Sales – Is It All About Targets?

Numbers DO matter in a sales career, but integrity and your reputation are just as important!

As we all know, the performance of a salesperson is measured by achievement of their individual targets, both activity and revenue based as well as their year on year growth . (Don’t ever bill backwards - is the mantra successful recruiters live by).

A sales persons’ objective is to contribute positively towards gross profit, so revenue targets are used to assess where you’ve been and how you have performed, whilst activity targets are used to focus on where you are going.

Let’s face it – the day to day role of a sales professional can be challenging. Knocking on doors, dealing with rejection and solving problems on a regular basis requires stamina, resilience and determination. Targets are useful in focusing activity and efforts effectively to maintain motivation over the disappointment that comes with any sales role and ensures conversion of sales activity into results.

So what does your reputation have to do with it ?

Behaviour and the integrity of a salesperson are just as important as hitting your targets. In a sales career, your reputation can be very easily tarnished and is almost impossible to rebuild.

Dodgy behaviour and tactics will connect you with the stigma of being non trustworthy when in sales AND will not do you any favours in the long term. Operating with integrity with every prospective and existing customer will help you avoid receiving a bad reputation.

Your customers will be loyal and stick with you for the long term, ultimately contributing to your ongoing success in the market. The more successful you are, the greater your ability to meet and exceed your TARGETS!