How To Set Effective Sales Goals (Examples, FAQs)

Udn Webber

Editorial Coordinator

For most companies, a typical sales goal focuses on selling as much as they can.

But those aren’t the best kinds of sales goals.

These are . 👈

It’s like saying ‘having fun’ is your summer vacation goal.

But what is fun?

Splashing in a pool all day or going scuba diving?

Similarly, in sales too, you need to define the hows to form well-articulated goals.

In this article, we’ll discuss w hat sales goals are , their types, five example s , and how to set excellent sales goals . We’ll also tell you how to achieve your sales goals and answer some related FAQs.

Ready to make it rain? 💸 Let’s go!

What Are Sales Goals?

Sales goals are quantifiable outcomes for your sales team that are usually documented in your sales plan.

Some realistic goals can be:

Once you establish the goals, your sales team can translate them into measurable and achievable actions that make you money.

And maybe then, you can buy that vacation home with a pool you’ve always dreamt of.

Is a goal different from an objective ?

Take a look at our in-depth goals vs. objectives comparison to find out.

5 Types of Sales Goals

Here are five types of sales goals most businesses set:

1. Annual sales goals

If there’s an ultimate sales goal, it’s this one.

An annual goal helps you make a roadmap and decide everything from personal sales goals to professional ones.

It can be goals about:

Everyone, including board members and investors, will have their eyes on these goals as these are crucial for a company’s success.

2. Sales team goals

Your sales team shouldn’t just focus on your annual sales goal because those can take time to achieve.

You don’t want to demotivate your team with slow progress, right?

Instead, your team goal should be a weekly , quarterly , or monthly sales goal. For example, you could have a monthly sales goal like sell $20,000 worth of summer hats by the end of August.

3. Individual sales goals

You know how some people get tanned, some don’t, and others turn lobster red after hitting the beach?

Well, sales reps are like that too.

Some thrive when selling to a specific industry, some do well in all fields, and others have an average performance on any given day.

As they’ll all have different success rates, you need to plan and set individual sales goals for every salesperson.

4. Individual activity goals

Every sales person needs to set activity goals to have control of their overarching goals. Activity goals measure what the sales rep needs to do to nail those broader sales goals.

You can usually measure activity goals as the number of:

5. Stretch goals

Sometimes your sales rep or your team will surpass their sales goals.

But before you plan to celebrate your profits with a summer trip to Bali…

Enter: stretch goals for sales reps .

Stretch goals are targets set above what’s expected to help sales reps go the extra mile.

If your reps meet their stretch goals, you can offer them incentives.

It can be money or a free supply of ice cream for a year to beat the heat. 🍦😋

5 Sales Goals Examples

A sales goals example list can be like a long summer day… it never ends!

Fortunately, you only have to set goals that fit your needs.

To give you an idea, here are some sales goals and objectives examples:

How To Set Sales Goals

Now that you’re familiar with some examples of sales goals, let’s start setting sales goals right away.

Step 1: decide the sales goal type

An annual revenue goal ? An individual quarterly goal ? Or a lead-generation monthly goal ?

As a sales team leader or manager, you have to set relevant sales goals based on your business goals.

For example, to measure your company’s success, you could set a revenue target.

But if you want to improve efficiency, aiming for a higher win rate (the rate at which your sales team converts prospects into customers) might make more sense.

The bottom line is, you should connect every set sales goal to the business intent.

Step 2: make your sales goals SMART

No, you don’t put them in a suit and tie. 👔

Instead, SMART sales goals are:

Use these factors as a checklist to make every objective a SMART goal and drive your business towards success.

Step 3: set a stretch goal

Now, you can focus on goals that give your sales team a little extra challenge.

However, ensure it’s not impossible, like counting how many watermelon seeds you ate.

But also not too easy, like sweating in mid-July.

Instead, when you set it, take a look at past sales data and see how likely it’s for your reps to meet the goal. This will help you strike a balance between making it challenging and achievable.

Step 4: identify incentives

Incentives in the sales world are as common as floral prints and flip-flops on beaches.

But how do you design your incentive system?

Start by getting input from your sales staff or team on the incentive program’s rules, rewards, and other aspects. This way, you can create a system that works for everyone.

And remember, a salesperson who hits a stretch goal should get a better incentive than someone who meets an individual goal.

Step 5: clarify the goals with your team

Know what’s not motivating?

Not knowing why you’re tackling the goal in the first place!

Discuss and clarify your sales goals with your team so they know what’s expected.

For example, let’s say you want your reps to increase lead generation.

But you must give them a reason to do it, like how it’ll help increase revenue, expand the company, or get incentives.

It’ll motivate them to hit their sales target!

Step 6: set up a tracking system

You should be able to track the progress of every sales professional in the company.

A tracking system tells you where you stand and updates you on whether you’re on the right path or not.

Otherwise, setting goals can be as pointless as using sunscreen when you’re inside the house watching Netflix.

How To Achieve Sales Goals

Once you have a sales strategy in place, here’s how you can achieve your sales goals:

1. Prioritize goals regularly

Determine which goals generate the highest value or make a huge impact.

Such tasks usually help a sales rep with their professional goals and add to the company’s big picture. Priorities also depend on when you want to achieve that specific goal.

Encourage your reps to focus their energy on those goals. This will help them utilize their time in the best possible way.

2. Gather live data on sales activity

With live data on every sales activity, your team can visualize their efforts and success journey.

Not only will this help keep everyone on the same page, but it can also motivate your reps when they see how their efforts translate into revenue. And motivated sales reps can consistently crush quotas and generate more revenue.

Live sales data also helps teams recognize their peers’ achievements.

After all, a little public recognition can go a long way.

3. Plan for failure

No sales manager sets out to fail.

But in business, obstacles are sometimes inevitable. Like walking past kids (or adults) playing with water balloons without getting hit. #JustSumerThings

What can you do?

Wear a raincoat or carry an umbrella to dodge them! 😝

Basically, prepare in advance.

Develop a proactive plan to deal with roadblocks so you can be in a better position to overcome them quickly.

Here’s how you can start:

4. Develop support and structure

Apart from goal setting and monitoring, your team needs proper support .

And what’s a better support system than a sales manager or team leader, right?

They can mentor sales reps to focus on their personal and professional, pushing them to do their best. This can happen in weekly huddles that empower the team to smash their targets.

Additionally, ask the team:

You should also invest in the right software, like a CRM or project management tool , to facilitate sales process management . This helps a sales leader and sales rep streamline processes and track performance with ease.

5. Reward your team

Let’s say you complete a run even though it’s a million degrees outside and then grab yourself a freshly pressed watermelon juice. 🍉

A well-earned reward!

Bonuses and incentives based on sales performance are no-brainers if you want to bring in the best results from your team. But it doesn’t always have to be watermelon juice or money.

Think of ways to recognize smaller objectives like upsells and retention. This should inspire your team to improve their performance consistently.

The Best Way to Set and Manage Sales Goals

Want a solution that actually lets you set, track, and manage your sales goals?

Enter UDN Task Manager .

UDN Task Manager is one of the world’s highest-rated sales project management and CRM tools used by several teams in small and large businesses .

Here’s how UDN Task Manager makes sales goal management as pleasant as a summer breeze:

1. Set sales Goals

With UDN Task Manager ’s Goals , you can set your sales goals with ease.

You can set goals with clear timelines, OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) and automatically track your progress.

Goals are high-level objectives that you can divide into smaller Targets for easy management.

Targets are measurable objectives that you can associate with:

As your sales teams complete these targets , you can visualize the progress towards achieving the goal.

Setting targets and viewing progress with UDN Task Manager ’s Goals feature

Need help with OKRs? Read how to write effective OKRs and 10 spectacular sales OKRs .

2. Analyze sales activity and potential bottlenecks with Dashboards

Dashboards are the best way to view everything happening in your Workspace in UDN Task Manager .

You can custom build them with Widgets that help visualize the sales KPIs you want to track.

For instance, you can use Sprint Widgets like Cumulative Flow , Burnup , Burndown , and Velocity Charts to measure how well you scoped out your work.

You also get several other widgets like:

This way, you can easily view how deals progress over time or how good your sales team’s performance is.

Using customizable widgets in UDN Task Manager ’s Dashboards to easily view data

3. Automate your sales processes

With UDN Task Manager ’s Automations , you can streamline monotonous sales activities to ensure your team can focus their efforts on tackling sales goals.

For example, UDN Task Manager lets you:

All you need to do is set the:

Setting up an automation in UDN Task Manager

Want more information on automating your sales processes?

Learn how to automate your sales processes and drive more revenue .

FAQs About Sales Goals

Got more questions about your sales goals?

Let’s answer some!

1. What are some common sales objectives examples?

Your sales objectives can be around specific aspects, such as:

2. Are sales objectives and metrics the same?

No, they’re not.

Sales objectives are broad aims that your entire sales team needs to pursue to achieve sales goals. On the other hand, sales metrics let you track how well they’re doing in achieving those goals.

Wondering how KPIs are different from metrics? Read our in-depth KPIs vs. metrics comparison .

Set ‘No Sweat’ Sales Goals 🍹

Setting goals for sales help you achieve company and individual objectives.

That’s only possible if you set and track them.

But doing that manually?

No way! Unless you want to sweat it out by crunching numbers and creating charts instead of making sales.

Don’t worry.

You’ve got UDN Task Manager , remember?

You can use this powerful software to manage sales goals, conduct sales planning, create a CRM system , automate sales processes, and so much more.

Join UDN Task Manager for free and turn your sales future as bright as a summer day. 🌞