The sales process · Strategic plan
Work out how many orders the team must close, then how many conversations that needs.
A sales goal turns the business goal into the work the sales team has to do: how many orders, at what average value, won from how many live conversations. It is arithmetic, done with your own numbers. GullySales builds it with the people who will be measured on it, so it can be argued with.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A sales goal turns the business goal into the work the sales team has to do: how many orders, at what average value, won from how many live conversations. It is arithmetic, done with your own numbers. GullySales builds it with the people who will be measured on it, so it can be argued with.
Business goals came before this and marketing goals come after. This is the middle link, where the owner's number becomes somebody's week.
The method is division, and every figure in it comes from your own records. Take the revenue that has to come from new business and divide it by your average order value. That gives the orders.
Divide the orders by the share of proposals you actually win, and you have the proposals. Divide again by the share of conversations that ever reach a proposal, and you have the conversations. No industry benchmark belongs anywhere in this sum.
If you do not know your win rate, count last year's quotations and how many became orders. That is one afternoon with a file, and it is the most valuable afternoon in this stage.
Where this sits
Stage 1 of 10, strategic plan. What the business is for, what it is aiming at this year, and the numbers that say whether it got there.
- The stage after
- Customer research
If you want this done for you
Next year's number was picked because it sounded ambitious, not because it was worked out.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“Where each number in the sum actually comes from”
Order value from your invoice book. Win rate from the quotation file. The share of conversations that reach a proposal is the one nobody has, and you get it by ticking a sheet after every meeting for a month.
“Do the division per person and per month”
An annual number is abstract and nobody acts on it. Four conversations a week is something a person either does or does not do, and you find out in seven days rather than in seven months.
“The average order value is where it usually goes wrong”
One large project drags the average up and makes the target look easy. Use the median, or split the goal by product, and keep the big one-off out of the sum entirely.
“The people being measured have to argue with it first”
A quota handed down is a quota argued with silently for a year. Put the arithmetic on a whiteboard, let your salespeople attack the division, and change it where they are right.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
A goal sheet per salesperson, by month
Five columns: the month, orders needed, proposals needed, conversations needed, and what actually happened.
Result: A review meeting that takes ten minutes because there is nothing to interpret.
Your own conversion numbers, counted once
Last year's quotations in four columns: date, customer, value, outcome. Count them by hand if the CRM cannot be trusted.
Result: Every later plan divides by a number from your own file rather than a figure from an article.
The gap, written as a number of conversations
One line saying how many conversations short the team is at current conversion. This line is what you hand to marketing.
Result: Marketing receives a number instead of a complaint about lead quality.
The capacity check
Conversations needed per person per working day. If the arithmetic asks for more hours than the week contains, either the goal is wrong or the team is too small.
Result: You arrive at the people goals page with a reason rather than a feeling.
Template
Sales goal sheet
One line per goal, tied to something you can count.
| Goal | What we will count | Starting point | Target | Owner | Review date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 0, foundation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
We have never tracked a win rate. Can we still do this?
Should the goal be per person or for the team?
One large order can make our year. Does this arithmetic still work?
Is this a target or a forecast?
What usually breaks after the goal is set?
How much does it cost?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of strategic plan
Or read the whole sales process in order.
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.