End-of-month periods are usually stressful in the sales world. The most echoed question in meetings is: “Will we hit our target this month?” Most sales managers focus all their energy on quotas and revenue targets. But there is a huge fact overlooked here: You cannot manage goals. Goals are just outcomes. The only thing you can manage are the actions that produce those outcomes, namely sales activities.
So, why should you shift your focus from “target numbers” to “daily activities”? Let’s take a closer look at what this mindset shift will bring to your company and your team.
1. Results Are Lagging, Activities Are Leading Indicators
Metrics in business are broadly divided into two categories:
- Lagging Indicators: Revenue, closed deals, profit earned. (These are the results of the past; you cannot change them.)
- Leading Indicators: Number of calls made, emails sent, meetings held, and proposals submitted. (These shape the future; you can control them directly.)
If you only look at sales numbers, you are like a basketball player trying to play the game by staring at the scoreboard. The scoreboard won’t tell you how to win the game; practice, passes, and shots (activities) determine that.
2. Activity Management Increases Predictability
Let’s say your monthly sales goal is $100,000. Simply telling your team to “work harder” to reach this number is not a strategy. However, if you apply reverse engineering, the process becomes completely controllable:
- If your average deal size is $10,000, you need to close 10 sales to reach the goal.
- According to historical data, if 1 out of every 4 proposals turns into a sale, you must submit 40 proposals.
- If 1 out of every 3 meetings progresses to the proposal stage, you must hold 120 meetings.
- If 1 out of every 10 calls turns into a meeting, you need to make a total of 1,200 calls.
When you shift your focus from “$100,000 in revenue” to the goal of “We will make 300 calls and hold 30 meetings this week”, your sales pipeline turns into a predictable and sustainable machine.
3. Elevates Team Motivation and the Sense of Control
Sales professionals quickly become demotivated when they miss their targets, especially during market downturns. This is because customer decisions, economic fluctuations, or competitors’ moves are ultimately out of their control.
However, a sales rep has 100% control over how many people they will call and how many follow-up emails they will send in a day. When you reward your team based on the activities they can control rather than judging them on goals they cannot, you reduce stress and boost self-confidence.
4. Provides Real Data for Coaching and Development
A manager who only looks at revenue cannot find the root cause of failure. The sentence “John missed his target this month” offers no solution.
But if you track activities, you can see the real bottleneck:
“John makes enough calls and books meetings, but he cannot move prospects to the proposal stage.”
Thanks to this data, you can pinpoint that John needs training in “needs analysis” or “presentation skills” and provide him with highly targeted coaching.
Transform Your Sales Processes with Ecosh
Shifting the focus from goals to activities requires a proper CRM and process management culture. With the solutions we offer at Ecosh, we ensure that your company not only reaches its goals but flawlessly builds the path to get there.
Remember: If you do the right activities, in the right amount, consistently; the goals will naturally achieve themselves.
