Our topic on this episode of The Ridiculously Amazing Insurance Podcast is sales goals and how to start integrating them into your agency, big or small. There are 3 main reasons why agencies do not have sales goals already in place:
You do not have “sales” people, so you don’t need sales goals
You haven’t thought about it, in the midst of everything else going on
You are afraid of “sales goals” because you think they are “quotas”
If you want your agency to grow, you must have a sales plan, a process, incentives, and accountability; sales goals are a crucial piece of this puzzle. To start developing your goals, look at where you are right now and where you have come from. This should help you establish benchmarks of what is poor, average, or good performance based on your past performance and your plans for future growth. You will most likely find that the most effective goals are team goals, rather than individual, but you can make that call based on your agency dynamics.
Next, you will be able to set your sales goals, which should be tied back to your financials and the figures you want to reach to attain “growth”. It is easy to overthink what these specific numbers should be, but the most important thing is to just have goals in place that will motivate your employees and accomplish positive results. Incentives are a great and practical way to encourage your employees to hit certain numbers without tying their performance on this one project to their overall value as an employee. By manufacturing milestones for your team to meet, you remove some of the monotony of the “daily grind” and you give your employees something to work for and look forward to, whether it is a financial incentive, an ice cream party, an offsite activity, or a casual work day.
Owners and employees have different perceptions of their work life, and having the owners invest in their employees’ professional development and growth is good for business all around. It is essential, though, to be firm when awarding incentives; if the team comes up $500 short when the deadline passes, do not give them the incentive because they got “close enough”. This will remove the motivation to exceed the goal next time.
Finally, use these manufactured milestones and deadlines as an opportunity to discuss what worked and didn’t work, both as a team and individually. You can discuss methods and tactics to alter or try next time to achieve a better result. Get past the fear of setting sales goals and just do it!
If you are interested in becoming an APP client at any point next year, now is the time to get on board! Check out our website for the best pricing available and additional promotions to help your agency achieve its best web presence!
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