5 Reasons Why the Sales Targets You Set… Will Not Be Met!

Do you have the same familiar feeling at the end of each month? You’re deflated and unmotivated because the targets you set are not going to be met.

Those targets that are crucial to your business, to fill your pipeline for a strong month ahead, to pay suppliers… and yourself – GONE!

You may have many justifiable reasons why you haven’t managed to seal that deal or hit the numbers you wanted, but if you haven’t ended the month having a ‘fist bump’ moment and feeling the buzz from a month well worked, you really should read on.

SO WHY AREN’T YOU HITTING THAT MAGIC SALES TARGET?

1. YOUR TARGETS AREN’T CLEAR

Are you failing because you haven’t a clue what your sales targets actually are? You may have set yourself a revenue target to hit by the end of the month, but do you know how to get there? Do you know what your conversion rate for progress is? It’s all a numbers game! (Check out this resource to help you.)

How many conversations do you need to make each day or week in order to hit the targets in each stage of your process? You would be naïve to think that every prospect you speak to will convert, in fact on average, only 1 in 10 tend to lead to a paying client.

Sales is all about numbers and conversions – sometimes you must kiss a lot of frogs until you find a prince!

So, work out the numbers that you need to hit and know how to get there. Knowing this will tell you whether your target is realistic and what you need to do each day and week to hit it.

2. YOUR FOCUS JUST ISN’T THERE

So, if you have got the numbers down, then perhaps it’s your focus? Are you really spending enough time on the task at hand? If you aren’t hitting those numbers that you’ve worked out then it’s probably because you’re not spending enough time to prospect, to generate new leads or to follow up with existing ones. These tasks need to be at the forefront of your days and as a result, the numbers will start to rise.

3. DO THE SAME THING… GET THE SAME RESULTS!

If you want something you’ve never had, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done. If results don’t seem to get any better, month in, month out, then maybe things need changing up!

Are you using the same pitch for every prospect? What words are you using in your emails or initial conversations? Be honest and ask yourself whether it’s worth changing things around. Change things up and see how it goes. If you don’t try it, you will never know whether what you are currently doing is right.

Things move on in the world, and you need to keep moving with it. I’m guessing you’re not still living in the dark age and using a Nokia phone (once the number one phone company in the world), why should how you do things in sales be any different?

In order to succeed, you need to innovate and freshen up your approach, so you can be heard above all the noise.

4. PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

A common failing is that businesses think that after one conversation with a prospect, it will lead to working with them in a matter of days. In fact, research has shown that the sales cycle takes around 65 days from initial interaction to client conversion. Therefore, you shouldn’t expect overnight success.

Prospects generally like to take their time to get to know a business, find out what they do and how their needs can be met. Trust needs to be established and that can only happen over time. If you come across pushy with aggressive selling, then this could crush the deal and you’re back to square one. Be patient, put in the work and success will come.

5. HAVE A POSITIVE MINDSET

‘Mindset’ is such a buzz word at the moment, but there’s a lot to be said for self-belief. If you tell yourself you won’t reach your targets, then the likelihood is, you won’t! There may be some tweaks you need to make in order to get there, but you can hit those targets if you really want to hit them.

Hitting targets and winning new clients is not easy, but if you build the right foundations and develop the right skills, you can service your clients and take them on a positive journey. Your internal positive thoughts are essential to get to that end of the month fist bump feeling and the bedrock of this is a ‘I can…I will’ attitude.

If you want to be more than average and achieve exceptional then you need to decide how you can realistically change this on your own. Do you need help and support to get there?

If, after a lot of thought, you feel that you would like some help to achieve your fist bump feeling, then let’s have a conversation.

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James White

James White is the UK's leading prospect conversion expert. He understands what it takes to convert leads into real business within the modern digital era and what it takes to achieve business success.

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