Hitting Your Sales Target Through Customer Definition and Goal Setting

Hitting sales targets is something companies struggle with as they seek to maximize their revenue. Sometimes they fail to use the right targets and other times they may be using the wrong motivations to help their sales agents achieve desired results. The target market and proper sales goals help in building higher returns on marketing expenditures.

I have seen companies spend a lot of money chasing down the wrong target market. They failed to define what their business is and who is willing to make a purchase. Unwittingly they are not able to capitalize on their marketing efforts because they are selling to the wrong people.

To understand your company's target market you need to understand the innate value of your products. Your value proposition should relate as closely as possible to solving a problem your customers are experiencing. If you can't find a direct match then either change your product or change you target customer.

Even with a solid value proposition, and target customer, sometimes the sales team can't define how they are going to meeting goals. Make sure that your sales goals take into consideration the needs of your sales team. Setting goals and then helping sales associates set their own goals is helpful improving meeting of objectives (Wotruba, 1989).

Defining your market and motivating your team through appropriate goals that appeal to them can go a long way in improving outputs. Make sure that your value proposition appeals to your core customer and seek to create long-term relations that result in life long purchases.

Wobtruba, T. (1989). The effect of goal-setting on the performand of independent sales agents in direct selling.  Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 9 (1).