Word & Brown has been advocating for annual goal setting for sales professionals for years. But just as important as it is to set annual specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals, it is critical that you periodically review and consider possible adjustments to your goals. I suggest the end of the first quarter or start of the second quarter is an excellent time to re-evaluate your goals.
Sales Goal Setting After Q1
How Are Things Going?
Ask yourself, “What did you achieve during Q1?” Where did you shine? What did you fall short? If you took our prior advice and developed detailed goals for 2025, you can easily determine your progress. Were any of your goals not met? Was there a specific reason why you fell short? Maybe the goal was too ambitious. Or maybe there were external factors that prevented you from reaching the goal. Was your original timeline for achievement truly reasonable?
If you make tweaks now, can the goal still be achieved? By what new date? Are there colleagues or others who need to buy in on the adjusted schedule to ensure its achievement?
Is each of your goals still relevant? If not, it’s okay to remove one or more from your list. Don’t think of it as a failure, think of it as an opportunity to learn. If necessary, reframe your goal. Ask yourself why you included it in the first place?
Celebrate Your Successes
As part of your review, it’s important to check off your accomplishments. If you were able to satisfy your goals, celebrate those successes – on your own or with others (if they contributed to achieving the goal). It is important to know how you got it done and if those efforts could be applied elsewhere.
Engage Others as Needed
You likely cannot achieve every goal on your own. One or more may require assistance and support from others. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from others if their contributions and collaboration can help you achieve your goals more easily. Your professional network can be important in driving you toward the goal line.
Should You Pause Any Goals?
Have you stopped working on any of your 2025 goals? Ask yourself why? Consider whether the goal is still worthwhile and achievable. Maybe you were just too ambitious in thinking it could be accomplished in just 90 days. If you’re still passionate about it, keep it – but consider whether a longer timeline is more doable.
Change is Good for the Soul
Don’t beat yourself up thinking your shortcomings are the end of the world. They are not. No matter how hard we work, from time to time, most of us will fall short on one (or more than one) goal. As you go through the review process, embrace humility and honesty – and continue to work toward your goals. Recognize that some may not be designed for immediate achievement. Some take time.
What’s important is that you don’t let a short-term failure cause you to lose focus. Take note of where you went wrong and use that knowledge to help you achieve your other goals. Be aware and celebrate your successes. Embrace each failure as a learning lesson. If you take the time to review, re-evaluate, and modify your goals on a quarterly basis, it will help reduce your stress and anxiety. It can also help you stay on track for the rest of the year.
