EVERY COMPANY, whether big or small, and whether they know it or not, has sales targets, which are a symbol of the company's growth. Without a target, the company would be the same as a zombie company. By this, I mean operating without a pulse or just operating for the sake of it. Such operation is not healthy as everyone is looking to grow in all aspects of entrepreneurship.
For those that have infant or stagnated businesses and are looking for tips on setting effective sales targets, here they are:
- Set realistic goals: Most people who venture into the business world have a tendency of setting goals that surpass their ability to deliver or provide. This typically leads to major disappointments on both the part of the employer and employee, not to mention the customers. Do not set goals that are too high, although it is advisable to be optimistic. Setting goals that are too high can reduce the working morale of the employees, resulting in under performance or a high turnover rate—both of which indicate poor management. Conversely, don’t set goals that are too low. This might encourage laziness since the sales targets are easily met. The employees may also get too comfortable and lack creativity which will in turn see other companies coming up and overtaking your company.
- For those that have big companies that have many different sales people, it is advisable to set sales targets fairly. Do not give one salesperson a low target and another an impossibly high one. You might, without knowing, give the strong sales performers low targets and weak sales performers high targets instead of vice versa. Give equal targets so that no one in the company will feel less important than the other; healthy competition is encouraged.
- Always have a standard company goal. This will stop confusion among the employees thus preventing them from creating their own goals that will obviously favor them and be easy to meet.
- When choosing a sales target to employ into your business, always have in mind the territory/location of the business. Whereas, it’s not advisable to set different sales targets to different sales people, the rule can be bent a little when it comes to different states/counties. Not all of them will have the same market response, so for those that have a potential market for growth, the sales target should be higher than the other ones who are situated in counties/states that have low markets for their products.
Setting effective sales targets may vary depending on the kind of business you run. They are also set depending on the geographical area and target market of the business. You cannot sell the same product at the same price to the up-market areas and the low-class area and expect the same sales target to be met. You are bound to lose on one of the markets, so always be fair in your setting of effective sales targets and you will be ensured success.
