Most employers would agree that setting goals and working to achieve important targets are necessary for employees to build skills and take their game to the next level. What I find is that too often, salespeople are excluded from annual and ongoing goal-setting exercises.
I’ve heard it many times, "Salespeople don’t need goals, because they have quotas." Are salespeople not employees looking to grow and develop their skills as well?
Quotas are not goals, and neither are the quantitative expectations like two appointments per day or 10 cold calls per day that are so popular with sales leaders.
Quotas are merely production expectations that are meant to motivate salespeople and give organizations a method to pay for performance. Likewise, quantitative expectations are merely the guidelines that a company thinks a salesperson must accomplish in order to attain the quota.
Goals, on the other hand, are tactical methods for becoming proficient at one’s job.
These methods help an employee develop skills that can propel that employee to a higher level of performance. In order for goals to be effective, goals need to be tactical in nature. Tactical goals are the measurable tasks, training, and responsibilities necessary to support employee growth.
Here are a couple of ideas I’ve used for salespeople:
(1) You have a salesperson that is struggling to keep enough activity in the hopper to make his or her quota every month, and the company’s philosophy of demanding 10 cold calls per day and two new appointments per day is just not working.
Solution: You have found that this particular sales rep has an interest in becoming a more effective networker and is a natural at developing relationships. So let’s capitalize on the interests and strengths of that individual and try something more creative. As you work together to brainstorm ideas, maybe one idea is to set a goal to read a great networking book, (I have a couple favorites that I recommend), attend a seminar on networking or talk to another person that is a successful networker and find out their secrets. From there, have the rep identify two or three new ways to try networking to more effectively build better relationships that lead to increased sales activity.
The trick to great goals is finding a way to make them measurable. Therefore, try tracking the progress on those two or three new ideas that will lead to improved sales skills and better sales results. Not only are you helping to expand the skill set of that individual, but you are increasing the motivation of that person because it’s a goal that they have an interest in and are excited about. Working collaboratively together to brainstorm and come up with goals together allows that salesperson to take ownership of the goals they find interesting and challenging. You have now just increased their loyalty and commitment to the company through this process as well.
(2) You have a salesperson who is looking to become a sales manager, but he or she lacks the experience and leadership skills necessary to take that step. As a manager, you have told that sales rep to just concentrate on making their quota, since that’s the job they have today. Six months later, that person resigns to accept a sales manager position at your competitor’s company.
Solution: Had you taken the time to set goals around performance and leadership skill building, you might just have a newly refreshed and motivated sales rep who sees the importance of making the numbers, but also sees the company’s dedication to developing leadership skills to a desirable career path within your company. Collaborate with your rep to come up with a couple of goals. Create one goal that supports success as a sales rep in order to make the numbers, and create another goal that supports learning and leadership development. Why not work with that person to identify one or two committees inside the company or at the chamber of commerce they belong to where they can volunteer to step into a leadership role in a committee that they find interesting for the next year? Hold them accountable for some level of responsibility and learning while taking on that assignment. Maybe you have them write a final paper on what they were responsible for, what they learned and how they can apply it somewhere in their present job.
In summary, to be truly effective and motivating, strive to develop tactical goals that are unique and meaningful to that individual and support the aspirations and interests of that person. Goal setting is meant to be a personal and collaborative effort between the manager/coach and the employee. In order to buy into and effectively achieve goals, the employee must be involved in the process of coming up with these goals. If the company or manager tries to assign goals and force attainment, I don’t need a crystal ball to tell you what will happen.
It really doesn’t matter what the career path ultimately is. All employees are looking to grow and develop their skills for the 21st century workplace, including salespeople!
Shari Saeger is the owner of Classic Corporate Coaching LLC, a coaching, training and consulting firm, specializing in employee and team development, located in Menomonee Falls. She can be reached at (262) 957-7838 or via e-mail at shari@classiccorporatecoaching.com. For additional information, visit www.classiccorporatecoaching.com.
