1.Define what realistic means 

   When just 10-20% people miss the sales targets the problem might be with the salespeople.  

   But when most people miss the targets, the problem is with the goals. 

   These are some factors that will help you arrive at a realistic sales target. 

• Pricing of your products 
• Industry trends  
• Years of operation in the industry 
• Leads that come in a day 

• Setting aggressive sales goals in an untapped market can help you capture large audience before your competitors 
• Whereas if you have too much competition then you’ve to consider the no. of clients and prospects in your pipeline 

       2.Evaluate Your Sales Team 

• • If your sales target cannot be met by the existing sales team then hiring a new employee isn’t the best option for startups. 
  • Before you set the sales targets, sit with the sales team and understand if the target planned is realistic. 

    3.Educate and empower your sales team 

       You should ensure that the best tool and weapon should be available to your sales team. Offer training and               resources that enables them to sell your company’s unique product.  

       Post training, observe and evaluate the shift in sales pattern. 

   4.Analyze the important parameters 

• Connection Ratio:  What percentage of calls/contacts turn into initial conversations? 
• Initial Meeting Conversation: What percentage of your initial meetings lead to an immediate follow-up? 
• Length of Sales Cycle: How long does it take to close a deal? The longer the pipeline the less likely the customers are to do business with you in future. 
• Closing Ratio:  How many initial meetings turn to customers?  
• Losses to No Decision: What percentage of your forecasted prospects stay undecided? 

     5.Properly incentivize your sales team 

• Define your commission structure clearly from the start 
• For new hires, you’ll pay a base salary and design a commission salary.  
• When you design a stretch goal, observe if you’re coming off a win or a slump! 
• Ensure you provide a good percentage of commission for meeting the slump goals. 
• Implement retention bonuses, when a salesperson manages to retain more than one client and signs them up for the entire customer life cycle. 
• Base bonuses when clients hit an anniversary, if the client continues service for more than 6 months or a year, then reward the salesperson. 

6. Calculate your ideal monthly sales goal 

    To stay on track with annual sales, keep a close eye on month-to-month sales. If your sales go up or down you      should be able track why change in sales. 

  Calculate, 

• Company sales goals 
• Department sales goals 
• Individual sales rep goals 

  Consider other factors too, like access to leads, what vertical the salesperson is in etc. 

  Also, it is crucial that you gauge the employee’s skill set and previous sales level to ensure the salespersons are not discouraged. 

 7.Don’t expect to get your sales targets right in the first try 

 There are only three components for success in the start-up world: Build, measure, repeat.  And just because    something works, doesn’t mean it’s the best process. Once you think your sales targets and process is in a good     place, start to lean on it. 

8.Emphasize on activity goals 

 The hardest part about sales is that irrespective of what you do you can’t force a lead to convert. 

  Activity goals are where you focus on repeatable actions that has landed you sales in the past. 

Here’s how: 

 a. Identify your avg. close rate:  The number of calls you need to make to get the result. If you made 100 calls and       had 4 closures. Then, your close rate is 4% 

 b. Calculate the number of calls you need to make on daily basis to hit your target. For instance, if you want 6         sales per month your team will have to make 150 calls/emails. 

  If your revenue expectations are not in tandem with sales targets, you will see a ripple effect on business revenue, employee engagement, and turnover. Don’t risk this—see how you can transform your business and improve your sales performance management by enabling better-informed decisions with support from our business consultant. 

 You can now visit https://jupiterbusinessmentors.com/#/home and book your FREE CALL with the specialist.