Only 1 in 250 Hit Sales Target

According to Harvard Business Review, only 1 in 250 salespeople hit their target.

Think about that. Something is seriously wrong if targets are designed to stop salespeople from hitting their target.

Many CEO's and Business Owners are really not happy with their sales teams, blaming them for not hitting their targets.

However, if you look under the covers, it can often be clear why - Lack of leads, targets too high, and annual growth plans out of kilter with the previous year. This is just scratching the surface.

Have you done a 'Sales Target Reality Check'?

On a serious note, look internally at your business plan, sales strategy and marketing strategy, to see if they all align and targets are realistic and achievable. Do you need to increase leads, drop targets, invest in your sales teams, find the missing or broken pieces and fix them.

On the flip side, sales professionals also need to take accountability for hitting their sales target, and if they are not able to, then they need to point out why and get support. Most sales professionals will just look at the number of leads coming in, but they also need to consider other factors like:

• Qualification - is it too soft or too hard, therefore impacting qualified lead levels

• Win rates - what is their win rate? Can it be improved?

• How lead volumes shift month by month

• Deal sizes and how they are specific to their territory

• Average sales cycle duration (if your sales cycle is three months and you get a lead in December, with end of year being 31st December, then good luck closing it that year!).

The bottom line is that it’s up to both the company and the salesperson you to make sure you’re doing everything possible to hit, or ideally overachieve, your target.

Salespuzzle.co.uk