Setting goals is the first step to making the invisible into the visible…Tony Robbins.
A familiar problem salespeople are faced with is achieving sales goals which seem, many times, insurmountable. (Believe me, I have been there!) So salespeople just “start their engines” to try to meet that elusive Goal at the end of the year, many times falling short. How disappointing and defeating that is.
Worse yet, companies you work with may not even set sales goals, and at the end of the year, you’ve not done even what YOU wanted to.
That’s because, in my experience, we have so much to juggle that we fail to take time to monitor what we are doing and many times just fall so far behind that catching up is impossible. We say, “Oh bad month” I’ll have to catch up. Or we may rely on the “one big order” to meet our Goal. That’s not the way to have consistent sales every year; that’s relying on hope…and that’s certainly not a strategy.
So what can we do, as salespeople, to really stay motivated and not feel so overwhelmed? If your companies do no break down goals (or even if they do), set them yourself. Become your own sales manager. (even if you have one or many)That way, you will not fall so far behind. If you do not meet your monthly goals, you should reassess and tweak what you are doing, not continue to do the same thing. If you do, the results will be precisely the same.
As a former regional sales manager, that’s exactly what I did with my sales staff, and it helped to increase productivity and sales dramatically. I ended up with motivated and happy salespeople making more money!
Some managers will do this, but many are so busy running the day-to-day operations they just can’t find the time. So, if that is the case in your business, or if you are an independent representative, you have to “take the bull by the horn” and set your own goals.
After all, if you do not have a solid road map to where you are going and a strategy of how to get there, it will not only waste more time, but you may not get there at all.
So here’s how I would suggest doing this…pretty easy (and I do this for my own business, and it’s how I train salespeople)
- Break your goals into monthly and even weekly numbers. You need to know accurately what you need to do..face the facts. And if you’re not achieving them,. you need to ask WHY and tweak your efforts. (that’s a crucial part!)
- Work backward. Once you have set your goals to break down how much that will take in product sales. This is one of the easiest things to do and so motivating because you’ll be able to see how achievable your goals really are. So this is how it’s done:
Yearly Goal for a line: $75,000.00 Monthly Goal for that line: $6.250.00 Weekly Goal for that line: $1,562.25
Now add up how much you REALLY have to sell you achieve that Goal. Doesn’t that seem better than that big yearly Goal? Maybe you have to only sell one piece of furniture, one carpet, 15 yards of fabric.
Of course, great salespeople don’t stop there -but it’s certainly a start for those who have a tough time achieving goals.
- Choose clients that are most viable for helping you in achieving your Goal FOR THAT LINE! Why call on 100 clients to show this line if only 20 (80/20 rule) will really be viable! I call these fans. Many salespeople fail to do this, which is why they often feel swamped. When you’re spinning in a hamster wheel, your brain is overloaded or, in modern terms, no bandwidth.
- Now monitor those goals and see if you’re on target. This is the ONLY way you will not fall far behind and have to play catch up. If you don’t take time to do this and, when necessary, reassess what you are doing and improve, you will not be able to have consistent sales. Never a good idea to chalk it up to a bad month. (Unfortunately, I hear that way too much)
When I was in sales, I have to admit I didn’t do this. And you know what? Many times I did fall short of yearly goals. Now I wish I would have. I was successful but could have been even MORE successful if I had done this. When I learned, as a manager, to do this…it produced radical results!
According to research, the number one reason salespeople quit or are let go is lack of sales training.
If you would like to hire me to speak about increasing sales at your next sales meeting, please email me or call. deborah@dialogue-consulting 773-281-9448.
#designedtowin #sellbydesign
