Setting goals for each salesperson is one of the most widely used and established sales strategies in a company's commercial management.
Setting goals for each salesperson is one of the most widely used and established sales strategies in a company's commercial management. While it encourages employees to do their best to achieve their objectives, it also allows tracking, over the months, whether the progress of the annual planning is on track.
But before we move forward, it is worth remembering that goals in themselves are of little value. The important thing is knowing how they can be met. And this can only be done with a plan that takes into account:
- How many sales must be made to achieve the objective;
- How the customer base makes up this expectation;
- What improvements in commercial processes can be made compared to the previous period;
- What the main challenges will be for the goal to be met.
These are questions that cannot be ignored, so that the salesperson clearly knows the necessary steps to achieve the objective. You have probably witnessed how seemingly impossible goals discourage an employee instead of motivating them. Therefore, the first step is the most important:
1 – Set goals intelligently
To do this, it is necessary to gather market information, and geomarketing platforms are solutions for this purpose. This type of technology has improved commercial management work in many business sectors. Through a rich variety of sources, such as IBGE, Ministério do Trabalho, Receita Federal, MEC, IPC Marketing, Dados Abertos, transparency portals, among many others, professionals have easy access to valuable information. And all in just a few clicks.
Imagine a food industry that sells its products mainly to supermarkets of various sizes. By mapping points of interest through geomarketing, it is possible to visualize the number of potential customers and the location of each one, as well as map variables according to the size of each business.
Geomarketing and territory mapping also bring transparency to the process for the salesperson, who can clearly see their area of operation.
2 – Adjust goals when circumstances change
It is important to keep in mind, however, that the market is dynamic, for better or worse. The economic instability experienced in Brazil, especially between 2014 and 2016, made many goals, previously fully compatible, impossible to beat. Not reviewing the sales strategy in such a situation is like beating your head against a wall, as it will place an entire situation that is beyond their control onto the salesperson's shoulders.
In moments like this, geographic market intelligence can support the adjustment of goals and even the salespeople's territory. By analyzing data updated month by month on specific regions, it is possible to detect markets with higher and lower sales potential. After all, distributing salespeople in strategic locations increases commercial power and the visibility of your products.
3 – Make a fair division of opportunities among salespeople
By no means do I mean that everyone needs to have the same goals. A new team member usually receives less daring objectives, while more experienced ones have the chance to take home a larger commission. But both must be on equal footing to meet the goal.
To perform this sales territory balancing, a geomarketing platform is also very useful. The spatial view of the area of operation facilitates a fair division of opportunities among salespeople. This happens when the strategy is established through geographic criteria, analyzing the potential of each territory.
A shoe factory, for example, that has specialized stores in the interior of São Paulo as customers, due to a lack of information or convenience, leaves one salesperson responsible for the São Carlos region and another for the Ribeirão Preto region. But certainly, these territories do not offer the same number of opportunities.
This is where geographic intelligence can help your business, as you can better distribute your salespeople in strategic areas of operation.
4 – Make small adjustments to goals whenever necessary
Even for those who surround themselves with all possible market information, setting goals is a task that must be done with care and attention. However, once your long-term objective is defined, it becomes easier to define short-term ones and, possibly, adjust them when necessary. Furthermore, this is an effective measure for your commercial team to improve every day.
Smaller goals, whether daily, weekly, or even monthly, should be seen as small steps, one by one, that will lead your sales team to the top at some point in the future. With this, tracking becomes more assertive, and you can continuously make adjustments to achieve the final result.
To ensure these adaptations are tailored to each team member, request frequent and individual reports on the results of field work. This way, management can provide specific guidance on successes and mistakes and correct any deviations.
5 – Have your Analytical Solution as an indispensable partner
To provide visibility and transparency to the institution's data, a Business Intelligence solution will be key for everyone to have a view of indicators and goals, daily, over the internet, in interactive reports and dashboards, with extensive filters and totals. There are several alternatives, from the most simplistic to the most absurd, costing true fortunes without delivering a comparable return.
A Decision Support Solution does not need to cost millions of dollars, nor does it require the bundling of equipment, training, consulting, and services. On the contrary, with open-source software and zero cost in licenses, excellent and sustainable results can be achieved using existing equipment, with any operating system on the market, and can be accessed from cell phones and computers to large TV screens. All of this with the security and freedom of having all the source code in your possession. If you have any questions, always look for specialists.
6 – Value achieved goals
While they serve as a tool for commercial management to track their team's performance, goals are like promises to salespeople - something good will happen if they are met.
Encouraging competition among team members is, in many cases, a way to improve performance. But valuing a job well done is independent of competition. It is a virtue of the manager to show recognition to those who deserve it.
A survey by the International Stress Management Association conducted in 2015 with professionals from São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul indicated that 89% of respondents suffer from stress due to a lack of recognition at work. And often, this goes beyond commissions or bonuses.
adapted from blog.geofusion.com.br
Believe it: praising a salesperson's competence in front of the team can be even more rewarding than simply a monetary reward.