Target in sight. Ready, Aim, Fire!

One always hopes that when considering how much time, skills, concentration and preparation that goes into hitting that perfect shot that as a result, they will manage to hit their goal right on target.

But let us look at this from a sales perspective…

Firstly, what exactly is a sales targeting? It is a specified amount of sales that a management sets for achieving or exceeding within a specified timeframe. Sales targets are apportioned among different sales units such as salespersons, franchisees, distributors, agents, etc.

The question you need to ask yourself is: Are you on track with your sales targets?

If your answer is “Yes”, then you need to remember to stay focused and keep moving forward. Identify what elements you have been achieving effectively and the ones that you may underperformed in. Refine those strong elements and try and improve on the weaker ones. You need to do so, by researching where your success has been evident, so you can grow form there.

If your answer was “No”, this is a great opportunity to review your marketing strategy and to get back on track. Compile a list of all your current marketing strategies and examine which ones have been performing well or poorly for you. STOP using the same types of marketing as others around you, just because it may seem to be the simpler way out. You need to find the right marketing strategy that suits your business, based on what your sales targets are and what you aim on achieving.

Here are a few simple methods to identity what your sales targets should be (Weekly or Monthly):

• List your turnover / revenue targets for the next 12 months.

• Now, list how many “average” sales you would need to make over the next 12 months, in order to achieve the above figures.

• To get an approximate idea what your “average” sale value is, list (for example) the value of your last 20 sales, and then divide that number by 20.

• Now, divide the number you wrote down in step 2, by 12. This will give you a monthly sales target.

• If you want to work on weekly targets, (this suits some business types better than others), simply divide the annual number of sales by 52.

Effective targeting and sales quotas go hand-in-hand, so what are sales quotas?

Sales quotas are among the most important tools available for motivating and directing the sales force. Sales quotas communicate a firm’s goals and set the bar in terms of performance expectations for salespeople. Just like sales targets, sales quotas should be allocated across territories and accounts in proportion to where the opportunity exists and where the business is likely to come from.

Setting sales quotas for staff, works in two different ways.

• First, your employees will have a set goal that they have to meet and that works as a powerful motivator.

• OR two, you can better weed out salespeople who may not be as talented or able to meet their quotas on time, because if you are not meeting your quotas, you are not making money.

Five steps to help you set quotas in the sales force:

• Step 1 - Work with your sales team to develop quotas. Your sales staff has a good idea of what the market will bear and what they are able to produce.

• Step 2 - Consider how much you would like your business to grow. One good rule of thumb in setting sales quotas is to take last year's sales numbers and add 10 percent.

• Step 3 - Add up how much revenue you expect your sales team to bring in. When you know how many sales you need to make a profit, this can help you develop a quota.

• Step 4 - Stair-step quotas. You may have sales people who are incredibly talented and can handle larger quotas. On the same token, you may have new sales people that have not quite found their stride yet. Assign larger quotas to team members who are capable of meeting those goals and set lower quotas for newer sales people.

• Step 5 - Pay attention to market conditions. If your local economy is going through a depression or recession, you need to pay attention to this information.

The distance between you and successfully hitting that target is now that much more achievable. Prepare yourself, make adjustments to your aim; pay careful attention and you are sure to succeed.