MOTIVATION


Setting Goals That Motivate, Not Demoralize


KIM WRIGHT WILEY


Besides difficult customers and competitive markets, a sales professional’s biggest complaint may be a manager who sets unreachable goals. Who can get psyched about running a race that can’t be won? WHY THEY DO IT


Sales managers will often set quotas that are not scientifically determined


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or grounded in data. One com- mon mistake they make is assuming the results in one territory can be


mimicked in another, e.g., “If Geor- gia can do these numbers, South Carolina should follow right behind.” Or managers might base goals on results that were achieved in the past without factoring in new financial realities.


“Goal setting is tough for two


reasons,” says a motivation expert. “First of all, you have to get the big overall number right, and then you have to get the allocation right – both for territories and for indi- viduals. If you set the goal too low, you’re not only giving away money, but, once people reach it, they stop working.”


But going to the opposite extreme is also dangerous. “Some managers


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