If you are slowing down or stagnated in your sales, you likely don’t have goals. Yes, yes, I know. You’ve heard about the importance of goal setting a million times before. But are you doing it? That you are hearing it for the nth time does not make it tired, it makes it true. If you do not have goals to aim for in selling you will falter. And yes, the beginning of a new year is perfect for setting goals. Besides setting selfish goals, here’s 3 ways how to set and hit your sales goals. They are informed by the sales cycle (which you are also hearing about for the millionth time, too, eh?)
Continue doing what you are doing well
“I’m very good at presenting but poor closing.” Good. So long as this is not wishful thinking but is informed by historical data or continual feedback from customers and colleagues aside. Now, because you are good at it, increase the targets. Or set them if you hadn’t already; after all you will hit them easily. This is a stress-free way to set and hit your sales goals. If you are in B2B selling doing a presentation a day, make them two. This alone will radically improve your sales fortunes. The more prospects (potential buyers) you present to, the higher the chances of closing. After all, selling is a game of numbers.
Likewise, if your strength is in prospecting (seeking out potential buyers), then double down on this. How? Increase your avenues of seeking out prospects. If before you were getting 10 prospects daily from referrals and cold calls, get 21stC customer relevant and add digital marketing too, and set targets for sales leads from this approach too. Incidentally, if prospecting is your strength, congratulations! Your sales funnel will never run dry and you will be focusing on the most important step in the sales cycle: prospecting.
Start addressing what you are struggling with to set and hot your sales goals
“I’m very good at presenting but poor closing.” Good. You acknowledge where you’re lacking confidence. Now, identify and shadow a good closer in your team. Learn from, or pair up with him. And try, and try again t emulate him. Practice in low-risk situations until you’re comfortable. Given your strength you know that, presentations don’t make the sale, closes do. So, in addition to targets you set for presentations, set targets for closes too.
Work with a closing ratio of 1 to 10 to start with. A formula is a measurable way to set and aim to hit sales goals. So, with that ratio, for every 10 presentations made you aim to hit one close. Which means that if your targets for B2B sales presentations are say, 2 a day (40 a month), then your closing monthly targets become 4. Incidentally, very few B2B sales people do these kind of numbers. Sadly, even many B2C sales people who should be aiming for 8 presentations a day don’t do so in a month! So, if you work on 40 presentations and 4 closes a month, you will be so ahead of the pack, your colleagues will just eat your dust. And if winning against others or yourself moves you, right there, you have a winning formula to set and hit sales goals.
Stop doing what is not working to set and hit your sales goals
Perhaps stopping what isn’t working is the most difficult step in setting and hitting your sales goals. It is the biggest shift from your comfort zone. And because you know you are not insane, stop doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. For example, stop repeatedly saying, “I know he’ll buy. He’s just not ready. Let me write him a letter and post it.” (now, that email, in person, telephone and 23 other interactions in 2022 didn’t yield fruit).
OK, I’ve stretched it but you catch the drift. If this is you, stop; just stop flogging a dead horse; disqualify sales leads instead. If you need help doing so (stopping a debilitating habit) ask for it. Your sales manager, colleague, mentor or wife can help you. Some bad sales habits can be junkie addictive and require intervention, so ask for help if you are struggling to wean yourself from them.
Do sales goals really work?
Goals work if you do. Even in football. Setting and hitting sales goals works if you do. So. Get cracking. When you have identified all the foregoing, make them your focus of discussion with your sales manager in your one on one meetings; also, write them down take a snapshot and make it your smart phone wall paper and screen lock image. You need them constantly in your face to action them. Otherwise you’ll default to ‘factory settings’.
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