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Digg it UP - Setting Sales Targets - The Biggest Mistakes
When China decided to build a railroad line, which would be nearly 16,000 feet high a special locomotive had to be built to run at these high altitudes, as well as oxygen had to be secured for those passengers and locomotive engineers. This technology had to be borrowed from other sources and luckily there was a multinational corporation, which was able to handle this.General Electric has built the GE C38AChe, which is a high altitude locomotive, which runs at optimum even at high elevations. In fact, General Electric has built 78 of these GE C38AChe Locomotives. Each one having 4000 hp and to they are an engineering marvel of technology both ol
A lot of management books push business owners to "shoot for the stars" when setting goals for their bus
At American Retail Supply, we make mistakes. We spend lots of time and money to make our procedures as efficient and foolproof as possible, but we still make mistakes. So, where do I get off writing these columns that so often highlight the need for Exceptional Customer Service?While nobody likes to be at the receiving end of a mistake, we all know that people make mistakes. Exceptional Customer Service requires that we learn from these mistakes and take action to reduce or eliminate them, but what really brings customers back is your response when you mess up.Here are a few points to consider as you examine your customer se
Eyes Wide Open works with owner-operators to help them set and achieve their sales targets. At this time of year a lot of businesses are revisiting their sales goals and target. We thought it would be timely to share the biggest mistakes we see businesses making when it comes to sales planning.
Mistake 1: Accelerated Growth Rates
In this context, your growth rate is the percentage change in your turnover each year. If you have a turnover of $100 000 in 2004 and then $120 000 in 2005, your growth rate is 20% / annum. One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is setting unrealistic growth rates for their business. For instance, consider the following data.
Historically the business has achieved:
o 2003 = $50 000
o 2004 = $70 000
o 2005 = $100 000
Then they start planning sales goals for the future:
o 2006 = $200 000
o 2007 = $550 000
o 2008 = $1 200 000
On the surface these figures may look reasonable, just a few $100 000 here and there. However, the growth rates tell a different story.
o 2004 = 40%
o 2005 = 42%
o 2006 = 100%
o 2007 = 175%
o 2008 = 118%
It's not so much that these growth rates are impossible but you must seriously question how a business is going to go from a growth rate of 42% to 100%+ in just 12 months. Most business owners setting ambitious sales goals don't think through this in enough detail and fail as a result. But shouldn't sales goals be ambitious?
A lot of management books push business owners to "shoot for the stars" when setting goals for their busi
Maybe you're just beginning to think about starting your home business, or perhaps you've taken the plunge and have found the perfect opportunity or business idea. Regardless of how far into the planning you are, there are some simple concepts to consider when you're the captain of your own ship. It's very easy when you work alone or on your own to loose track of time and become distracted by every phone call or email that you receive during the day. Although communication is important, being able to distinguish between what you must do immediately and what can wait is often difficult. When you own your own business, you're in charge of creating your own
Mistake 1: Accelerated Growth Rates
In this context, your growth rate is the percentage change in your turnover each year. If you have a turnover of $100 000 in 2004 and then $120 000 in 2005, your growth rate is 20% / annum. One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is setting unrealistic growth rates for their business. For instance, consider the following data.
Historically the business has achieved:
o 2003 = $50 000
o 2004 = $70 000
o 2005 = $100 000
Then they start planning sales goals for the future:
o 2006 = $200 000
o 2007 = $550 000
o 2008 = $1 200 000
On the surface these figures may look reasonable, just a few $100 000 here and there. However, the growth rates tell a different story.
o 2004 = 40%
o 2005 = 42%
o 2006 = 100%
o 2007 = 175%
o 2008 = 118%
It's not so much that these growth rates are impossible but you must seriously question how a business is going to go from a growth rate of 42% to 100%+ in just 12 months. Most business owners setting ambitious sales goals don't think through this in enough detail and fail as a result. But shouldn't sales goals be ambitious?
A lot of management books push business owners to "shoot for the stars" when setting goals for their bus
Here’s a tip for cover letters to get more interviews. Use a bulleted format cover letter rather than a standard letter in paragraphs. The bulleted format is more eye catching, and is more likely to be glanced at by the hiring manager or other person assigned to sort through resumes. This format will help you get your resume seen by more people and as a result get more interviews and more job offers.If you follow this advice and decide to use the bulleted format, make sure that each bullet point specifies a reason for the hiring manager to talk with you. This reason can be your number of years experience, your education, a personality trait tha
Historically the business has achieved:
o 2003 = $50 000
o 2004 = $70 000
o 2005 = $100 000
Then they start planning sales goals for the future:
o 2006 = $200 000
o 2007 = $550 000
o 2008 = $1 200 000
On the surface these figures may look reasonable, just a few $100 000 here and there. However, the growth rates tell a different story.
o 2004 = 40%
o 2005 = 42%
o 2006 = 100%
o 2007 = 175%
o 2008 = 118%
It's not so much that these growth rates are impossible but you must seriously question how a business is going to go from a growth rate of 42% to 100%+ in just 12 months. Most business owners setting ambitious sales goals don't think through this in enough detail and fail as a result. But shouldn't sales goals be ambitious?
A lot of management books push business owners to "shoot for the stars" when setting goals for their bus
I don't encourage managers to wear funny hats, appear in self-deprecating skits, or otherwise emulate Saturday Night Live in an attempt to manufacture an image as, "Look, folks! I'm just one a' the guys!" If clients insist, I do what I can to help. I want the money. But it's not usually such a hot idea.I know it's done. Frequently. And I read reports of the exhilarating effects created by executives who deliver call-to-action keynotes dressed as a gunfighter or sumo wrestler. I notice, also, that these reports are usually written by those who work for the speaker, or by meeting producers retained by the speaker's company.A field sales force
o 2004 = 40%
o 2005 = 42%
o 2006 = 100%
o 2007 = 175%
o 2008 = 118%
It's not so much that these growth rates are impossible but you must seriously question how a business is going to go from a growth rate of 42% to 100%+ in just 12 months. Most business owners setting ambitious sales goals don't think through this in enough detail and fail as a result. But shouldn't sales goals be ambitious?
A lot of management books push business owners to "shoot for the stars" when setting goals for their bus
Here's something on the internet that's a godsend: free online bookkeeping courses. Do you think bookkeeping is confusing? If you're like me, you can balance a checkbook or household budget just fine, but when you start trying to figure out assets and liabilities, it gets confusing. It might be easier if they used minus signs instead of parentheses to indicate negative amounts. Or if they didn't add liabilities. But it is what it is, and, if you have a home business, you can screw things up badly if you can't keep your books right.When you have a home business, you are usually the sole proprietor, CEO, CFO, secretary and workforce. You don't
A lot of management books push business owners to "shoot for the stars" when setting goals for their business. We disagree with this mindset when it leads the business owner to set goals that lack a pragmatic foundation.
Substantial growth is possible but you have to carefully plan how it will happen. What's going to give you the leg up? More Sales staff? A merger with another business? A new contract? Better facilities or more warehouse space?
Be very careful about setting your business on a course for substantial growth. It will most likely put your people, cash flow and other resources under enormous pressure. Failure to achieve the goals can be devastating to the business, your credibility and the confidence of the people within the business.
From our experience, you are likely to be more effective setting more conservative, well considered goals. We call this "setting yourself up for a win". After all if you achieve them quicker than expected you can always set new ones! (Of course, you only set new ones after you've celebrated your win!). Taking this approach leads to business growth being a more enjoyable and rewarding journey for all involved.
What growth rates are reasonable?
The level of growth that is considered "reasonable" will vary depending on the age of the business, industry and how well it is run. New businesses can have amazing growth rates because they're working from a sma
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