The Secrets To Hit Your Sales Quota Every Month
Like other job requirements, sales also require that the salesperson grows over their years of experience. From learning the ropes as a rookie to being an amateur and finally being a sales professional, it requires that you hit a sales target.
Think of sales and marketing like a pipeline or tunnel, you want to make sure you move from one end to the other. And doing this will require your commitment to learning because even the sales pro didn't attain that height in just one day - their years of learning, unlearning, and relearning helped them achieve that.
As a salesperson, there are usually targets your company sets for your sales team or perhaps one you set for yourself to meet your monthly quotas. While this is in no way a bad idea, setting quotas will help keep you focused on specific tasks.
However, if you are a rookie to the game, you may need help hitting that set target. Sometimes, you may not even hit any target at all if you are just starting out or hit just a few as an amateur. Moreover, those sales influencers and leaders you look up to pay their dues by evolving their sales strategy to hit their sales quotas.
So in this article, you will learn the types of sales quotas, how to set these sales quotas and 5 secrets to reaching your monthly quotas. So follow through with reading and use these tips below to hit your monthly quotas.
Grab some pie,
Enjoy!
Although sales growth rates vary amongst firms, a 5 to 10% year-over-year growth rate is typical for most corporations. It permits gradual, continuous growth without giving everyone still sitting at their desk at the eleventh-hour gray hairs. But because each business is unique, it is not one size fits all - what works for team A might not work for team B. So, growth rates might swing lower or higher depending on your business, market, and size.
Before moving into the major aim of the article, it is essential to give some background information, such as definitions and types of sales quotas, to give you an idea of how you can harness the secrets to reaching your monthly quotas.
What are sales quotas?
Definition: A sales quota is a target set by sales organizations to increase impact and boost rep morale. In simpler terms, it means setting goals to meet your sales target.
Sales quotas should be distinct from targets. As opposed to sales quotas, targets are objectives that project what your sales team might be able to achieve in the future based on prior sales data and current market trends. Sales teams cannot meet these goals within a specific time frame, even though businesses utilize sales targets as forecasting tools.
On the other hand, sales quotas often serve as both corporate objectives and a factor in determining the individual salary of each sales representative. Quotas ensure that sales representatives are fairly compensated for their efforts if they make the most of sales productivity tools and establish themselves as team leaders.
This implies that their day-to-day job and salary are unrelated to sales targets. Sales reps, nevertheless, need to be aware of sales targets and business objectives. However, setting sales goals might be a great way to stay motivated. In addition, rewards for achieving sales goals are a great way for sales executives to motivate their people even more.
Consequently, different sales managers might set various monthly, quarterly, or annual quotas to monitor the success of their teams, depending on the requirements of each organization. So let's delve more deeply into the types of sales quotas available for sales reps.
**Types of Sales quota **
There are six types of Sales quotas in B2B sales. Let's examine each one below:
- **Activities quotas\
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These quotas serve as a compensation plan for sales actions such as messages, phone calls, outbound emails, and meeting schedules. Outbound sales management leaders frequently give their reps higher activity quotas to encourage greater outreach.
- **Cost-based quotas\
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These quotas emphasize the number of resources required to close a deal. Sales managers use these quotas to reward sales representatives who maximize the value of each sale while staying within their allocated budget. Meeting these quotas helps firms in reducing conversion expenses.
- **Forecast quotas\
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In forecast quotas, the sales team can set new objectives using previous sales data. For instance, when a business has predictable seasonal sales trends that may be tracked over several years, sales leaders employ these quotas.
- **Profit quotas\
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Each sales representative should routinely meet profit quotas, which are precise cash amount targets. These are the most typical sales team quotas. Sales leaders frequently set profit quotas to ensure that the company's financial objectives are constantly reached.
- **Volume quotas\
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Businesses occasionally use volume quotas to gauge how much of a product their sales force sells as opposed to a specific monetary number. Sales managers use these quotas to ensure that their stock is constantly changing and that their salespeople are taking advantage of offers and promotions.
- **Combination quotas\
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Combination quotas comprise different types of quotas. Mixtures of several quotas make up combination quotas. Sales leaders use combination quotas to achieve specific objectives requiring extensive analysis.
Having taken you through the types of sales quotas, here is how you can set your sales quotas;
**How to set sales quotas
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You can set your sales quotas using any of these two main techniques; The top-down approach and the bottom-up approach.
- **Top-down approach\
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The top-down approach is commonly used in corporate firms. For example, companies might employ a top-down strategy to shape their sales quotas if they have a target total revenue to meet. An enterprise firm, for instance, can utilize CRM software to evaluate market trends and compare them with the expanding demands of the business. As a sales rep or part of a sales team, sales quotas must be set and tracked for you to succeed. However, without the right tools, managing a sales force makes it nearly impossible to identify which salespeople are on track and which require immediate correction. There are many online resources to help you with that. The organization can then create quotas based on satisfying those needs and assign the quotas to the sales force.
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**Bottom-up approach\
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The abilities of your staff are far more the focus of the bottom-up
strategy. This could entail looking at historical data to evaluate the success of your team and any seasonal tendencies and then creating quotas based on what sales reps can accomplish. This tactic prioritizes boosting team morale while putting your company's growth objectives on hold. Over time, this approach usually results in more steady growth for your team.
5 secrets to hitting your monthly sales goals and generating ideal prospects
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Have a long-term plan
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Strategic prospecting
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Create a sense of urgency
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Set new discount expectations
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Prioritize your time
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**Have a long-term plan\
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As a salesperson, you need to manage and sell your leads, and doing this will require you to set long-term goals to hit your sales quota. While it is okay to set daily or weekly, monthly or quarterly goals, if you want to scale heights and become a sales pro, you need to adopt a long-term plan. So, you should set a yearly plan. Doing this helps you maintain your focus and warm up your leads. You can start by scribbling your goals for the year; then, you can break them down by setting your monthly goals for the number of prospects, total sales volume, and total revenue you wish to generate. While setting these goals, consider holidays and vacations, so they don't affect your activity quotas. This will help you remain consistent no matter the time of the year.
- **Strategic prospecting\
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Many mistakes sales reps make are wasting time on thinking and planning sales strategies when they should be prospecting. As a rule of thumb, you should spend as much time prospecting as you do on the first day of the month. Reps need to understand that strategic prospecting will help you achieve your already set sales goals. In addition, doing this will help you re-engage your cold leads. Reaching out and attempting to understand your client's situation can only be beneficial if you and the prospect have already had a previous positive dialogue. A good way to do this is to be up-to-date with industry news. Also, you can set aside a specific time, say, half of the last day of the month, to send emails to potential leads, get recommendations from existing customers, search for prospects on LinkedIn, and find out if any past customers are willing to be re-engaged. You will be amazed at how easier it will improve your sales performance.
- **Create a sense of urgency\
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Prospects often only see a need to act on a sales deal once they sense urgency. And sadly, sales team members think waiting till the end of the month to close deals is routine work and is easier for them.
To do this, you need to engage in effective communication. Effective communication is just as crucial to sales as engaging in productive conversations with leads. It's crucial to give appropriate information when passing on sales prospects. Follow-ups are easier when there are specifics like a use case, timeline, and stakeholders.
As a salesperson, you need to create a sense of urgency around your client's goal so they would be motivated to buy right off the bat.
- **Set new discount expectations\
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The same rules that border effective communication for creating a sense of urgency are the same that borders setting new discount expectations with your prospective leads.
Sometimes prospects wait for the last-minute rush before giving in to your offers, so you need to raise their expectations by presenting them with a new discount offer. Please don't get this wrong; this does not equate to lying to your prospect but setting new discount expectations for them will help you identify which methods work best to help you close a deal. Furthermore, by being open and honest about the discount expectations, you win your lead's trust and lower the possibility that they may disappear while they wait.
- **Prioritize your time\
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The old saying "time is money" reads true here and should deeply resonate with sales teams. Every second you spend trying to convince an unintending prospect is wasted. To make quota attainment achievable, you need to prioritize your time. This does not imply that you should ignore them or that they are unimportant. Set aside a specific time to focus on opportunities with a higher chance of closing a sales deal as soon as possible or within a mapped-out time frame. Rather than get stuck with a prospect still searching for a solution to their problem, you can direct them in the proper direction by giving them the right resources and letting them know you'll be available to talk with them when they are ready to make a decision.
Also, you can send your prospects emails from time to time when you come across valuable and helpful resources about them or the solution they are researching.
As a result, you'll be the first sales representative they'll call when they move down the sales funnel, and you'll establish yourself as a trustworthy sales rep. Use this method to help your prospects and maintain a robust future pipeline without losing focus.
Final notes: setting sales quota, inbox, CRM, and sales team
In sales, some elements, such as the quality and volume of inbound leads, are beyond your control. However, you can master these top 5 secrets in this article to reach your quotas. You will marvel tremendously at how easily you would scale your profits to generate revenue per time for your company.
While you do this, remember that inaction kills deals, so don't waste your time on prospects who are still in the level of awareness - prioritize your time.
It is also important to reiterate that while you think long-term, you should engage in strategic prospecting and set new discount expectations. All of these will help you hit your sales quota.
