In any organization, sales become the engine that drives the business. Revenue being the fuel to the engine it is essential to have the right metrics to measure sales. It is highly critical for us to measure the sales revenues as that gives us the right direction. Metrics written for the sales have to be well thought out and analyzed.

The Objectives and Key Results (OKR) goal-setting framework helps the sales team to achieve results and aspire high. OKRs align the sales department to work together on the same priorities set by the organization and yet let the individuals be creative and aspirational. OKRs are set by the team together collectively and they agree to what they deliver. Every individual gets to design their objective and how they wish to achieve it. This makes the team engaged and happy.

⏩ According to a Harvard Business Review survey study of more than 230 buyers, 12% of salespeople are excellent, 23% good, 38% average, and 27% poor. What makes the 12% of salespeople excellent is their processes are highly focused and the individuals are accountable. These teams push themselves aggressively and set their aspirations high.

Sales objectives should have both input and output goals together to deliver, which makes it the right set of metrics to start with.

Sales are the face of the organization to the customer, they need to be more effective and productive. The numbers achieved by the sales team are directly proportionate to the organization’s growth. Hence, it is vital that the sales team set the goals right and sail in the right direction. Successful sales teams set audacious goals and do not shy away from stretching beyond what is required.

Do you know that teams that deliver higher results have aggressive goal-setting practices with the right metrics to measure? An effective team that delivers should have a healthy sales funnel and a high conversion and retention ratio. The sales team also works along with the customers to understand what is required that is critical to business. With all these, it is evident that they play a very important role in any organization.

What is OKR?

O stands for Objective, which defines the “what”
KR stands for the Key Results which is “How”

OKR can be traced back to 1954 when Peter Drucker invented MBO or Management by Objectives. Later, when Andrew Grove co-founded Intel he further developed the MBOs to OKR framework. OKRs are adopted by various companies like

• Google
• Uber
• Linkedin
• Facebook

How to implement Sales OKRs?

OKRs are the well-defined and proven framework that helps organizations to create the strategy and allows the team and individuals to align to the strategy.

Objectives and Key Results(OKRs) play an important role in the Sales team. It helps teams and individuals to set the right goal and measure the right metrics. While most of the teams work towards identifying the output, OKRs work on measuring the outcome. As the Objectives are both top-down and bottom-up, it increases collaboration and clarity.

Also, it is important to write the OKRs with clear Key Results that are linked with the results. Adding a day-to-day task to the Key results will take away the focus and the deliverables will suffer.
Sales team OKRs should not have Sandbagging OKRs as it will be setting the bar low. It will be ideal to set stretch or ambitious OKRs. Any Key Result should have the right input to give the right outcome. Also, Sales is a dynamic team, their goals are not the same across the year. Every quarter will have a different target, to track and measure that we can write quarterly OKRs for the team, which will help to understand the lesson learned from the last quarter and craft OKRs for the upcoming quarter.

Few OKR Examples for SALES 🧑🏾‍💼

Objective 1: Increase Revenue Growth

• KR1: Achieve a 20% increase in monthly sales revenue.
• KR2: Expand the customer base by acquiring 100 new customers.
• KR3: Upsell or cross-sell to existing customers, resulting in a 15% increase in average deal size.

Objective 2: Improve Sales Productivity

• KR1: Increase the number of qualified leads generated by the sales team by 25%.
• KR2: Reduce the average sales cycle length by 15%.
• KR3: Improve the win rate by 10% through better sales qualification and improved sales techniques.

Objective 3: Enhance Customer Satisfaction

• KR1: Achieve a customer satisfaction score of 90% or above in post-sales surveys.
• KR2: Reduce customer churn rate by 10% through proactive customer engagement and support.
• KR3: Increase the number of positive customer testimonials and referrals by 20%.

Objective 4: Expand Market Reach

• KR1: Enter and establish presence in two new target markets.
• KR2: Increase brand awareness through marketing campaigns and achieve a 30% increase in website traffic.
• KR3: Secure partnerships with three key industry influencers or organizations to expand market reach.

Objective 5: Improve Sales Team Collaboration

• KR1: Implement a new CRM system and ensure 100% adoption by the sales team.
• KR2: Conduct regular sales team meetings and training sessions to enhance collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• KR3: Increase cross-selling and upselling collaboration between sales reps, resulting in a 15% increase in revenue from existing customers.

Objective 6: Enhance Sales Process Efficiency

• KR1: Streamline the sales pipeline stages and reduce the average time spent in each stage by 20%.
• KR2: Implement sales automation tools to automate repetitive tasks and improve sales efficiency.
• KR3: Improve sales forecasting accuracy by 10% through better data analysis and sales pipeline management.

Objective 7: Improve Sales Team Skills and Knowledge

• KR1: Provide sales training on objection handling techniques and improve the team’s objection-to-close ratio by 15%.
• KR2: Conduct product knowledge training sessions and ensure all sales team members are certified in product knowledge.
• KR3: Increase the number of sales team members achieving or exceeding their sales targets by 20% through ongoing training and skill development.

Objective 8: Optimize Sales Funnel Conversion Rates

• KR1: Improve lead-to-opportunity conversion rate by 15% through targeted lead nurturing campaigns and improved qualification criteria.
• KR2: Increase opportunity-to-win conversion rate by 10% through better sales strategies and closing techniques.
• KR3: Implement lead scoring and prioritize high-quality leads, resulting in a 20% increase in overall conversion rates.

Objective 9: Enhance Sales-Marketing Alignment

• KR1: Establish regular communication channels between sales and marketing teams to align on lead quality and quantity.
• KR2: Collaborate on the development of sales enablement materials, resulting in a 10% increase in sales productivity.
• KR3: Implement closed-loop feedback processes to gather insights from the sales team and improve marketing campaigns.

Objective 10: Develop Key Account Relationships

• KR1: Identify and prioritize key accounts for focused relationship development.
• KR2: Increase customer engagement and satisfaction with key accounts, as measured by regular check-ins and feedback surveys.
• KR3: Achieve a 20% increase in revenue from key accounts through cross-selling, upselling, and relationship-building efforts.

Implement OKR for Sales Team

While implementing OKRs for sales it is essential to understand the process and key metrics that support achieving the organization’s performance. As Sale’s main focus is on delivering numbers, setting clear targets that are ambitious is very important. Recognizing the key metrics that matter to business will help in crafting OKRs.

Talk to our experts more about OKR Software.

Talk to our experts to more about Sales OKRs. Our domain experts can work along with the organizations to create solutions that are specific to organizations. OKRs are industry agnostic and it is very interesting when it is applied to target-driven teams like sales. The outcome is quantified and hence the results are more tangible in nature. Write to Datalligence for implementing OKRs today.