Sales Goals and Action Plans

At this time of year you may have reflected on what you did last year, and what you really want from the year to come.

You have perhaps thought about some actions and goals you want to achieve and how your sales job, or own business can help you to achieve those goals.

This could be for yourself, your sales team, or your business and employees.

Many people focus on what they want to get away from rather than what they really want.

I know for some people that will include becoming very successful in your sales role so that you can get away from it and do something else that makes use of your skills and experience. A promotion, a change of job, starting your own business, or just getting away from the daily routine of your current job.

You will have given 2011 some thought already

You will have already given 2011, and what you want from it, a little of your time over the holidays, or maybe a lot of thought.

Some of us have written down goals and actions that clearly state the specifics of what we want from the next 12 months.

Others will have thought about it and have some general wishes for the lifestyle we want. This could be a few internal pictures that pop up when you think about another year of working. It could be a few lines of self talk that say, ‘I want....’ or , ‘I want to get away from...’

Whether you are a fully committed goal setter, or a bit of a dreamer, there is one simple way to help you achieve what you want...

The biggest mistake when setting goals

The most common mistake that sales people make when setting goals and making action plans is to set massive objectives.

In no other part of our lives would we set ourselves goals that require such huge changes to our actions.

Think about it, many people set New Year resolutions such as: getting fit, going to the gym, losing a few pounds.

They don’t set goals of: running a marathon in a week’s time, doing 3 hour work outs everyday, or losing 100lb in the first month of dieting.

In all other parts of our life we set achievable goals that usually follow stepped increases in our actions. We start slowly and build on our successes. We know it is unrealistic to expect to buy a pair of running shoes today and run our first marathon in a couple of weeks.

Aim high but be realistic

It’s good to aim high but if your goals are not achievable you will soon get tired of taking actions.

The key to achieving goals and successfully completing sales action plans is:

We thrive on positive feedback, and we fail and stop trying when we get too much negative feedback. Instead of setting yourself one huge goal that is really difficult to achieve, break it down into smaller steps that will give you positive feedback on a regular basis.

Give yourself small actions to complete in short timescales to achieve your goals. If you want to increase your commission payments by 50% it probably isn’t possible to do it in the first month of the New Year.

Are you really going to increase all your sales activity by 50% in the first month?

That would mean 50% more prospects contacted.

50% more sales appointments completed.

50% increases in sales pitches made.

A massive increase that is more likely to give you negative feedback than positive results that you can build on.

So set yourself small objectives of 10% increases each month. A 10% increase in sales activity is probably achievable.

Give yourself feedback each week and each month and assess the changes you have made. When you achieve your 10% increase in commission payments give yourself positive feedback and a reward. Then set the next increase of 10% for the following month.

The simple way to achieve your goals

Set yourself small, achievable goals that you can achieve with an achievable increase on your current actions.

Plan actions with quick time scales and assess the results regularly.

Give yourself feedback at short regular intervals.

Be positive about what you achieve and give yourself regular small rewards for your successes.