• July 28, 2015

Not Meeting Your Quota? Here’s Some Ways to Rebound!

Not meeting your quota is mentally and financially taxing. If you are in the position where you are struggling to meet yours, you are not alone. In fact, about half of sales representatives are not meeting quota, and that number has been getting worse over that last four years. Don’t let that be you, start using Spiro today!

Here are a few tried and tested tricks to help you reach and exceed your goals:

Understand Your Problem

First things first, you need to diagnose why you are not reaching your goal. If you don’t know where the problem is stemming from, you are not going to be able to fix it effectively. You need to focus on the following 3 numbers: average deal size, win rate, and opportunities created per week. From there, you can identify what you need to do in order to get back on track. In fact, we wrote a whole blog on how to use these numbers to figure out what might be wrong with your sales approach.

Work With Your Manager

Next, even though most sales reps don’t look forward to meeting with their sales manager (especially when underperforming) doing so can be very helpful in making a plan to achieve your quota. It is important to own up to your results and honestly search for ways to improve. For many, becoming defensive is the first resort, but that never got anyone anywhere.

Instead try this: when entering that meeting, your manager is going to be focused on the numbers – that is their job. So after doing your homework to understand your problem from the last step, you can present your findings to them. Show them your average deal size, how many deals you are winning and your opportunities created per week. They can then see that you are taking action to improve and can help you strategize how to improve in the area that is causing you to fall short.

Once you and your manager are on the same page, you can track your results together as you focus on those areas. In most cases, your manager holds that position for a reason – they have been successful in achieving their goals. With that experience, they should have some helpful advice to get you to yours.

Get Motivated

Next, maybe you are feeling worn out and run down. Many times work can become mundane, or life outside work can be distracting. If this is the case, it is time to focus and get motivated. Music is a great way to do that. In fact, research shows that upbeat music can improve mood, which can increase motivation. I have my own playlist ready to go whenever I need to get pumped up. Next time you’re driving to work, preparing for a sales call or going to a meeting, listen to some positive music to get your mindset right.

It’s Not a Productivity Issue

Lastly, many industries assume that if a person is not meeting quota, it is because they are not being productive enough. I beg to differ however. It is not necessarily how productive a salesperson is, but how effective they are with their time. If you aren’t working enough, that can be an issue, but making the best use of the time you have is more important than the amount of time you are spending. Luckily, our AI-Powered CRM, Spiro, is now available to help you be more effective.

Of course nothing you’re going to read in a blog is going to give you the ultimate solution to your problem, but it’s important to know that even superstar sales guys like Mike Ice had to start from the ground floor to make it happen. By following these tips, you can clarify your goals and where you currently stand, strategize how to improve with your manager and motivate yourself to take the needed action at the right time. Then, once you start meeting quota and even beating it, celebrate your hard work and replicate that success going forward.