Sales management · Quotas and targets
Ask each rep to propose a quota in writing before you tell them yours.
A quota negotiation session is a one-to-one meeting where a rep proposes their own annual quota, with reasons, and the manager reconciles it with the potential-based figure. It ends in a signed quota per rep. This page covers the data pack, the written proposal and the roll-up check.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A quota negotiation session is a one-to-one meeting where a rep proposes their own annual quota, with reasons, and the manager reconciles it with the potential-based figure. It ends in a signed quota per rep. This page covers the data pack, the written proposal and the roll-up check.
At the April meeting in a Rajkot engineering firm, the owner reads out each rep's number and asks if anyone has a problem. Everyone nods. By July two reps have stopped talking about the target at all, and one has started quietly asking a rival distributor about a job. Nobody objected because objecting to the owner in front of colleagues was never going to happen.
This session moves the argument to a private conversation, with paper in hand beforehand. Each rep receives the territory data and last year's sales, then writes a proposed quota with three lines of reasoning. The sales manager compares it with the potential-based figure, and the two of them agree a number. The owner approves the total.
It replaces the announced quota. It does not replace the build behind it, so run the territory potential quota builder first, or you have nothing to compare the proposals against.
After this comes the attainment dashboard, which measures the signed quotas month by month. The payout curve, if you pay on quota, is a separate piece of work and should not be discussed in the same meeting.
Where this sits
Topic 9 of 14 in sales management: quotas and targets. Setting targets reps accept and the business can afford.
- The topic before
- Sales expenses
- The topic after
- Forecasting and budgeting
If you want this done for you
Your incentive plan rewards activity that has nothing to do with what needs selling.
The work
What this is actually like.
“Deference is the real obstacle”
A rep who will not contradict the owner in a meeting will happily write a different number on paper. Collect proposals in writing two days ahead, and keep the owner out of the one-to-one if their presence silences the rep.
“Sandbagging and over-promising look different”
A rep who proposes well below potential is protecting a bonus. A rep who proposes far above is trying to please. Both are visible in the reasoning lines: the first is vague about customers, the second is vague about how.
“Language changes the answer”
A conversation about money in a second language produces polite answers. Hold the session in the language the rep thinks in, and let them write the reasoning in it too. Translate afterwards if the owner needs to read it.
“A quota the rep agreed to is still not guaranteed”
Buy-in means the rep will try, not that the market will oblige. Note the conditions on which they based the number, such as a new dealer signing or a product arriving, so that a missed condition is discussed before the quota is judged.
What we do
What you end up with.
The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
The data pack
One page per rep: buyer count in the territory, last year's sales by month, the biggest five customers, new products coming, and any change in coverage. Send it three days before the session.
Result: Finished when every rep can read their pack without explanation from the manager.
The rep proposal sheet
The proposed quota in rupees or units, three lines of reasoning, the customers the rep expects to grow, and the one thing they need from the company. Written by the rep, handed in before the meeting.
Result: Finished when every proposal has reasons a manager can test, not just a number.
The gap sheet
Rep proposal beside the potential-based figure, with the difference and the manager's question for each gap above or below a limit you set yourself. It tells you where to push and where to leave well alone.
Result: Finished when each territory with a large gap has a question prepared.
The signed quota sheet
Final quota per rep, the conditions it depends on, the date, and a buy-in score the rep gives from one to five. Both sign. A low score is information, not an insult.
Result: Finished when every rep holds a copy and the manager holds the same copy.
The roll-up check
Total of signed quotas against the company target, shown to the owner with the shortfall or surplus in rupees. The owner decides what to do with a gap before the financial year opens.
Result: Finished when the owner has initialled the total or recorded the decision on the shortfall.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
One office, and we say so
Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
What if every rep proposes less than the potential figure?
Should the owner attend the session?
How long should each session take?
Can a quota be reopened during the year?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this topic further.
The rest of quotas and targets
Or read all of sales management.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.