Sales Targets and Objectives

A sale is a commercial act exchanging goods and services for money or other agreed compensation. In sales, individuals set expected or desired target sales based on previous personal performances or sales targets set by others in a sales team. In our personal lives we set ourselves goals that we wish to achieve - new car, new home and other desired assets. Some want to improve their health, while others may have long term goals regarding their retirement.

In sales it is necessary to set such goals, both short term and long, if success is to be achieved. Sales goals need to be tuned into reality, thought out, and be realistically reachable while still making a difference. Often people fail because they set the wrong goals or they are set too high, this is setting yourself up for failure before even starting.

Sales Target Setting is Important for Success

Sales goals should be well defined and detailed, saying that a number will be hit or that you want to beat the top sales person is not enough. The incremental steps to what will be done to achieve those goals should be written down, and they are the individual's goals not those of others. Working out how many sales it will take to pay bills for example, home loan, car payments, living expenses are not goals, they are needs. A salesperson should recognize the difference between goals and needs.

Goals should surpass needs. Using needs as goals often means that they are just reached or can also fall short. Goals should be set higher than basic needs so when they are achieved, those needs are taken care of and more, and if sales fall short those needs are still taken care of.

Sales targets work on conversions for example, if it takes 20 presentations or calls to achieve five sales, this is the base. If a goal/target is set at 15 sales to be reached in a month, then it stands to reason that it will take 60 calls or presentations. Therefore, the goal for that month must be to make 70 calls or presentations, setting the goal higher than the basis to help achieve, or preferably to surpass.

When making several goals they should share common elements, goals need to be put in writing, and they must be clear and specific, with defined dates for deadlines. Goals should also be set beyond reach but also be realistically reachable. Sales goals should be evaluated every day and have incremental steps and milestones.

Online Sales

Sales and marketing plans may include online sales. Maximizing sales online involves a certain amount of testing. Sell one product on your website using social media advertising or search engine advertising as these methods can closely target your niche audience. This form of advertisement provides clear conversions in respect to how many sales are achieved versus clicks per ad. SEO (search engine optimization) is important to making sales online; good content is needed, rich in keywords that are relevant to the products and services being sold, and that are being used to search the Internet by potential clients.