SHARE

How Do You Set Business Goals for Sustainable Sales Growth?

Q: What are OKRs in business planning?

OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, are a goal-setting framework that helps organizations define objectives and measure progress through specific, quantifiable results.

April 20, 2021 | 6 minute read

Sales Growth

Setting business goals for sustainable sales growth starts with creating long-term objectives, defining measurable key results, and aligning daily activities with your company vision. Businesses that use structured frameworks such as OKRs can better track progress, improve employee accountability, and increase revenue growth over time. The key is turning ambitious goals into measurable actions that can be reviewed and adjusted regularly. Despite operating in the midst of a continuing global pandemic, chances are your sales and overall business goals remain the same as always: up the quotas for you and your team, enable good (read: smarter) growth, train the team, and measure the metrics.

But real talk? The turmoil of the pandemic tested companies and the workforce in ways we’ve never seen before: businesses closed and employees lost their jobs at an unprecedented rate. Relationships you could count on before have shuffled. In times like these, setting business goals for revenue growth plus employee and customer retention is not only a lot easier said than done: it feels like you’re free-falling through space without the benchmarks you used to be able to rely on.

So, here’s how to set goals for your business to help you block out the noise that continued stress and upheaval brings. These tips will help you focus on continued and sustainable sales growth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Business goals are measurable outcomes a company wants to achieve within a specific timeframe, such as increasing revenue, improving customer retention, or expanding market share.

OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) are a goal-setting framework that helps organizations define objectives and measure progress through specific, quantifiable results.

Most businesses review goals weekly or monthly to monitor progress and make adjustments when needed. Quarterly reviews are commonly used for larger strategic objectives.

A goal describes the desired outcome, while a key result measures progress toward achieving that goal.

Business goals provide direction, establish accountability, and help sales teams focus on activities that contribute directly to revenue generation and customer retention.

Why Setting Business Goals Matters

Without clearly defined business goals, it becomes difficult to measure progress, prioritize resources, or maintain consistent sales growth. Strategic goal setting helps organizations align teams, improve accountability, identify growth opportunities, and respond more effectively to changing market conditions. When goals are measurable and connected to business outcomes, companies are better positioned to increase revenue, retain customers, and support employee success.

Could Becoming a Podcast Guest Help Grow Your Business?

Sharing your expertise on the Company Growth Podcast can help increase brand visibility, build credibility with potential customers, and position you as a trusted voice in your industry.

How to Set Business Goals for Sales Growth

Look toward the long term.

In the midst of a pandemic and with the end of Q1 2021 approaching, it’s easy to get bogged down. If you feel like you’re on the back foot for how Q1 actually went, planning on how to get through the next few quarters will still help. A few misses in Q1 does not mean you can’t get back up: keep your eye on the prize of long term sales growth.

Go back to your business’s mission or mandate.

Do you have a clear vision for where your sales growth will take you one year from now, five years? Ten? If you want to increase yearly revenue by 30%, that long term can be broken down into smaller goals for your team as a whole and individual reps. Now translate it into daily and weekly goals. When you aren’t sure what works anymore, it’s ok to focus on metrics like 30-40 calls a day per rep, and to specify for your team how much of that should be net new reach out vs follow ups. Reassess your sales strategy, put it to work, and make sure you’re tracking it with a sales rep productivity tool like HubSpot.

Set OKRs.

Objectives and Key Results are a strategic framework that help you measure the success of your goal. OKRs should always be quantifiable, ambitious, and scheduled. The OKR strategy is being used right now by some of the most successful businesses in the world, like Google. OKRs create transparency for your team and on a weekly basis help you track your progress towards BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) so you can see what’s working and what’s not.

Identify your Key Results.

Once you’ve set goals within your OKR framework, identify the key results (KRs) to measure your success. You know you’re speaking the language of Key Results when you add “as measured by” to each Key Result. KRs should be the activity statements that help you reach your Objectives. For example, an objective might be sales revenue or customer retention for a sales manager but how will you measure that revenue generation or customer retention? These are the key results.

Anytime you set sales goals you are giving your sales reps an opportunity to level up and grow within a clear framework. They’ll be happier and work harder because they know what they’re working towards. Don’t forget to do weekly check-ins and to score your progress on key result attainment.

If 2020 Taught Us Anything, It’s That We Could All Use A Little Help

If the noise and stress of trying to grow your revenue is getting to you, there’s help. Apply for your spot in the Tangible Words Sales Growth Program. It’s free and you’ll get a series of meetings with an award winning sales growth specialist to identify the quick but effective ways to increase revenue. As an added bonus, your company could get free cross-marketing on the Tangible Words Company Growth podcast and all of our digital spaces to showcase your success.