If you're not meeting your sales targets, something is wrong and you need to fix it. 

Failure to reach your targets doesn't happen overnight. It's a series of actions - or inaction that lead to  shortcomings in future.

Here's what you need to do make sure you exceed your sales target, instead of facing angry clients and letting go of half of your staff.

1. Have an outstanding sales culture

If you could define your company's sales culture in one word, what would it be?

"Competitive", "hierarchical," "transparent, "independent", or "unknown"?

Your company's sales culture will play a huge role in determining how productive your salespeople are, how many leads they convert into sales, how long they stay with your company, and much more.

Read more about how to boost morale in your sales team in our blog How to improve team culture in 30 minutes.

(Want some quick-fire sales tips? Download our top three sales tips direct from the experts to improve the performance of your sales team.)

2. Hire intrinsically motivated people

Sales jobs are not for the people who buckle under pressure. The two most important things that top salespeople look for is career development and the opportunity to make more money.

Salespeople have to deal with angry clients, failure to reach the decision maker, objections, rejections, and the list goes on.

In addition to a thick skin, the best salespeople need to have an innate motivation. Make a list of traits you look for in your ideal sales rep. For example - dominant, assertive, ambitious, confident, tenacious.

Learn more about how to get the best salespeople in our blog How to recruit the best sales talent.

3. Make sure your sales team is well acquainted with the products and target audience

Salespeople need to remember that they're not just selling a product - they're solving a problem.

All master salesmen know that ideas can be sold where merchandise cannot. Ordinary salesmen do not know this - that is why they are "ordinary".

— Napoleon Hill (Think And Grow Rich)

For example, you're not selling a car, you're selling an easy and convenient commute.

To reach your sales target, you need to dig deep into your prospect's psyche, understand what their problems are and pitch how your product/service can solve their problem. To achieve this, your salespeople need to have as much information about the products and target audience as they can. 

You'll lose sales if your salespeople are not well acquainted with the product. Don't count the numbers until you've fixed this basic problem.

4. Lead by example

"Never ask your salesperson to do something you wouldn't do yourself. They will resent you for that."

-Jordan Belfort (The Wolf of Wall Street)

If you're managing a sales team, you shouldn't hesitate to get your hands dirty if the situation demands. Let go of the hierarchy for a moment and get into some action. 

This includes showing your sales rep how to talk to a difficult client, working long hours with your team, and stepping in to close the sale if the newbie is struggling.

5.  Get creative when prospecting and qualifying potential customers

Different types of niches and products require different type of sales strategies to ensure you hit the sales target.

Here are some methods that you might want to try:

Video prospecting:

Instead of traditional cold-calling or emailing, you can try and approach your prospects using a video call to stand out.

Sales automation:

Although automation can't replace real salespeople, it's really helpful when it comes to identifying and nurturing leads, so you know who the warm prospects are.

Sales automation is really handy when you have to pick the best prospects from a database that has hundreds or thousands of contacts. This is a much better option than cold-calling which is almost dead in this day and age.

Chatbots:

With chatbots, you can qualify the right prospects without even lifting a finger. For example, if you want to target small business owners in Wellington, who have been in business for more than 2 years and have at least 10 employees, you can program your chatbot to ask the following questions:

How many employees do you have?

How long have you been in business?

Where are you based?

This is the no bullsh*t way to you can ensure that your salespeople are not wasting time on the wrong prospects.

Want some quick-fire sales tips?

Download our top three sales tips direct from the experts to improve the performance of your sales team.