How to Set and Track SMART Sales Objectives: A Guide for Sales Managers. As a sales manager, you need to have a clear and effective sales strategy that helps you achieve your business goals.
{getToc} $title={Table of Contents}
A sales strategy consists of two main components: a sales competitive analysis and sales objectives. A sales competitive analysis helps you understand your market position, your strengths and weaknesses, and your opportunities and threats.
Sales objectives help you set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals for your sales team. In this article, you will learn how to conduct a sales competitive analysis and how to set and track SMART sales objectives.
1. Conduct a sales competitive analysis
A sales competitive analysis is a process of evaluating your competitors' products, prices, features, strengths, and weaknesses.
It helps you identify your unique selling proposition, your competitive advantage, and your areas of improvement. A sales competitive analysis can also help you spot market opportunities, gaps, and trends that you can leverage to increase your sales.
To conduct a sales competitive analysis, you need to follow these steps:
- Identify your main competitors, using online tools, industry reports, customer feedback, or your own sales data.
- Compare their products or services to your own, in terms of features, benefits, quality, pricing, and customer reviews.
- Analyze their sales and marketing strategies, by examining their channels, distribution networks, promotional activities, pricing strategies, and customer segments.
- Assess their strengths and weaknesses, in relation to your sales performance and market position.
- Create a SWOT matrix, summarizing your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, in relation to your competitors.
- Formulate recommendations and action plans, for improving your sales strategy and results, based on your SWOT matrix.
2. Set SMART sales objectives
Sales objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals that you set for your sales team.
They help you align your sales activities with your business vision, mission, and strategy. They also help you motivate, monitor, and evaluate your sales performance and progress.
To set SMART sales objectives, you need to follow these guidelines:
- Make your objectives specific, clear, concise, and concrete, with indicators, metrics, and targets that are quantifiable and trackable.
- Make your objectives measurable, using key performance indicators (KPIs), such as revenue, profit margin, customer retention, and conversion rate.
- Make your objectives achievable, realistic and attainable, challenging but not demoralizing.
- Make your objectives relevant, aligned with your business goals and strategy and relevant to your market, industry, and customers.
- Make your objectives time-bound, with a deadline or timeframe specified when you want to start, finish, or review them.
- Make your objectives flexible, adaptable to changing conditions and circumstances.
3. Track your sales objectives
To track your sales objectives, you need to follow these steps:
- Choose reliable and accurate tracking tools, such as spreadsheets, dashboards, and CRM software.
- Monitor and review your results regularly, comparing your actual performance with your expected performance.
- Seek feedback and improvement, from your managers, peers, or clients, on your work and performance.
- Adjust your sales objectives and strategies, based on your feedback and results.
Read Also - 6 Tips to Communicate Effectively in Stressful Situations
By following these steps, you can set and track SMART sales objectives that help you improve your sales strategy and results.
Remember, sales objectives are not static, but dynamic, and require constant evaluation and adaptation. So, don't be afraid to experiment, learn, and grow as a sales manager.