10/2/2023-Goal Setting

Habitually setting goals is one of the drivers that help sellers excel, but it’s only half the formula. You must also create and apply a disciplined measurement protocol to gauge your progress.

Say HELLO to Q4, the start of the year’s most exciting – and hectic – quarter. Soon, you’ll be saying to your peers, "Happy holidays…see ya next year."

But there’s much to be done before the eggnog starts pouring!

On the first day of a new quarter, your focus must be on goals: not just your rev goal the company sets, but also individual account goals and skill development goals you set.

Whether or not your company institutes a goal program, you need to manage a goal protocol to focus yourself.

Today is the day to look backward at Q3 and forward over the next 10 weeks.

Set a calendar block today at 5p to review your Q3 goals and appraise your performance.

High fives if you hit your goals…nice! But don’t sweat it if you didn’t, at least you set goals and tried. (That’s half the battle.)

Next, determine which of your Q3 goals need to carry over as Q4 goals.

If you didn’t grow your ACME Inc. account by 33% in Q3 as intended, how does that affect your ACME rev goal for Q4?

What about your individual skill goals? …did you develop your listening skills as much as you wanted in Q3? Measure that today, too, and add it to Q4 if needed!

Besides the revenue goal that sits on your head for the quarter, focus your goal setting on specific accounts and skill development. (How will you drive more revenue using the same level of skills?)

Let’s say you want to "grow ACME Inc by 50% YOY for Q4" and you know it will take a stronger ability to overcome objections that key ACME buyers throw at you. Add the following goal to your list for Q4: "Improve my ability to handle ACME Inc. objections."

To hit your revenue goals, you must also set smaller and strategic goals. That includes individual account goals and specific goals to grow your skills. Setting goals is only half the formula; you must create and apply a disciplined measurement protocol to gauge your progress and hold yourself accountable.

Measuring revenue goals is simple: you either hit the number or you don’t. It’s trickier when grading your skill growth. Achievement measurement criteria for a skill dev goal like the above might look like this:
1. Create a list of anticipated objections ACME will have for my proposal.
2. Role-play the conversation dealing with the objection with teammates.
3. Observe and gauge the reaction from ACME client by their willingness to collaborate regarding the objection/challenge.
4. Use specific qualifying questions with ACME KDMs to understand how proposed solutions moved them past their objections.

If you actually do the work listed by those four criteria, you’ll be on your way toward learning how your efforts correlate with results and skill growth.

This 12-minute Ted Talk featuring superstar investor John Doerr will inspire you not only to set goals but also to set the right goals.

In this session, John honors former Intel CEO Andy Grove, who created the most common goal-setting measurement protocol: OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).

Whether you use the simple and efficient OKR goal protocol or SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound), the point is to use something.

Habitually set goals and measure them.