Setting SMART goals and sales targets can help protect Mental Health in sales. When we do this we foster hope in our sales team, which helps build emotional resilience. Hope allows reps to remain optimistic and persevere even while facing adversity in sales.
This means Sales leaders need stop setting their sales team targets like Homer Simpson.
I will never forget watching Homer dancing around on the Simpsons many years ago singing:
“I am so smart!… S… M… R… T…”
After he lit his own house on fire.
What a complete fool I thought. No one would respect a person like that in real life and they don’t.
So Sales Leaders stop setting “SMRT” sales targets and start setting “SMART” sales targets instead.
- S – Specific
- M – Measurable
- A – Achievable
- R – Relevant
- T – Time-Specific
If you leave out the “A” and make your sales targets unachievable, sales reps on your team will quickly feel helpless. If they are unable to see a path to success or lack the agency to try something new – all hope will be lost.
In situations like this – sales rep Mental Health will decline and finding the motivation to push through adversity will diminish because their target will be perceived as meaningless.
You will literally be burning the house your sales team lives in to the ground.
Do you really want to burn your sales culture to the ground?
No.
Do you really want to be the Homer Simpson of sales?
No.
So get SMART about it.
Don’t be a Homer.
Setting SMART Goals Exercise
Determine if your sales targets are achievable by using conversion rates at each stage of your pipeline to evaluate how much volume is required to hit target.
For example:
Determine your current conversion rates of Calls Made and Emails Sent that turn into Qualified Demos booked. Then ask yourself:
Is it humanly possible to execute the volume output of dials and email sends required to book enough demos to meet your revenue target?
If the answer is no … then someone is being a Homer. You need to revisit how you can make this target more achievable.
For more best practices to help improve sales performance through better resilience, EQ and Mental Health – check out the online course in the link below.
Online Course: Improve Sales Performance Through Better Mental Health
About The Author
Jeff Riseley is currently the Founder of the Sales Health Alliance and Mental Health Advocate. With over a decade of sales experience – Jeff understands the importance of Mental Health in achieving peak sales performance.
Jeff combines his sales (Sales Knowledge Institute) and Mental Health expertise to improve sales performance through a mix of sales mentorship and mental health best practices. His strategies have helped sales teams improve their sales process, while helping them become more motivated, resilient and better equipped to tackle stressful events within sales.
He is currently delivering these strategies through on-site workshops, coaching and speaking engagements. To explore working with Jeff contact him at [email protected]
