How to Improve Performance through Goal-Setting
For most sales reps, meaningful growth comes from working toward clearly defined, individually appropriate goals. As a sales manager, you probably know this. But do you know the best way to help your reps set and achieve their goals? In his book, The Inner Game of Selling: Mastering the Hidden Forces That Determine Your Success (Free Press, 2006), Ron Willingham, CEO of Phoenix, Arizona-based Integrity Selling addresses this critical coaching task by laying out the steps for defining and progressing toward a goal. Here’s a look at each step:
Step 1: Setting Goals. First, you and the rep must define specifically what he or she is going to work toward. Those goals should be written in this format: “By [date], I’ll [verb] [goal].” For instance, “By July 31, I’ll average sales of $200,000 per month.” Or, “By September 15, I’ll close the XYZ account.” Or, “In three years, I will have my MBA.” Tell your reps to write down each goal on an index card and post it where they will see it often.
Step 2: Planning Strategy. As you look at each goal, you’ll realize they have either clear, known steps of achievement and the rep simply needs to take those steps, or the strategy steps will be unknown and you will have to discover them. To work through that process, ask these questions: How can you break your goal down into sub-goals or incremental steps? What different activity levels will it take to reach your sales goal? What activities can you perform today? Once you have the answers, you’ll be well on your way to penning a step-by-step strategy to achieve the goals.
Step 3: Building Belief. This often-overlooked step in goal setting is about building your reps’ belief that they can reach their goals. One way to do this is to teach your reps to visualize success every day. As they go to sleep at night and/or as soon as they wake up in the morning, ask them to think about their goals and what they will do that day to move closer to achieving them. You’ll be amazed at how much faster reps meet their goals once they learn to spend time each day relaxing, visualizing themselves reaching their goals, and imagining themselves enjoying the rewards that come from that accomplishment, says Willingham.
Step 4: Developing Strengths. Sometimes your reps will need to develop some strengths or skills before they can realistically achieve a goal. For instance, if reaching that $200,000 per-month sales goal will require your rep to target a higher level in his prospects’ organization, he might need some training on how to have executive-level conversations.
Step 5: Managing Progress. On an ongoing basis, you and your reps will need to manage their progress toward their goals. You do this by reviewing those goals regularly, asking questions such as, “Where are you with each goal? What sub-goals have you already reached and where should you be to reach your main goal on time? What strengths do you still need to develop – or keep developing – to reach the goal?” Occasionally, you and the rep might decide the goal needs to be revised. When you follow these steps, says Willingham, you’ll find your reps often reach their goals faster than they expected, so maybe the bar will need to be set higher. Other times, circumstances may slow the rep from reaching his goal, in which case the date might need to be pushed back or the sales dollar target reduced.
Willingham promises that if you and your reps “follow this system to the letter, you’ll experience success.” And as we all know, success breeds success, which means you’ll be able to continue pushing your reps to higher levels of performance.
For more details, visit www.integrityservices.com.
Step 1: Setting Goals. First, you and the rep must define specifically what he or she is going to work toward. Those goals should be written in this format: “By [date], I’ll [verb] [goal].” For instance, “By July 31, I’ll average sales of $200,000 per month.” Or, “By September 15, I’ll close the XYZ account.” Or, “In three years, I will have my MBA.” Tell your reps to write down each goal on an index card and post it where they will see it often.
Step 2: Planning Strategy. As you look at each goal, you’ll realize they have either clear, known steps of achievement and the rep simply needs to take those steps, or the strategy steps will be unknown and you will have to discover them. To work through that process, ask these questions: How can you break your goal down into sub-goals or incremental steps? What different activity levels will it take to reach your sales goal? What activities can you perform today? Once you have the answers, you’ll be well on your way to penning a step-by-step strategy to achieve the goals.
Step 3: Building Belief. This often-overlooked step in goal setting is about building your reps’ belief that they can reach their goals. One way to do this is to teach your reps to visualize success every day. As they go to sleep at night and/or as soon as they wake up in the morning, ask them to think about their goals and what they will do that day to move closer to achieving them. You’ll be amazed at how much faster reps meet their goals once they learn to spend time each day relaxing, visualizing themselves reaching their goals, and imagining themselves enjoying the rewards that come from that accomplishment, says Willingham.
Step 4: Developing Strengths. Sometimes your reps will need to develop some strengths or skills before they can realistically achieve a goal. For instance, if reaching that $200,000 per-month sales goal will require your rep to target a higher level in his prospects’ organization, he might need some training on how to have executive-level conversations.
Step 5: Managing Progress. On an ongoing basis, you and your reps will need to manage their progress toward their goals. You do this by reviewing those goals regularly, asking questions such as, “Where are you with each goal? What sub-goals have you already reached and where should you be to reach your main goal on time? What strengths do you still need to develop – or keep developing – to reach the goal?” Occasionally, you and the rep might decide the goal needs to be revised. When you follow these steps, says Willingham, you’ll find your reps often reach their goals faster than they expected, so maybe the bar will need to be set higher. Other times, circumstances may slow the rep from reaching his goal, in which case the date might need to be pushed back or the sales dollar target reduced.
Willingham promises that if you and your reps “follow this system to the letter, you’ll experience success.” And as we all know, success breeds success, which means you’ll be able to continue pushing your reps to higher levels of performance.
For more details, visit www.integrityservices.com.
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