Manage by Sales Objectives#

Generic management-by-objectives becomes management by sales objectives when applied to a sales team. The Economist reported a productivity study spanning 10,000 organizations across twenty countries, conducted by 150 researchers. Across every market, three factors predicted performance:

• Setting clear targets.
• Measuring results.
• Rewarding performance.

Quotas and territories are the operational form these three factors take inside a sales team.

The Big Three of High-Performance Selling#

1. Clear Targets and Quotas#

Top sales organizations set explicit weekly and monthly quotas for each salesperson, plus daily action targets. Every salesperson knows exactly what they are expected to do, from the moment they arrive at work to the moment they go home.

2. Clear Measures and Deadlines#

Salespeople know precisely:

• How they will be measured.
• How they will be paid.
• The exact timelines and deadlines they will be judged against.

3. Excellent Rewards for High Performance#

The clearer the link between hitting targets and earning more money, the more reliably salespeople hit those targets.

Setting targets, measuring results, and rewarding performance are not optional. They are the universal predictors of sales productivity.

Apply These Principles to Everyone#

Some managers ask: “My people work on straight commission — can I really set quotas and deadlines for them?” The answer is yes — and you must.

Jim Rohn: “Top people go where the standards are the highest.”

If you want to attract and keep the best:

• Treat them like a crack team with clear, daily standards.
• Impose clear controls on every activity.
• Insist on those controls every single day.

The very best salespeople perform at their highest level inside a tightly organized, well-disciplined team — not a loose one.

Differentiate by Experience and Ability#

While the framework is universal, the numbers should not be:

• New salespeople should have quotas commensurate with their knowledge and experience.
• Experienced, successful salespeople should have higher quotas.
• Sit down with each individual to determine the right quota based on their background and the current market.

You cannot control where the next sale comes from. You can only control the daily activities of the salesperson — and those activities ultimately determine sales.

Define Activity Quotas, Not Just Sales Quotas#

Translate every sales goal into a daily activity goal:

• Specific number of customer calls per day.
• Face-to-face follow-ups with prospects.
• Callbacks to recent prospects and existing customers.
• A target number of emails or letters.
• A target number of interviews.

If telephone prospecting is the key to setting appointments, set a hard standard such as ten contacts by 11:00 a.m. Salespeople sit down with their call sheets the moment they arrive and start dialing.

Nothing motivates a salesperson more than a clear, specific track to run on. Nothing demotivates faster than rattling around with no direction.

Discuss, Agree, and Inspect#

For new hires, the rhythm is intensive:

• Sit down and agree on daily activities up front.
• At the end of each day, do a brief written review.
• Once the salesperson is closing consistently, ease off to once or twice a week.

Ken Blanchard: “Feedback is the breakfast of champions.”

Inspect what you expect — every day at first, then on a sustainable cadence.

The Two Magic Questions#

End every call review or daily debrief with two questions:

1. “What did you do right?”
2. “What would you do differently next time?”

Why these specific phrasings matter:

• Aristotle: “Wisdom is an equal measure of experience plus reflection.”
• When salespeople reflect on what they did right, those positive actions get reinforced in their subconscious and are more likely to repeat.
• When salespeople think about what they would do differently, they identify improvements without dwelling on failure.

Old-school managers ask, “What did you do wrong? How did you blow the sale?”

Psychologists have found that reviewing negatives reinforces them, making them more likely to reappear. Avoid this trap.

A Sense of Mastery#

The greatest motivator is the feeling of personal empowerment through learning and growth. When you help your salespeople think about how they could perform even better, they feel happy about themselves, about you, and about the job — and they sell more.

Action Exercises#

1. Develop and discuss clear sales goals and daily activity goals with each salesperson on your team.
2. Schedule a recurring rhythm — daily debrief at first, weekly group review thereafter — to give and receive feedback on activities and results.