BY Jessica Helinski
How do you achieve your sales targets? After all, without clear sales targets, how far can a sales rep expect to get in their career? Not that far. “Salespeople who live by goals know where they're headed [and] commit to a goals routine,” writes RAIN Group President John Doerr. In his article, he acknowledges that while it is not important to have your entire career path planned out, sales reps do need to set targets for themselves and achieve sales goals. And, these targets can be as simple as an annual sales-number goal. What’s important is choosing a sales goal and creating and committing to a plan of action.
How do You Achieve Your Sales Targets?
Doerr goes on to share a six-step strategy to answer the question of how do you achieve your sales targets. Below are the first three steps:
- The first action to take is to review your sales goal every morning. Yes, every single morning. Then, you need to scan your plans for the rest of the day and see how they relate to your sales goal. For example, if you plan to sell a specific dollar amount of your product, think about your success rate. If one out of every 10 calls generates a sale and you need 10 sales to reach your number, you must make 100 calls in order to achieve your sales target. Once the day is over, review what you did to get closer to that sales goal.
- Every Friday or Saturday, review the entire week. Go over what went well, what didn’t, and what you should change for the following week. Have you determined that your prospects tend to answer the phone more frequently in the morning? If so, ask how you can achieve your sales target. The answer may be as simple as make more calls in the morning than in the afternoon.
- Once a week (and this can take place during your weekly review), meet with your goals partner. “Your goals partner can be a peer, a mentor, a coach, or a friend, but it needs to be someone you explicitly work with each week to make sure you're on top of your goals, staying committed, and pushing yourself,” Doerr explains. And when you meet, don’t just discuss the week’s successes; make sure to mention any challenges you encountered.
- If your review reveals you are consistently falling short of your goals, consider changing the way you approach prospects. Our research indicates that over 50% of SMBs want to work with a rep who provides relevant ideas to their business.
After reading all of the tips, consider implementing Doerr’s strategy to see how it impacts your sales. Even if you have a current strategy, ask yourself if any of his six steps can be solutions for you on how to achieve your sales targets. And don't get discouraged if you don't always meet your daily or weekly targets. Keep track of your progress and spend more time on what works. How do you achieve your sales targets or achieve sales goals? Remember that you are in a marathon, not a sprint.