How Sales Objectives And Lead Generation Leads to Predictable Revenue  

It’s time to review the basics of selling — setting up achievable objectives and deploying a solid outbound sales system. But before we dive into it be sure you know the benefits of sales automation and how to use these tools to effectively find and approach new clients.

These two core fundamentals go hand-in-hand and essentially represent the backbone of your sales department. They need to be kept up-to-date and in motion no matter what state the global markets are in. If the world economy is booming, then great, there’s likely to be more opportunities for you to uncover. But if you find yourself up against a recession or a lethal pandemic (or both), then having tried-and-tested objectives and a working sales system in place is paramount to the health of your business.    

Simply put, you can’t afford to press pause on sales. The world will continue to churn with or without you. Make sure your sales department is well prepared to tackle any market environment with SMART objectives and a high-caliber, fully automated outbound sales system.    

Let's take a closer look at how to successfully set up both. 

Sales objectives: What are they, and why are they so important? 

People often use sales objectives and sales quotas interchangeably. Technically, that’s not quite accurate. While quotas certainly should be a key part of your goals, the department should not evaluate its success simply by its sales volume. Objectives should cover every aspect of your sales process.   

That said, objectives aren’t technically goals either. Goals will tell your team which direction they should be heading, while objectives provide the specific route.    

In a nutshell, your sales objectives make up your road map, outlining each step you need to take in order to arrive at your desired results.

For example: A (general) sales goal might be to boost a company's annual customer retention level, while the corresponding (specific) objective would be to increase retention levels by 10% per quarter for the next four consecutive quarters.     

Remember, objectives should be SMART — clearly specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. Not only will this help you to assess the merits of your sales system, but it will motivate your team to improve on a department or individual level.

Furthermore, you can set results-based objectives or activity-based objectives. Meeting results-based objectives can sometimes be outside the control of sales reps, while activity-based ones can be more attainable.  

In addition to a sales rep’s monthly quota, results-based objectives might also include lines like: “Increase deal volume by 25 percent per quarter” or “sign 20 new clients per month.” If outside influences prevent a rep from meeting these results, they might begin to feel discouraged, which is why it’s good to also include objectives that don’t require a bit of luck to achieve. 

Enter activity-based objectives. “Send 20 emails per day to potential new clients” and “add 25 leads to the sales pipeline per day” are good examples of these types of objectives. They, by comparison, are well within an individual sales rep’s control.

Setting up an outbound sales system 

While you’re putting together your objectives, maintaining the health of your outbound sales system should never be far from your mind. To that end, let’s go over some pointers that will guarantee a smooth deployment.   

First, what exactly is an outboard sales system? Under this system, it’s the sales reps who are responsible for initiating and driving customer engagement. As markets become more and more automated, outbound sales are the most effective way to boost a company’s deal volume and an increasing number of executives are turning to this type of sales engagement instead of waiting around for a potential customer to contact them (a.k.a. “Inbound sales”).   

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But outbound sales can be tricky terrain, least of all because many people still bristle when getting unsolicited phone calls and emails asking them to buy or sign on to a product or service they know nothing about. 

So, then, how does one tackle outbound sales? 

Here’s our four-ingredient recipe for success: 

1. Talent
2. Luck 
3. Strategy 
4. Automation
   

Each point seems rather self-explanatory, but it’s worth going into more detail on Point 3, as your strategy is really what will make or break your sales system. It is also what essentially connects the other three points in the recipe. Before you even start thinking about your sales goals and objectives, you need to have a concrete strategy that aligns with your company’s overall goals and clearly identifies its market segment.     

Sales automation experts agree that accurate ideal customer profiles and hyper targeted and personalized messaging will undoubtedly lead to exponential business growth. This can all be easily accomplished by using cutting-edge AI-powered automation tools, saving your company money and, more importantly, time. 

Building a scalable outbound sales system can be broken down into five steps:

1. Identity your target market(s)
2. Determine what you want to accomplish in each market segmentation 
3. Compile customer data 
4. Analyze the data to determine which market segment(s) will be the best fit 
5. Compile CPIs for each market segment
   

Don’t rush this process or skimp on details. The growth of your deals volume will depend a lot on how well you prepare and deploy your sales system, so try and get input from your whole team when putting together (or updating) your company sales system. By involving the whole team in the process, not only will you strengthen outbound sales but you will strengthen morale as well.     

Key Takeaways 🎓

- SMART sales objectives outlining each step you need to take in order to arrive at your desired results

- Sales strategy should include a mix of results-based objectives and activity-based objectives   

- Outbound sales are the most effective way to boost a company’s deal volume 

- ICPs and hyper personalized messaging leads to exponential business growth

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Boost morale by involving whole team in strategy-building process.

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