The year 2020’s first quarter has been tough for companies and industries. The holidays are past us, winter is about to come to an end, and the global COVID-19 virus has forced many companies into surviving mode.
Personally, I think, this has been the roughest time for companies and industries in 20 years. Through ruff times it’s more than important to make sure that your business will be on the wave. For setting small goals, it’s easier to reach the main sales goals.
How to stay focused on your goals, even when the circumstances are changing dramatically?
Without goals, you are lost.
I’m a shiny social girl, meaning I easily get distracted. It’s fun to try new things and test stuff out but without writing down goals, it’s way too easy to get off course. Your goals are the guiding light that shows you where you’re going and what you need to do to get there. For example, if you know your equation, you know you might need to make a minimum of 50 dials a day to hit the number you want to hit.
Another example would be attending conferences. It’s easy to go to a conference and feel like it was productive but come home with nothing tangible. But if you set goals like getting a minimum of 10 leads that turn into 3 to follow up meetings with prospective clients, then you have something to focus on and measure yourself against.
Goals give you something other than just quota to work towards.
The quota is the main measurement of a sales rep’s success, but it shouldn’t be the only measurement. If we only focus on quotas then when we miss it, we feel like a complete failure without anything to fall back on. Setting additional goals helps us have something to fall back on and feel good about.
Write down daily, weekly and monthly goals to hold yourself as accountable. The goals will get simpler, the less time you have to accomplish it.
Goals give you something tangible to work towards. In my case, I want to travel a lot so this means traveling more and at the same time keeping the results and revenue in balance.
If you know what you’re working towards, it’s much more motivating and rewarding than just hitting the minimum standards without any specific bigger picture in mind.
Goals will motivate in your bad days.
Without knowing where you’re going you won’t know how to get there. Sales can be a brutal grind and it can feel like there is no end in sight. Many reps start their careers in sales and focus on the short term without thinking of the bigger picture.
Actually, the question:’’Where do you see yourself in five years?’’ is quite important. I don’t mean this in terms of the company you are working for, I mean where do you want to be in your life in 5 years and what kind of lifestyle do you want to be living? Once you have a vision and goals of what kind of life you want to live then you can determine what kind of money you need to be able to live that life and then what kind of job will allow you to make the money to live that life.
Goals let you control your momentum.
Sales are about momentum. When things are going well, they seem to keep going well. You close that deal than the other prospect you were trying hard to connect with finally responds to your e-mail, you hit every green light driving into work, you get the “free beverage” alert on your Dunkin Donuts app.
Unfortunately, it’s also the same thing with negative momentum. You lose that deal, the prospect responds with ‘take me off your list,’ you hit every red light and your Dunkin app doesn’t work. When the negative momentum hits goals can help you get back on the right track. When the bad vibes are trying to take you over, you need to have the mindset for taking you back to the right track. Setting short-term, attainable goals allow you to have small wins that start to build in a positive direction.
In conclusion
Sales are about living in the present time. Most of the time, the sales managers are giving one goal for the whole sales team and it’s your business to set your own, personal goals to reach the team goal. The goals are the ones that are keeping you on track in a bad time. Sometimes every one of us has bad moments in our life.
With your own personal goals, it’s easier to plan your personal, free time. It’s easier to reach the smaller, short-distance goals when you have some plan, how to be the person you want to become and how to achieve the things you want to achieve.