When trying to grow a small business, it’s important that you plan properly and set goals and objectives, especially when it comes to your sales. After all, sales is one of the most important functions of a business because without sales, there won’t be any revenue or income.

If you were to sign up for any kind of coaching for small business the first step of setting up your business for success is setting goals for the company. Every company will have their own unique set of goals, whether that means bringing in more revenue than ever or expanding the company to other localities or even countries. To reach these overarching goals, you must also set smaller goals that will be easier to achieve and have more concrete ways of being accomplished. A good rule of thumb here is to set SMART goals, these goals are:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Attainable
• Realistic
• Time-bound

To put this into perspective, instead of setting a goal like “sell twice as many products”, it will be much better to phrase it as “Sell 5,000 units of our flagship product by year’s end”. The latter is specific on what product you need to sell, measurable in its amount, and has a definite deadline at the end of the year. Making sure your goals are attainable and realistic, they must be based on previous data and performance of your company.

Sales Objectives For A Small Business

Once your company has set its business and sales goals, an easier way to envision how you’ll reach these goals is to set sales objectives. There are 4 main kinds of small business sales objectives, with different specific objectives under each kind.

Market Coverage

These kinds of objectives target your sales team’s capability to cover and reach the market. You can choose to dominate a certain geographic location, age group, or industry/sector among many others. These objectives will determine how many people you need on your team and the budget & time allocated to finding prospects. Some examples of Market Coverage objectives are:

1. Number of new hires
2. Leads
3. Market Penetration

Sales Force Capability

Objectives under sales force capability determine the effectiveness of your team to close deals. You can improve this by actively seeking new prospects and opportunities or cutting down the time and cost it takes for your team to close deals. Some examples of Sales Force Capability objectives are:

1. Cycle Time
2. Leads per month/quarter
3. Win Rate
4. Customer Acquisition Costs

Customer Focus

Customer Focus objectives are all about a sales team’s ability to attract, retain, and grow relationships with your partners and clients. Repeat customers are always more cost effective than finding new prospects. With an existing relationship, not only will you have a better idea of their needs, but it can also be easier to sell them other products or services that complement their needs. Some examples of Customer Focus metrics are:

1. Customer Retention
2. Churn Rate
3. Cross-sell and upsell

Product Focus

Product Focus sales objectives look at your products and services and see how effective they are in reaching your goals. Often, this means looking at the revenue earned from each of your products or product lines and the profit margins the company enjoys from these. Using historic sales data can tell you which of your product lines or services are earning you the most/least money so you can decide which specific products your sales team should be pushing to your prospects and clients. A few examples of Product Focus metrics are:

1. Revenue by product/product line
2. Percentage of revenue from each product
3. Profit Margins

Choosing The Right Objectives And Planning For Success

You can set any type of sales objective and any number of objectives, as long as these will still be feasible and attainable for your sales team. Remember though, not every objective will have a clear-cut solution to reach it. For example, while you may be able to automate emailing prospects to help cut cycle time, there might not be a single solution for improving your win rate. There will always be some trial and error to find the best way to reach your busines goals.

If you feel stuck with your planning and strategy, why not consider undergoing business coaching for small business? Enlist the help of a seasoned marketing practitioner like Shawn Tiberio. Shawn has years of experience coaching for small business and helping companies reach their full potential. Book a call today!