Setting The Bar: Thoughts on High Jumping and Goal Setting

I was never a track and field athlete.  But my conversations recently with sales leaders and sellers make me think of a high jump competition.

You see, sellers and line sales managers are sharing frustration that businesses leaders in their companies are raising the bar way too quickly on sales performance in a post-pandemic world.  It seems the current thinking is that if you can’t beat your 2019 revenues then you are a failure.

I was speaking recently with a small business owner who shared his concern that his goals for his team were not aggressive enough.  It seems that he is rewarding and recognizing their performance vs. 2020, and his sellers are doing great.  However, his peers are sharing with him that he shouldn’t give them praise and rewards for high achievement because as they put it, “you can’t fall off the floor.”  2020 was the floor, so beating it is a layup.  At least that’s the thinking the peers are sharing with him.  He’s wondering if he is being too soft on his small medical services sales team. 

This same conversation has come up to me from a number of companies in the past month.  If you can’t beat 2019, you are not doing well.

This business owner wanted my thoughts.

First, keep in mind your salespeople got killed last year.  They made less money, and they had to sell during a pandemic.  It was demoralizing, it was less rewarding and frankly it was hard.  Heaping praise on a team in rebound is a great practice.  

In a high jump competition, they don’t start with the bar at the highest height, they start at a level everyone should be able to get over, and keep moving it up.  It builds confidence, and creates esprit de corps.  

A sales organization works the same way.  Setting the budgets or quotas for salespeople is not about showing how few of them can succeed, it’s about getting the team engaged, and moving forward.  Setting the wrong expectation is demoralizing, rather than motivating. 

Don Clifton, in his long-ago article on Varsity Management called it setting a “right expectation.”  It can only be a right expectation if both the parties agree that it is a reasonable and fair expectation.  Setting the bar so high that almost no one believes it’s possible to achieve will not motivate your team, it will demoralize them.  Especially if the budget or quota impacts the income of your team members.

My advice.  Think of goal setting like high jumping.  Set a fair, first height.  Have your team beat the goal.  Then challenge them more by moving it up.  But don’t try to set the bar to seven feet when your team has been only clearing five feet lately.  Let them succeed.  Success breeds more success.  Don’t be afraid to have too many people hitting their goals.  Winning teams win more.  Demoralized teams quit.

And wouldn’t it be great to let your sellers have some recognition and rewards after the horrible year we all had last year?

Michael Doyle (MD) is the founder of TheSalesMD.com.  He is an expert in sales training, media management and leadership development.  He has 35 years’ experience, including 20 with Entercom (now Audacy) in roles from Regional President to President of Sales Operations.  He oversaw Sales Training, Pricing and Revenue Management, Sales Enablement, In-bound lead generation, Sales Compensation, Sales Data Analysis and a team of Sales Development reps who set appointments for the 700 + outside sales reps.  He can be your sales consultant.  Contact him at MDoyle@TheSalesMD.com.