%. You might also set a short-term goal to spend more time requesting customer feedback.
Quantitative vs. qualitative
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): Qualitative goals can be subjective or data-based. Although focusing on numerical, data-driven goals might seem better, both can be very valuable.
You’ll likely find many examples of qualitative goals in your mission statement. These goals give direction to your company and provide a pathway to reach them.
Quantitative goals make excellent short-term objectives.
Examples of quantitative and qualitative sales goals
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): You might establish a monthly objective for your sales team that they will spend 25% more time pursuing feedback from customers as you work towards reducing your churn. To calculate how much additional time they will need, you’ll need data about how long they are currently spending on this task.
Although qualitative goals are not always comparable to direct statistics, there are still ways to measure them. Analytics for your direct traffic and social interaction can help you track changes in your brand recognition.
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): One example of a qualitative goal in sales could be to increase brand recognition and recognition so that you can drive more leads.
Outcome-oriented vs. process-oriented
Is your goal specific about what you want or how you plan to achieve it? Your long-term goals are usually outcome-oriented, while your short-term goals are process-oriented.
Before you can map your route, you must know where you are going. To ensure your business’s success, you must have both process-oriented and qualitative goals.
Examples of outcome-oriented and process-oriented sales goals
One example of an outcome-oriented sales goal is to increase sales by 32% in the new year. A process-oriented sales goal might be to increase the productivity of your sales team by 22% by next year.
How to set sales goals that are effective
It would help if you had a relevant, achievable, specific, measurable, and measurable goal to increase your chances of success.
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): These are the steps to setting sales goals that work.
- Evaluate your sales cycle
- Determine what is possible
- Establish milestone goals
- Monitor your progress
1. Assess your sales cycle
It is important to understand where you are at the moment when setting sales goals. Complex numbers are the best way to assess your current situation. Begin by collecting sales cycle data. This includes cycle length, losses, and closing ratio. You can also calculate conversion rates.
After you have your data, you can examine its meaning.
- What parts of your sales process are performing well, and what areas need improvement?
- What is your churn rate
- Where do the majority of your leads come from?
- Do you lose more leads at one stage?
You can use the information you get from your data to help create sales goals relevant to your current situation.
2. Set your sights on what is possible
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): Be realistic and attainable in your expectations. Once you have identified the areas you want to target, you must set realistic goals.
If your goal is to grow your year-over-year (YoY), you might start by looking at your company’s past growth rates. If your company has grown by 2% annually, then 22% growth may seem impossible. However, achieving 8% growth is possible.
Also, you should investigate the potential growth in your market. A growing market will be more able to sustain growth than one saturated.
Finally, ensure you have the resources necessary to achieve your goals. A sales team that can handle higher expectations is essential for growth. Having the financial resources necessary to finance any changes is also important.
3. Establish milestone goals
To keep your goals clear and measurable, set smaller objectives. These objectives should detail the steps required to improve KPIs for the larger goal.
Your sales team will experience frequent small wins that are more manageable. This will help keep them motivated and on track.
In just a few steps, you can calculate your sales goals. You can use the example of the yearly growth target above to calculate your sales objectives.
- Calculate the revenue you will need to increase your growth by 4%.
- Calculate the revenue you will need to pay for your salaries and production costs.
- Add your mandatory expenses to your projected revenue.
- Divide the remaining 12 by monthly sales goals, or four to achieve quarterly milestones.
4. Keep track of your progress
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): Keep track of your progress while you work towards your goal. You may miss opportunities for fine-tuning and improving your approach if you wait to reach your goal’s deadline.
Regular check-ins are an excellent way to assess your progress and make adjustments if necessary. Encourage your sales team members to provide feedback.
702 Pros helps you to reach your sales goals.
How to set effective sales goals (+Examples and Tips): Through measured and actionable steps, practical sales goals can help you grow your business. These goals require a deep understanding of your sales process and historical data.
702 Pros’ consulting services can assist you in sorting that information. We will evaluate your sales process, identify potential areas for improvement, and help you build your sales technology stack to ensure your sales team has the necessary tools.
