Miss Your Quota? Learn How to Bounce Back, Achieve your Goals, and Finish #1
Can you believe we are halfway through 2022? Time has flown by. It's a new quarter, but what if you missed your quota or you're not on track to reach your yearly goals? Sales is a tough business, and it’s easy to get discouraged when you miss your quota. It can be tough to stay on track when you’re constantly bombarded with new information, sales targets, and requests from corporate. Most people give up after a few rejections, but that's where the real winners separate themselves from the pack. Learn how to bounce back when you miss your quota in order to reach your goals and finish as a top performer in this episode.
"When you learn to build resilience, you can bounce back and achieve your goals" - Danielle Cobo
In This Episode You Will Learn About:
· How to bounce back if you miss your quota
· 7 Steps to achieve your goals
· Resources to set you up for success
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Sales is a tough business, and it’s easy to get discouraged. It can be tough to stay on track when you’re constantly bombarded with new information, sales targets, and requests from corporate. Most people give up after a few rejections, but that's where the real winners separate themselves from the pack. Resiliency is key to success in sales. It's not about how often you get knocked down; it's about how quickly you get back up and keep going.
My life today gives people the impression that I've had it easy. But my path to success wasn't easy. When I was two years old, I was kidnapped by my mother; I met her father at age 15; then kicked out at 17 years old with my clothes stored in trash bags. I moved between friends' houses while working full time to graduate high school. I’ve dealt with some significant setbacks, but it also forced me to learn firsthand the importance of resiliency and how to transform self-doubt into resilience, drive, motivation & confidence.
As an individual contributor, I earned four consecutive Presidents Club awards as a top performer in capital equipment sales, led a team to #1 in the nation for a Fortune 500 company, and successfully launched a career coaching business working with corporations and individuals on career acceleration, company culture and sales performance.
When you learn to build resilience, you can bounce back and achieve your goals. But, how do you bounce back, get back on track and be a top performer?
Here are 7 steps to learn how to bounce back, achieve your sales goals, and finish as a top performer.
Accept the Facts
While this isn't a cheerleading session where we're all smiles because you missed your sales goals, there is no need to dwell on negative thoughts either! Acceptance simply means that you know you didn’t achieve your goals, and it’s now the beginning of a new quarter.
Avoid Comparison Mode
When you're in a comparison mode, it's hard not to feel bad about yourself. It seems like everyone else has exceeded their quota, while yours is an uphill battle! The truth is that you can achieve your goals no matter what life throws at ya'. As a leader on both the west and east coasts, I can tell you no two territories are alike. Comparing yourself to others will only set unrealistic expectations for yourself.
Reset Your Mindset
It can be challenging to bounce back when you lose out on a sale or miss your quota. Negative thoughts can easily consume your mind and cause you to lose focus. If you're feeling discouraged, it can be easy for your feelings of denial to turn into frustration, anger, or depression, which is not what we want! But don't ignore these powerful feelings- acknowledge them and give yourself time to process your emotions so that the following steps will make more sense in helping bring about change within oneself. The best way to process emotions is by setting a timeline for yourself. Give yourself the first few days of every quarter to reset your mind. Acknowledge your negative emotions and reframe your mindset from negative self-talk to positive. Here are three affirmations to start with “I am taking steps to exceeding my goals this quarter.,” “I deliver value to my customers.,” “I deliver results.” and “Setbacks can be turned into opportunities.”
Reflect and Analyze
Salespeople are constantly focused on moving forward and making sales, making self-reflection difficult. Most salespeople never take the time to reflect on their business and just keep going through the motions without analyzing their business. But, this is an important area to focus on to achieve your goals. In this step, consider the controllables. Think about what was within your control and what wasn't. Among the areas within your control, how would you rate your performance? How did you approach your business, what worked well, and what did not work well? How would you approach it differently next time to improve the outcome?
It All Comes Down to Strategy
Salespeople are constantly looking for ways to be more successful, and it's no secret that having a well-thought-out business plan is key to success in sales, but it can be hard to know where to start or quantify your results. It's not enough to just work hard in sales. You’ve heard the saying, “Failing to plan, is planning to fail.” Without a clear plan of action, you're likely to spin your wheels and not make much progress. When you clearly understand your business, including the strengths, opportunities, and threats, you can build a strategic plan to achieve your goals and insulate competitive intrusion. Strategic business planning is essential to being successful in sales. Now that you’ve analyzed what's worked in the past, it’s time to build a strategic business plan with SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals, so you'll know precisely what it takes to succeed. Most sales professionals make the #1 mistake is planning to hit the minimum. If you want to be a top performer and max out your comp plan, then you must build a plan accordingly. For example, don’t build a plan to achieve 100%; make a plan to achieve 130%. If you fall 10% short of your goal, you’ve still exceeded your quota. Break down your sales goals into monthly, weekly, and daily bite-size goals. Achieving small goals builds momentum and confidence to move towards achieving big goals.
Leading with Value
Most people think that sales is all about convincing someone to buy something they don’t want or need. This could be further from the truth. Sales isn't about you, and starting with the features and benefits is the quickest way to lose the sale. The best salespeople take the time to understand their customers’ needs and provide a solution that is valuable to them. It's about taking the time to understand your customers' pain points and providing a solution. When you lead with value, you earn trust and, in return, their business.
Get an Accountability Partner!
Studies show that you are 60% more likely to achieve your goals when you have an accountability partner. To maintain focus, discipline, and bounce ideas off of each other, you should talk to someone who has achieved similar success. They provide the support you need to achieve your goals without sacrificing your personal life. Regular check-ins, strategic planning, and accountability help you keep on track while providing the motivation you need to succeed.
