Setting sales and marketing targets works and this will make a big difference to your results.
I have used them for years and when I work with a client we always go through a target setting process.
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” ~ Tony Robbins
A. Financial targets (start here):
1. Turnover for the year ahead
This is an important target. If you don’t have a turnover target to aim for, anything could happen and it probably won’t be good.
2. Turnover per month
Start with your break-even figure, then add a buffer. In general, I have found that people tend to set targets which are too low.
3. Profitability for the year ahead
If you don’t have an objective in mind, profitability could be anything, couldn’t it?
4. Profitability for per month
The idea is to make money every month.
B. Customer targets
The number and type of customers that you will require to achieve the above targets.
If you segment your market, this process will be much easier.
C. Website targets
How many Unique Visitors, page views etc you will need for your website per month and annually.
In addition, set a target for the number of sales enquiries / sales that will come from your website.
If e-commerce is part (or all) of your business, then you will require a more in depth set of website targets.
D. Promotional mix targets
Begin with outputs, for example the number of blogs that you are going to write per month as well as the target word count per blog.
Go through each promotional technique that you use and set targets. There are hundreds of promotional techniques to choose from, by the way.
If you are using a lot of them, then you may need to catalogue the techniques and set output, sales leads and sales targets per technique and also for each marketing mix category (i.e. advertising, events).
Having clear sales and marketing targets will help to keep you focused on the important tasks, not just the urgent ones.
E. Sales targets
Set targets for the number of customer contacts and key objectives such as sales meetings, proposals and closing ratio per month. See: Selling professional services
Get your team involved
If you work with other people, get them involved with target setting and measurement. Unrealistic targets can be demoralising however, it is a good idea to set exciting growth targets which the whole team understands and is committed to.
