Success Should be Your Primary Business Goal
Every massively successful salesperson that I have ever met has one over-arching trait that is common among all of them. A successful person is goal oriented.
I recently had lunch with a salesperson that I respect a great deal. It was a lunch with several salespeople planning their joint marketing events for the balance of the year. A junior salesperson was asking one of the more senior salespeople for some advice on a deal. During the conversation, I overheard a piece of advice that all salespeople should adhere to:
“Always begin the year with the goal of making quota for that year. In fact, always begin the year assuming you are going to do significantly over your quota for the year.”
Being goal-oriented starts by assuming that you will be successful. Your company and its managers will surely give you challenging quota. It may even shock you that they want you to achieve that quota based on your account base and the company’s position in the marketplace. You may be able to negotiate this quota, but eventually, it will be written down, and it will be your final number.
Once your quota for the year is set, stop complaining about it. That part of the process is over. Now you must succeed.
The first part of any successful process is to set your goal that you will blow away your quota. You must convince yourself that YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL! You must set your sights on a number that is higher than your goal. You must plan your activities to achieve that goal.
Once you have established that goal, you need to write it down. Just like all goals, if you don’t write your goals, then you run the risk of not being successful.
As a salesperson, this particular goal is probably your most important professional goal. Revenue fixes all problems so if you make this goal then you will likely come very close to achieving all of your other goals. With this importance in mind, write it in big letters and put it in a prominent place. If you have a desk in an office, I suggest you place it on the wall directly above your monitor or laptop. This way whenever you are creating a proposal, it is right there reminding you. If your office is virtual or in your home, place it on your bathroom mirror or put it on the door to your closet.
Wherever you choose to place your goal reminder, make the goal direct and straightforward. Make sure it is where you will see it every single business day.
While you may arrive at your goal by multiplying your quota by an additional percentage, don’t write down the percentage. Write down the revenue amount that you need to achieve that goal. Don’t write down 125% on that paper above your monitor, write down $5,200,000.
By looking at what I just wrote in the above paragraph, it should be obvious another rule – write the revenue number out. Don’t write $5.2M – write $5,200,000.
Revenue fixes all problems with salespeople. Assume that you will be massively successful. Assume you will make quota. Never believe at the beginning of the year that you will lose.