Most sales targets focus purely on results: "Win £100,000 of business this month."
But without a clear plan to get there, these targets do more harm than good. They feel unachievable, leading to frustration rather than motivation.
There’s a better way to set targets.
Instead of just setting a number, break it down into 3 key elements:
Results – The ultimate goal (e.g. £100K in new business)
Objectives – The key milestones that lead to that goal (e.g., how many meetings need to be booked to achieve this?)
Activities – The daily, controllable actions that drive progress towards your objectives (e.g. how many calls, emails, or LinkedIn messages are required to book those meetings?)
How this helps:
Sales teams can control their activities, whilst they can only influence objectives and results.
Managers can provide specific coaching on execution to help those calls to be high quality interactions, not just number-hitting exercises.
Everyone knows what to do with clear steps creating a path to success, making goals more achievable.
By shifting focus from results-driven targets to activity-driven targets, sales teams stay motivated, improve performance and - ironically - hit their results more consistently.
Want better sales outcomes? Start by setting targets your team can actually control.
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