The simple act of setting a goal immediately improves our chances of success. Goal-setting helps turn any ambiguous thoughts of what we’re striving for into concrete plans that we can focus all of our attention on. This is particularly true in sales. Setting the right goals can mean we’re no longer scrambling for leads and opportunities, but rather, we’re on a clear path to achieving the success we want. With defined goals, we give ourselves the opportunity to take complete control over our careers. Here are a few ideas to help in setting (and achieving) your goals:
Make Your Goals Specific
Big-picture sales goals are fine, but you should really try to zero-in on specific ones that you can start working toward immediately. When we set tangible, specific goals, our brains have an easier time discovering the path we need to be on to achieve them. Being able to see the required steps you need to take to get where you want to go will help elevate (and maintain) your motivation. Think about breaking your sales goals down into mini-goals along the way to your primary goal, and set some timelines and deadlines to hold yourself accountable and track your progress.
Find Out What Motivates You
If we have any hope of meeting our sales goals, we have to be passionate about them. A positive attitude goes a long way. Defining the purpose behind your goals can be a strong motivator. It’s also important to remember that selling is a skill that can be learned, not an inherent talent. And, like any skill, it can be consistently improved through further education and practice. The better your sales skills become, the higher your motivation level will be day-to-day. Consider rewarding yourself whenever you’ve made progress toward your goal (this is where having mini-goals along the way comes in handy). Finding out what motivates you is key.
Create a Routine
I’m a big believer in routine. In fact, I dedicated a recent article to using routine to support success. It’s not enough to set sales goals and expect everything to go according to how you mapped it out. I’ve seen intelligent, motivated people fall into the cycle of setting unrealistic goals with no routine put in place, only to disappoint themselves in the end. As I mentioned above, the key to achieving these goals you’ve created, is to break them down into smaller manageable steps that you can then incorporate into your routine. Determine just what you can accomplish on a daily basis that will help you expand your sales reach and get a little closer to achieving your goals. Routines can be powerful — even the simple act of reminding yourself of your goals every day is another step toward actualizing them.
We can’t afford to sit around waiting for prospects to come to us — it doesn’t work. To be truly successful in sales requires real, concerted effort. Setting realistic goals and implementing a plan of action is the key to accomplishing them. Start by setting motivating goals with routines to back them up, and you’ll begin to see progress before long
If you’d like to talk any more about sales goals, or if there’s another issue I can be of assistance with, please reach out. I’m always happy to block off some time to connect.
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