How to Ensure You’ll Fail to Meet Your Sales Quota

It’s no secret sales is a demanding and competitive industry to be in. It is one of the reasons sales is set up with so many goals, including sales quotas. Whether you’re the sales manager or an individual member of the team, quotas are likely an important measuring stick for your performance.

How do you improve your sales?

It’s a question most sales professionals ask at some point in their careers. The good news is there are many ways to improve your sales, such as customizing customer interactions, engaging in lead nurturing, qualifying leads, and more.

There are many tactics out there, but not all of them will improve your sales. If you want to avoid failing to meet your quota, steer clear of some of these tactics.

You Rely on Outdated Techniques

The phrase “tried and true” is comforting for most people. It means something has been tested and shown to work, time and time again.

In sales, unfortunately, there aren’t many “tried and true” techniques. The sales landscape is almost constantly shifting as consumer preferences and buying journeys change. You’ll need to switch up your tactics if you want to keep up.

If you rely solely on outdated methods, like cold calling, you’re bound to fail to meet your sales quota. Take a look at newer methods, like social selling, and give some of the older techniques you’re using an update for the modern era.

You’re Not Qualifying Inbound Leads

Maybe you’ve ditched cold calling and made the leap to more modern tactics, like inbound sales. While that’s great news, it’s still not a guarantee you’re going to meet your sales quota.

One very common mistake is the failure to qualify inbound leads. While inbound marketing can produce many leads, only some of them will actually be likely to buy. You need to check in on leads and verify which ones are most likely to yield results.

By doing this, you can increase your chances of making the sale and stop wasting time selling to leads who will never buy.

You’re Not Meeting Customer Needs

How do you approach a qualified lead? Many sales professionals still jump right into the pitch, especially if they know the lead is interested in the product or has decision-making power.

This tactic doesn’t usually yield results. Leads are concerned with their own needs, rather than what your product or service does. Instead of pitching, think about what the customer is looking for and how to assist them.

You’re Not Personalizing Campaigns

Technology is a great thing. It allows you to automate many of the tasks you manage as a sales professional. It can even help you send out email campaigns and follow up with leads.

Of course, technology has to be leveraged properly. If you allow automation to take over and send out the same campaign to everyone, you may not see the results you’re looking for.

Instead, think about personalizing emails. Use the data you collect through your inbound efforts and lead-generation activities to ensure campaigns are suited to the prospects you’re trying to reach.

You’re Not Measuring

Metrics are another one of the important features of technology. With the amount of data you can collect from your activities, you can get more powerful insights into what’s working and what’s not.

If you don’t use metrics or you’re using the wrong metrics, however, you won’t be able to use this information to power your decision-making. The right sales metrics can help you see how to tweak and adjust your strategy to truly drive the results you want to see.

As you can see, it’s easy to fall into some of the traps that will prevent you from attaining your sales quota. Luckily, it’s just as easy to avoid these mistakes and drive your sales efforts forward.