Expert Business Development Tips: How to Set Sales Goals for Year End

The time between Thanksgiving and the end of the year is a great time to reflect on the results that you’ve achieved over the previous year. You can celebrate your victories, reflect on reasons you did not achieve certain goals and learn lessons from those missteps, and determine if your achievements from the current year are moving you closer to your long-term goals. Although a large percentage of people set goals towards the end of the year, many are missing steps in their goal setting that could make them more successful.

I’d like to take you through some best practices that will put you in the best position to achieve the goals you set for yourself. Here are some expert business development tips on how to set sales goals and objectives this year.

1.    Take a balanced approach to goal setting. Make sure that you are setting goals in all aspects of your life - not just business and financial goals. Successful people take a holistic look at their lives. There are seven different areas of your life where you should be setting goals. They include business goals, financial goals, health goals, family goals, community goals, spiritual goals, and educational goals (and not just business education, it includes learning about things that you are passionate about in your personal life as well). In how many of these seven different areas are you currently setting goals?

2.    Set SMART goals. When setting goals, they should be:

a.    Specific

b.    Measurable

c.     Attainable

d.    Realistic

e.    Time bound (a goal without a deadline is a dream)

3.    Long term goals need to be broken down into smaller chunks. For many people, setting a goal one-year out can be too far off, and it might be difficult to motivate yourself. Look at ways that you can break that large goal into smaller chunks. What needs to be accomplished on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis to ensure that you attain your long-term goals?

4.    Goals need to be documented in writing. If you set goals, but don’t commit those goals in writing, it won’t be easy to follow if you are on target to achieve your goals throughout the year. When goals are in writing, you can track your progress and determine which activities are getting you closer to your achieving your goals and what behaviors need to be modified to get back on track if you are falling short of your goals. Once the goals are committed in writing, you will feel a greater connection to those goals, and you can go back and review the goals on a regular basis.

5.    After you’ve set your goals, conduct an internal personal audit of your commitment level to achieving those goals. In my experience, there is a direct correlation between someone’s commitment level to achieving their goals and their success level in accomplishing those goals. If you are not at least a commitment level of 8 on a scale of 1-10, you probably don’t want to pick that goal as an area where you want to focus.

6.    Make sure you review your goals on a regular basis. Most people who don’t achieve their goals view goal setting as a passive exercise instead of an active exercise. They set goals once per year, then at the end of the year they review those goals and just determine whether they achieved them. Goal setting needs to be an active exercise. Once the goals are set, go back, and review them on a regular basis. If we are falling short of our goals, let’s look at what is happening that is keeping us from achieving our goals and determine what changes need to be made to get back on track.

7.    Choose someone to help hold you accountable for achieving your goals. If you set a goal and put the goal in writing, but don’t share that goal with someone else who can hold you accountable, the chances of achieving that goal are reduced significantly. Pick an accountability partner who will provide positive reinforcement but will also hold your feet to the fire if you are not executing the specific activities that are necessary to achieve your goals.

People who set goals and commit their goals in writing are five time more likely to achieve their goals than people who don’t put their goals in writing.

Setting goals and putting them in writing will provide you with clarity and focus and will help you prioritize what is important to you. Putting goals in writing will also allow you to track your progress over time.

I’ve conducted a Goal Setting and Self Reflection exercise with my clients for the past 20+ years. Every year my clients come back to me in amazement and report that because of this exercise, they achieve a higher percentage of their goals, and that they are more productive and successful than they had been previously. Many will take this exercise one step further and create a vision board, which helps them better visualize and achieve their goals.

If you would like help learning how to set sales goals and objectives, and if you would like to participate in the Goal Setting and Self-reflection exercise, please reach out to me.

~ Evan Polin

Polin Performance Group provides real-world sales solutions through sales coaching, sales training, business development workshops and speaking engagements. We give you and your team the sales skills needed to maximize sales performance and increase revenue. Let's talk about your sales challenges and together we'll figure out the best solution for your business growth goals. Contact us today.

People who set goals and commit their goals in writing are five time more likely to achieve their goals than people who don’t put their goals in writing.