As history has shown with some companies that have failed, most sales goal strategies were unrealistic and based upon impulsive thoughts or unrealistic hopes. A good company knows itself and its limitations. As companies prepare for a changing world, companies must understand and include as many data points as possible in their decision-making processes. This review will drive educated planning and decision-making sessions.
Understand the Market Research
Companies need to understand the marketplace for the products they are trying to sell. Competition is healthy to push a company to seek continuous improvement and reach new levels. History teaches many lessons, and each company learns from the past to understand the future. Sales metrics will tell the good and bad stories that companies should listen to for decision-making. Unfortunately, many companies don’t listen to the warning signs and only look at the positives.
Every critical business and sales goal decision ties to analytical data that will help predict future results. Market research will show competitor performance in the same product base and what areas are not working for the industry. Understanding this market research data will allow companies to not make the same mistakes other organizations make targeting sales markets. The data will also help the company learn more about itself and make necessary changes.
Understand the Organizational Strategy
All business goals tie to the overall organizational strategy, yet many senior business people are not familiar with the corporate strategy within their own companies. Siloed organizations develop when departments do something different to fit their individual needs and do not support the overall company.
Sales and marketing teams have hard times setting and reaching goals when the playing field for the company is constantly changing. When marketing, production, and sales are in step daily, it is easier for a company to understand what works and what doesn’t work. Having this analytical data in real-time allows the organization to change strategic and tactical decisions to meet the new expectations.
Understand the Target Customers
Like organizational strategy, every member of an organization should know who the target customers are for sales revenue. Many companies spread thin across multiple customers trying to make one-time sales instead of growing partnerships and planting seeds for long-term sales relationships. When a company builds strong relationships, they can plan their sales goals to include the repeat business, and the revenue streams become more reliable.
One of the most critical pieces of data is the customer retention percentage. If customers are constantly turning over, sales focus on replacement clients instead of managing an existing group. The advantage of building a strong and established client base is the possibility of upselling new product lines into this group of customers. Companies that can grow an existing customer base with new product advancements will thrive during economic downturns.
Understand the Company Sales Personnel
Setting a sales goal needs to consider the sales team’s ability to close the deal. There is a balance between finding the right mix for sales goals and personnel. If a company sets sales goals based solely on personnel capabilities, it excludes the critical evaluation of company strategy and product quality. If a company develops a high sales goal tied to market research, they need to be prepared to have turnover at the sales team level and possibly pay a higher rate to recruit and drive the sales expectations.
Today’s changing economic world forces companies to rethink the sales goal process. There is uncertainty with any sales goal, and there are many factors for companies to understand and apply when setting goals. Whatever goals result from internal meetings, the goals need to be rooted in solid analysis and planning. The mistakes companies experience when sales fall below expectations can be corrected, but the companies need to realize and accept they are making mistakes. Companies need to be open-minded to constantly changing to meet the demands of a fast-paced economy.
