We have, in this blog, spoken many times about the value and necessity of sales goals. It is essential to not only have something to strive towards, but also to set out goals that can form a baseline for future performance; without having such goals in place, progress can easily stall, and improvements can be difficult to ascertain.

However, while sales goals should be an integral part of every business with ambitions of growth, there is little to be gained from setting goals that are wildly optimistic or simply unattainable. So, with that in mind, here is a quick guide on how to set sales goals that are realistic.

1. Consider what your company needs to succeed

Every organisation has its own targets and growth ambitions, and it is absolutely vital that these are taken into account when setting sales goals, as you need to ensure they are specifically tailored for your operation. By doing this, you will also be able to ascertain whether or not your current team has to capacity to attain the sales figures you desire, meaning you can be made more aware of whether you need to start hiring additional staff, alter your ambitions, or whether you’re already well placed to succeed.

2. Utilise the correct measurements

You need to consider more than simply how much money each salesperson is bringing in (though, of course, it is vital to keep this in mind always). You also have to look at progress – whether sales performance improves over time – and sales awareness – whether the individual is able to ascertain whether or not a lead is worth pursuing. By doing this, you will be able to set targets for specific employees, and also provide them with necessary training if required.

3. Consider time

A key issue that afflicts many companies is that they vastly overestimate the amount of time that employees will be able to spend working on hitting sales targets. It can be very easy not to consider sick days, weekends, and holidays, as well as how much time will be taken up each workday by attending to emails, partaking in internal meetings, and conversations – work-related or otherwise – with colleagues. Try to figure out – as best you can – the average length of time it takes to convert a lead, and make this one of the core factors in your goal setting.