5 brilliant examples of sales goals and objectives

Sales goals and objectives are critical because they instil a culture of accountability and achievement across the team, which drives productivity. This feeds directly into revenue growth; and we all want that.

Sales goals and underlying objectives are used by management to help outline how these goals align directly with the overall company initiatives. If positioned correctly, the sales team will be able to see a direct link between the activity they do and its effect on the bottom line.

The structuring of these goals should take the SMART approach. It is a tested system standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound. Using this framework, a business (and an individual) can start to structure their day with these goals in mind.

Start with a goal; this can be broken down into objectives to hit that goal. Taking it one step further, you would outline the daily, tactical activities that will hit these objectives which in turn will achieve these goals. A framework we use at Sales for Startups is called the G.O.A. framework:

• Goal
• Objective
• Activity

To build upon this idea, you can group goals into three different categories:

• Activity Goals
• Annual Goals
• Team Goals

Activity Goals can directly influence, but the biggest and best goals can only be achieved if the whole team works together and works within the same timescale. Start with the Annual Goals; break them down into quarters and ask yourself what strategies will help meet these objectives. What resources will you need? What outside influences should you be aware of that may be able to help?

Sales goals differ from company to company and from person to person. The goals outlined below are good, but their revision makes them more specific and therefore more achievable;

1. ‘Reduce sales cycle’ revised to ‘Reduce sales cycle by 7 days in the next quarter‘
2. ‘Increase conversations’ revised to ‘Increase the number of discovery calls per week from 2 to 4‘
3. ‘Increase leads’ revised to ‘Increase lead acquisitions by 5% across all social channels for next quarter‘
4. ‘Upsell to current customers’ revised to ‘In the next 6 months, upsell to at least 50% of current customers‘
5. ‘Make more revenue’ revised to ‘Bring in 5% more revenue each month considering both increasing the average customer value (ACV) or obtaining more customers‘

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