In our fourth installment of the 9 Sales Productivity Tools, we bring you the next tool in our series, Goal Setting. When we talk about goal setting, we start with personal goals and then help our clients convert those personal goals into business plans.
Those business plans have goals for activities that need to be performed, as well as practice management objectives to be accomplished.
I remember when I set my first goal at 9 years old. I had just walked off the field from my first day at football practice, and my dad asked how it went. I told him that I loved it, and that someday I would go on to play college football. He asked me if I was sure and I said YES. Then, he told me to take off my helmet and shoulder pads and to start running laps around the field. He said, "If you are going to play college football, then you have to be in great shape." So I started running and didn’t stop until the end of my career at UConn.
To this day, winning is still an important goal for our clients and my team and I here at Anthony Cole Training Group. However, to think that winning is the only goal that needs to be set, and that everything else will take care of itself, is faulty thinking. When we talk about goal setting, we start with personal goals and then help our clients convert those personal goals into business plans. Those business plans have goals for activities that need to be performed, as well as practice management objectives to be accomplished.
What are the personal things your people want to achieve in their lives and what are the daily tasks they must accomplish in order to achieve the BIG things? If the big thing is to be the top producer in the company, then they need specific sales goals for:
- Increasing their average size sale
- Improving their closing ratios
- Asking for and getting more introductions
But these goals don’t drive the behavior the commitment, desire or motivation to succeed. Those goals look more like:
- Send my kids to the college of their choice without debt
- Have a cabin on the lake
- Provide enough income so that my spouse can make a choice about being a stay-at-home parent or not
- Eliminate all debt
- Have a financially independent lifestyle at retirement
Goals have to be non-negotiable. They have to be shared with others that care enough to give you a slight correction when you head off course.
These are goals that the sales manager must know about so that they can more effectively keep individuals motivated.
Unfortunately, most companies don’t operate this way. In your sales organization, anywhere between 7% and 25% of your team do not need you to create an environment where a goal setting session takes place. But, and this is a BIG but, that leaves at least another 75% of your sales team that does need this type of environment and guidance.
If you're interested in conducting a personal goal setting workshop, shoot me an email at tony@anthonycoletraining.com with the Subject - Personal Goal Setting Workshop and we can get started!
Additional resources below:
Sales Productivity Tools Resource Page:
Check out our 2MSM Video on Motivation That Works:
