Goal Setting

Brian Jackson, Sandler coach from San Diego, talks about productivity hacks: how to measure and manage productivity. Productivity is one of the most important aspects of any business. Productivity isn't just about quantity—it's also about quality. It can also be one of the most difficult to measure and manage.

There’s a wise saying popularly attributed to baseball legend Yogi Berra: “If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Here’s how I unpack that wisdom: We have to know what our goals are, and we also have to know the specific behaviors that support those goals… otherwise, we may end up supporting someone else’s plan, rather than our own. With that sobering thought in mind, consider this list of five behaviors that are essential the achievement of any worthwhile personal goal.

The first month of the year is a classic time for sales professionals to focus with intensity on identifying and fulfilling their most important personal and organizational goals. We’ve noticed, though, that the goal setting behavior of an organization’s leaders during the month of January tends to have the biggest bottom-line impact on the year as a whole.

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As the end of the year is approaching, sales professionals in every industry are eager to lay a solid foundation for success in 2019. One of the most common business-related New Year’s resolutions among managers is this one: “I will hold more one-on-one coaching sessions with the members of my team this year.” It’s fine as far as it goes … but is it enough?

With Q4 upon us, it makes sense to start thinking carefully about what has worked – and what could be improved – in your prospecting plan this year. Here are three ideas to consider that have helped salespeople we’ve worked with to create better “cookbooks” (daily and weekly action plans) for effective prospecting. You may want to consider adopting all three of them as this year closes … and as the next year approaches.

As we enter Q4, sales professionals in all industries are likely pondering the same question: Am I on track? If the answer, based on the best available hard numbers and the most objective real-world assessment, is “no,” then it’s likely that another question is looming in the shadows behind the first one: How do I get back on track?

Have you noticed? Temperatures are rising, which means summer is about to make its big entrance. For most of us, that’s entirely good news, because summertime means things like vacations, cookouts, and maybe even some time at the beach with a good book. For salespeople, though, the advent of summer is likely to be a bittersweet development, one that leads to an unnecessary drop in annual income… because of the Myth of the Eleventh Commandment.

Dean Lindsay, author of How to Achieve Big PHAT Goals, joins Mike Montague to talk about making big things happen this year. Dean is a keynote speaker and author of other books. He can be found at  deanlindsay.com

You’ve thought it out, gotten motivated and set a lofty goal for your sales and performance this year – so you are all set, right? Not so fast; setting the goals is just the beginning. Careful planning now can help you beat the odds when it comes to your sales goals and ensure you have the successful year you are planning for. Setting the right goals for the New Year is a great start. In a recent post, we covered the best way to set obtainable goals that are SMARTER – using a specific format designed to ensure your goals are measurable and attainable. Whether you use this system or take a different approach, the things you do in the first quarter will have a big impact on your outcome at the end of the year.  

It happens every single year. You begin with lofty sales goals and quotas in January – but by December, you wonder what happened and end up trying to figure out where your team went wrong. Lack of motivation may not be the problem – you may just be taking the wrong approach to goal setting.

Leaders need to be involved in both strategic planning and team goal setting, but there’s a built-in problem here. Teams often tend to focus on immediate tasks, on “putting out fires,” and on familiar routines rather than the strategically vital organizational targets we set for the coming year.

There is something nearly magical about this time of year.  No, it isn’t the snow globes, the gifts, or the brightly colored lawn ornaments.  It is the changing of the New Year.  One simple turn of the calendar page evokes the mental sensation of a fresh start. 

As the first quarter comes to an end, it’s appropriate to review your department goals and measure your progress. Will your sales team hit the quarterly benchmarks for your department’s strategic initiatives? Have they made significant headway? Or, have they fallen behind already?

Clients, vendors, sales representatives, and products fill up most of your time, leaving few minutes each day to organize yourself and clear the clutter from your desk or mind. January is “get organized month,” but busy sales representatives and managers can’t devote an entire day to administrative tasks without losing potential profits. Here are seven ways you can create organization to drive success in ten-minute increments any day of the year.

Why? Why do we get up every day and go to work? Because we have bills to pay: Really? Listen to the news-not paying your bills is now as much a status symbol as a Gold Card in the 1980's. Because that's what is expected: Really? In most companies, the last time you saw your job description was the day you interviewed-and you don't know what is really expected, do you? Because employees depend on us: Really? Management texts say a great manager implements systems that will operate well when management is not there. Really it's because Mom or Dad said so