How are you doing on reaching your 2010 sales goals? How are your results this year going to impact your 2011 goals? I’m a firm believer in having what I refer to as “personal sales development goals.” These are goals you set to help you grow both personally and professionally, not just to help you in the immediate year but more importantly to help you achieve a higher results in each subsequent year.
Too many corporations today are eliminating all professional development programs. They’re doing this all in the spirit of saving money, yet what they’re really doing is cutting their business. If you’re in a company that has done this, don’t use it as an excuse to not pursue on your own your “personal sales development goals.” Unless we are pro-active in developing our sales skills, we’ll become victims of only being as good as our environment. In so doing, our level of sales motivation will also fall victim to the same thing.
Use the next couple of weeks to start determining what your personal growth goals are going to be. As you’re determining what they should be, don’t forget to take into consideration how the goals you set will either help or hurt your sales motivation. In my opinion the best way to set personal growth goals is to set them in a manner that will allow you to achieve them. Reason I believe this is because the goals your company sets for you may very well be out of reach. Therefore, these goals could wind up making you very discouraged.
By setting personal growth goals at a level you can achieve, you’ll have something you can feel good about. In so doing, you will be boosting your level of sales motivation. Motivation always builds on motivation, so if you can start feeling good about one goal, it can then help you feel more motivated to achieve your other goals.
Now let me describe what I mean by personal sale development goals. These are goals that will help you grow professionally in your job both in the current year and subsequent years. A personal sales development goal might be something like developing 5 new closing techniques you successfully use. Another one might be to be able to establish relationships with at least 7 senior officers of companies you call on. Or, another one might be to attend 2 sales development training programs.
Each one is a goal you can set yourself and achieve yourself. They don’t require sales numbers, but if you achieve them, you know you will be performing at a higher level.
Take the time to develop 2-3 personal sales development goals for next year. When you do, drop me an email and let me know what they are. I’ll be happy to challenge you throughout the year to help ensure you achieve them. More importantly, I’ll help you keep your sales motivation high. My email is mark@thesaleshunter.com.
Copyright 2010, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
