The Benefits of Setting Sales Goals with Your Team

Every year managers set yearly sales goals and commitments for themselves and for their sales team. These goals are perceived quite differently when they are foist on team members versus developed in collaboration with them. Developing sales goals through a true mutual collaboration with sales team members can create a team environment that has everyone rowing in the right direction.

“These goals are perceived quite differently when they are forced on team members versus developed in collaboration with them.” 

Sure, you may have set the sales goals with your sales team, and you may have even discussed strategy with them. You may have gone as far as having your salespeople submit a business plan to support this. While these are healthy practices for management and for their salespeople, these efforts do not encapsulate the full composition needed to ensure success throughout the year. To facilitate this, here are some guidelines:

• Announce the Process. Communicate to the sales team that the company will be running a process to establish sales goals with the participation of the team.
• Schedule at least a one-hour meeting. This is a conversation too important for anyone to rush through. After all, planning for the race always takes longer than the race itself.
• Set the Expectations and Objectives of Your Meeting. For example, “I want you to achieve a level of success this year that’s going to make you feel great and provide you with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction that you really want in your career. That’s why I want to use our time today to discuss your goals, how I can support you around achieving them and how together, we can develop the best strategy for you that’s going to drive the results you want.”
• Address the Issues. When discussing your sales goals with your salespeople, did you address the following topics
  • Their level of buy in around their goal.
  • Their level of confidence around attaining their goal.
  • The potential roadblocks that can sabotage their efforts and prevent them from reaching their goals.
  • The role they want you, as their manager, to play in supporting them.
  • How they want to be managed around their goals.
  • How they want to be held accountable around reaching their goals and how they want you to approach them if they drop the ball.
  • The structure they need to put in place regarding how they will manage their daily activity that will move them towards attaining their goals.

This creates buy in, while ensuring your salespeople to buy into being coached and supported by you. You will notice that these questions will address the gaps I mentioned that often go overlooked until it’s too late. And you know it’s too late when managers find themselves in the reactionary position; spending their time managing problems and putting out fires rather than managing goals and coaching their salespeople on achieving them.

• Discuss the goals that have been set. Ask questions such as:
  • How do you feel about your goals?
  • How did you come up with that goal? (If they did so vs. having a sanctioned quota)
  • How confident are you about achieving this goal?
  • Why? What’s making you feel that way?
  • What would it mean to you if you achieved these goals? (Personally/professionally)
• Ask Them to Create 30, 60 and 90 Day Plans. 30, 60 and 90 day milestones and mini-goals are critical to maintain your sales team’s focus and motivation throughout the entire year. A year end goal is a long way off. So, celebrate wins along the way and use these milestones as an opportunity to adjust or modify their strategy if necessary.
• See How They Want to Be Managed. Tap into each person’s individuality by uncovering what motivates each person. Management needs to support their people without having to do their job for them or be the chief problem solver. But remember, if you don’t know what drives each one of your producers to get out of bed every day, it will be very difficult to motivate and coach them. Facilitate the motivation conversation using the following questions:
  • What do you want to/need to achieve in the short term/long-term that will support your goals?
  • How can I best manage and support you to achieve these goals?
  • How do you like to be rewarded/acknowledged for a job well done?
  • How will we measure your success and progress along the way?
  • What might sabotage your efforts to achieve these goals?
  • What structure do you need to put into place in order to make sure you’re engaging in the right activities each day that support your goals?
  • How can I hold you accountable around your goals in a way that will sound supportive rather than negative?
  • How do you want me to approach you if you don’t follow through with the commitments you make?
• Debrief.Now it’s time to take their pulse and gauge their reaction and feelings around your conversation.
  • How are you feeling about our conversation? What’s standing out most for you?
  • What concerns, if any, do you have any moving forward?
  • What are the action steps you’ll be taking based on our conversation today? When will you have that completed by?
  • Lets go ahead and schedule our next meeting. What are you willing to commit to having completed by then?
  • I’m looking forward to working with you so that you can achieve your goals this year!

After effectively facilitating this conversation, you and your team will have a greater sense of comfort, confidence and a stronger focus regarding what they need to do to achieve their goals and what you can do to support them that will create a successful year for your company, your team and yourself.