Most sales targets are made up. Whether you're running a team in Chelmsford or a growing operation in Colchester, the story is usually the same — the boss picks a number that sounds impressive and works backwards to divide it among the team. The problem is, that number doesn't tell anyone what to do differently tomorrow morning.
Good sales targets aren't just revenue figures on a whiteboard. They're a set of leading indicators that, if your team hits them consistently, will deliver the revenue as a by-product. Here's how to set them properly.
Start with Lagging vs Leading Indicators
Revenue is a lagging indicator — it tells you what already happened. By the time you know you've missed your revenue target, it's too late to do anything about it.
Leading indicators tell you what's happening right now. They predict future revenue before it arrives. Your job is to find the leading indicators that correlate most strongly with closed deals in your business — then make those the targets your team works toward every day.
Common leading indicators in sales include:
- Calls made or conversations had
- Qualified opportunities created
- Discovery meetings booked
- Proposals sent
- Follow-up touches completed
Build a Target Hierarchy, Not a Single Number
Instead of one annual revenue number, build a three-level target structure:
- Annual revenue target — the big number, reviewed quarterly
- Monthly activity targets — calls, meetings, proposals — the leading indicators
- Weekly individual targets — what each person needs to do this week to stay on track
This way, a missed weekly target is a signal, not a crisis. You can course-correct in days instead of months.
Use Your Conversion Data to Set Realistic Numbers
You can't set meaningful activity targets without knowing your conversion rates. If you don't have clean data yet, start tracking today. Here's the basic math:
"I need £50k in new revenue this month. My average deal is £5k, so I need 10 closed deals. My close rate on proposals is 25%, so I need 40 proposals sent. My proposal rate on qualified meetings is 50%, so I need 80 qualified meetings. I turn 1 in 5 cold conversations into a qualified meeting, so I need 400 conversations."
Now you have a daily target: roughly 20 conversations per working day. That's concrete. That's actionable. That's something a salesperson can look at and know whether they're winning or losing before lunchtime.
Don't Set Targets in Isolation
Nothing demotivates a sales team like targets that feel impossible or irrelevant — and it's a pattern we see repeatedly across Essex businesses of all sizes. Involve your team in the process. Ask them:
- What's a realistic number for calls per day given your workload?
- What's getting in the way of hitting your current targets?
- What support or resources would help you perform better?
Targets that the team helped build are targets they'll actually work toward. Targets imposed from above are numbers they'll learn to explain away.
Review Weekly, Adjust Monthly
Set a fixed time each week to review progress against targets. Not a firefight — a calm, 30-minute check-in. Look at the leading indicators first. If activity is on track but revenue is behind, your conversion process or pricing might be the issue. If activity is behind, your targets might be unrealistic and need adjusting.
Monthly adjustments aren't cheating. A target that made sense in January might be irrelevant by March because of market shifts, new competitors, or changes in your product. Keep the annual number fixed, but flex the monthly and weekly targets as you learn what's actually achievable.
Examples of Good vs Bad Targets
| Bad Target | Good Target |
|---|---|
| "Increase revenue by 20%" | "Book 8 discovery meetings this month" |
| "Close more deals" | "Send 15 proposals and follow up within 48 hours" |
| "Hit your quarterly number" | "Make 25 qualified calls per day" |
One Rule Above All Others
Never set a target without a plan for how to hit it. If your team doesn't know what actions lead to the target, the target is decoration. Every KPI should come with a clear "if you want to hit this, do X" instruction. If you can't give that instruction, you don't understand your own sales process well enough to be setting targets yet.
Need help defining the right KPIs for your sales team? We can match you with a coach who does exactly that.