Growth Dynamics | Leader of world-class sales solutions

Would You Believe 76% of Sales People Do Not Hit Their Annual Goal or Quota?

Does that headline shock you? If you happen to be in sales or as we prefer to call it, business development, think about yourself and three of your colleagues. If this headline, from salesforce.com, is to be believed, one of you will hit your sales/quota for the year. Will it be one of them or will it be you?

We are halfway through 2023. It seems hard to believe, but here we are. You have used half of your year so far and that means you should be at least near or over half of your goals. For this article, we will talk about goals as they relate to work goals but if you prefer to apply this to your personal goals instead or in addition, makes sense to us.

If the headline statistic is correct, we should assume most of you reading this might be behind, but since you have made the choice to work with Turner Time Management, we are also going to assume that most of you are high achievers and have applied some of TTM’s tips and tricks to your daily functions.

As business development trainers and coaches, we at Growth Dynamics have a few tips and tricks of our own to help you work to stay on task, catch up, or come in above goals as an overachiever with the rest of 2023’s goals.

1. Take small bites to feel full.
   1. If looking at the rest of the year feels overwhelming to you- maybe there are a lot of quotas left to fill- stop looking at the big picture. Take small bites, and set smaller goals, to achieve your full meal. Smaller goals help you accomplish them, build confidence in your abilities, and propel you to keep hitting goals.
2. If you can’t measure it, you can’t change it.
   1. We hear from our clients all the time that they want to get better at cold calls, networking, closing sales, and asking for referrals. Many times, when we dig deeper and ask clients about their closing percentage, how many cold calls they are making, and what their goals for being better at networking are, and many times they don’t have answers. Without knowing the TRUTH of what they are already doing, we don’t know how to help them change behaviors and beliefs. If you are looking to make changes, start tracking the behavior you want to change.
   2. How do we suggest tracking? Find a tool or program that works for you. We use a 100-pt week tracking sheet that rewards behaviors on a point system with the goal of scoring as close to 100 pts a week. You can set your own tasks and the values for those tasks to create your custom 100-pt week. Set your sheet up now and work the 100-pt week system for the next 90 days. Develop good, strong habits as you move through the rest of 2023.
3. Tell people about it.
   1. No, we aren’t advocating for you to tell everyone that you are out there looking to make so much or share your exact numbers. What we are suggesting is to make sure people know the prospects you want to talk to, the products you are focused on at any given time, and how they may be able to help.
4. If it isn’t scheduled, it isn’t real.
   1. Sometimes the most obvious behavior is the one we miss the most. Take a few minutes now to make sure all of your personal time for the rest of the year is on your calendar. Next, make sure all work-related trips and engagements that you know of are on that same calendar. Does the visualization of your available days to work and hit your goals surprise you in any way? Now that you can see the days you have left this year, start making your plan on how to work those dates.
   2. Now is also the time to schedule review meetings with your clients. Have clear conversations about where they currently are, and where they want to be, and find out how you can work together to help both sides achieve their goals this year. Waiting too long into the third quarter to schedule and have these important conversations won’t leave much time to get back on the right track or adjust the plans you may already have.

This little reality check isn’t meant as a doom and gloom piece, but one to help you understand how quickly the days, weeks, and months are peeling off of our calendars. We know that as the year sneakily flies by those who make a plan and work their plan will have much more success than those who do not. The tips and tricks above are just a few we share with our clients and network but we know there are plenty more out there. Please contact Sarah Waple at Growth Dynamics if you want to review any tips and tricks or share any of yours with us.

Now, go out there and make this year the best one yet.

For more tips, tricks, and training from Sarah and Charlie at Growth Dynamics please visit their website (Growth Dynamics (growthdynamicsonline.com) and don’t miss their podcasts (Growth Dynamics Podcasts (growthdynamicsonline.com))