Sales Training: How do you determine the starting goals for new sales reps?

Charlie –

Why is there a need to create sales goals for new hires?
Why don’t reasonable goals already exist?

As a general practice, my teams follow a predetermined course to “success.” That is, questions such as yours and related questions are answered before new sales reps are hired. Without goals, direction, and a plan, how do you know whom to hire??

I’ll assume you’re hiring for a new company, new territory, or new product - that you have no experience from which to draw in order to determine some answer to your question…

1. Consider the sales required in order to turn a profit (and pay for your hire)
2. Consider timing factors. How much time do you have before x, y, and z happens?
3. Consider the learning curve and factors--controllable and uncontrollable--that impact sales
4. Consider the capabilities of your sales rep and expectations-—theirs and yours
5. Consider what constitutes “failure”

Consider these areas and you’ll begin to realize an answer to your question.

Bottom line: you must expect RESULTS. The activity of a rep is essential and should be in line with your sales training, but is NOT a sufficient replacement for the goal(s) that you need to be obtained.

I hope this helps.

Steve | The Sales Standard

Hi Charlie,

I agree with Will's take that it's normal to base initial goals more on activity + like his notion that the best activities are ones which convert to a buyer action. My experience is that new hires have more success, more quickly, when they can see + understand their Return-on-Effort based on buyer actions. It shifts the focus from 'what am I DOING' to 'what am I ACHIEVING'.

Trust this helps. - John

I was going to answer this but liked Will's feedback and John's "second". I have always believed that you should focus on activity deliverables when a sales rep is starting. I experienced a couple things in my years as a consultant:

1. Training Deliverables -- I had this one VP of Sales who set milestones up that he paid the sales reps for. An example was: give sales preso to three executives. We shouldn't make this up just to give them things to do, this should be real milestones to know the rep is getting somewhere.
2. Activity Deliverables -- As Will talked about, calls, etc...That should be activities that set the sales rep up for success down the line.

I will add...

In addition to implimenting metrics and sales process milestones, have your reps come up with three to five of their own goals. Also, have them develop a business plan. It can be a 3/6/9/12 month document. They will benefit from having a roadmap as to how they are going to execute on the metrics and goals they are responsible for.

Michael LoPreste
www.gensourc.blogspot.com

Charlie, Will's post is a great baseline. The only thing I would add is relational goals. Here are some ideas:

1. What personal things did you learn about each contact.

2. What organizational objectives did the contact share with you.

3. What did you learn about each company's buying process.