How to Set Sales Goals for your Team

There are many ways to motivate your team as a sales manager. From bonuses to non-monetary rewards that help keep staff feeling fresh and invigorated, it's essential to put motivational tactics at the top of your to-do list. However, few things can be quite as motivational as setting some aspirational sales targets. 

 Setting targets ensures your team is working towards achieving business goals and inspires them to push themselves to achieve those benchmarks of success. This example is more significant at the start of the new financial year when sales teams need to know how they can succeed in the 12 months ahead.

 Effectively creating sales goals will:

• Motivate and inspire your salespeople
• Benchmark individual and team performance
• Push company growth

This article explores how to set sales targets for your sales team and the value of getting them right.

What are Sales Goals?

Before you start setting sales targets for the salespeople within your team, you must first understand what a sales goal is. Sales goals are set targets to give the individuals in your team something to work towards to help enhance their performance and that of the business. Additionally, sales goals keep your salespeople on track and help support various internal and external strategies.

Setting goals and sales targets require significant consideration to ensure your team is motivated and willing to work towards them. In addition, the sales goals need to benefit you and your salespeople's progression while aligning with your business objectives.

Set Sales Targets That Work For You

Every organisation has its own unique goals, whether that's related to revenue, clients or other measurable factors. Setting goals isn't as easy as asking your salespeople to "just sell more". It would be best if you had a strategy behind your sales targets, making them well-defined and specific to your company to help your business grow. 

For most companies, the executive board sets separate company-wide goals. These targets will affect how you choose what sales goals to set. Sometimes, this may require defining a higher base target for your team than initially intended or tighter deadlines. If so, employees may need additional motivation and mentorship, which could require further training to develop their skills. 

Ultimately, the sales targets you set must relate to the salesperson, sales team and business goals and objectives. Here are some sales goals to consider as a base, but as mentioned, ensure they are specific and aligned to the overall business objectives.

• Increase Client/Customer Retention
• Win and close more deals 
• Upsell your products or services
• Improve sales revenue
• Increase deal sizes
• Chase more prospects
• Increase your customer lifetime value

Consider Team vs Individual Sales Goals

When it comes to setting sales goals, it helps to separate team versus individual targets. 

 Individual employees work differently, bringing diverse skills to your team. For example, a sales manager will perform at a higher level than a junior team member simply because of their greater experience, so their targets will differ. Treat your salespeople fairly by setting individual sales goals based on their level and skills. Of course, how you decide to set your sales goals depends entirely on what's best for your company and the skills of your sales team.

 When it comes to setting sales goals for your whole team, you should take into consideration the broader business goals and objectives. In addition, board-level members may have expectations for your sales team, so as a sales manager or leader, you may want to liaise with the board and strategise a plan for setting your sales team goals.   

 As the UK's largest sales assessment and training provider, we have a wealth of knowledge and resources. For over 25 years, we have provided bespoke sales training to industry leaders, helping them develop their teams from good to great.

Define Realistic Sales Targets

You should always set achievable sales goals that are realistic for your salespeople to hit. As a sales manager, you should aim to set challenging sales goals without making them too easy or hard for your salespeople or sales team to achieve.

To understand how to set realistic sales goals for your employees, start by reviewing the individual and team's performance from previous quarters. This stance will give you valuable insights into what is achievable and the heights you want your team to reach. Then, as sales improve and your team further develops their skills, you can raise your targets to ensure there's always a new challenge for your salespeople to work towards.

Offer Incentives to Your Sales Team

It would help if you introduced incentives to ensure your sales team are motivated to contribute to your sales goals. These incentives can be monetary or non-monetary and aimed at individual salespeople or your whole sales team. Once a salesperson or your sales team hits their sales target, you can reward them. Not only is this great for building motivation and team morale, but it will also increase your staff retention.

Here are some incentives you could include as part of your sales goals.

Review Your Sales Goals

Like any business process, you have to evolve to progress. This approach should be no different when it comes to your sales goals. It would be best if you always looked for ways to improve or adjust your sales targets to get more out of your salespeople and help them realise their potential.

You may consider gradually decreasing or increasing the difficulties of your sales goals to support your salespeople, sales team and the wider business. When doing so, get the opinions of internal stakeholders. Ultimately, if they're not on board with your sales goals, you can't expect them to want to achieve them. Additionally, this will make your sales team feel valued and give them more incentive to want to reach the sales targets. 

Need More Help?

Now that you know how to set sales goals for your team, discover more about our offering. At Pareto, we understand the importance of sales goals for inspiring your team. We also know that you need the right people to hit your targets. So to find the best sales talent with expert sales recruitment honed with over 25 years of experience, get in touch and realise your potential today.