As a business owner or sales manager, setting and tracking Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can be incredibly effective in driving growth and achieving your sales targets. OKRs are a powerful tool to help align your sales team’s efforts with your overall business strategy and objectives. In this article, we’ll look at some great sales OKR examples and how to track them effectively.
What are OKRs?
OKRs are a performance management framework used to set and track organizational goals and objectives. They consist of two components: Objectives and Key Results.
Objectives are your businesses’ overarching goals. They are what you have set out to achieve. They should be specific, measurable, and achievable within a given timeframe. These goals also need to be realistic. For example, your success chances are slim if you set a specific and measurable goal but offer an extremely unobtainable timeframe.
However, if you set up your goals to work within the parameters of your available resources, assign them so they can be easily tracked and monitored through a project management platform, and can be reported on for tracking through additional analytics software – your chances of success are much higher.
For example, a realistic sales objective might be to increase revenue by 10% over the next two quarters. An unrealistic sales objective would be to increase revenue by 50% in a single quarter. See how one is potentially doable and the other downright terrifying? Give yourself a chance, but also give yourself goals that are measurable and specific and should provide a clear indication of progress toward your objective.
How to effectively track your sales OKRs
Once you have established your sales OKRs (and they might not be great–at first), you need to set something up to track progress toward achieving them. Here are some steps to help you effectively track your sales OKRs:
Establish regular check-ins: Schedule regular check-ins to review progress towards your OKRs. This can be done weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly depending on the nature of your goals. These check-ins should be completed with the team or the stakeholders who have a vested interest in the project.
Assign accountability: Assign ownership of each objective and key result to a specific team member. This will help ensure that progress is made toward achieving the OKRs and that any roadblocks or issues are addressed promptly. This isn’t a “blame game” but a way to use checks and balances so everything runs smoothly.
Use a dashboard: Use a personal or project dashboard to track progress toward your OKRs. This can be done using a spreadsheet, a project management tool, or a specialized OKR tracking tool. The dashboard should provide a clear visual representation of progress toward each objective and key result and should be accessible to all team members.
Celebrate successes: This is often something that is overlooked in business. We often focus on the negative, not the positive, so ensure you celebrate your successes and milestones. For example, giving kudos to a colleague for delivering an excellent product pitch not only recognizes their effort but also sets a positive example for others. This will help keep team morale high and motivate team members to continue working towards achieving the OKRs.
Course correct as needed: If progress towards achieving an OKR is lagging behind, course correct needed. This may involve reevaluating the key results or adjusting the strategy to achieve the objective. This might also mean completely stopping a project in its tracks if it is going way off the rails.
Review and update: Review progress towards the objectives and key results at the end of each designated OKR period (you know, the realistic time periods we talked about above). Use this opportunity to identify what worked well and what didn’t, and use these insights to update your strategy and OKRs for the next period.
Great Sales OKR Examples
Sales OKR examples typically refer to specific objectives and key results that can be set and tracked by a sales team or organization. They are used to show the progress made toward achieving sales goals.
As we discussed above, great sales OKRs are realistic without being terrifying, achievable within a given timeframe, and aligned with the overall business strategy and objectives. While all businesses vary based on the type of sales they are looking to achieve, here are some examples and key results of great sales OKRs:
Example 1
Objective: Increase revenue by 20% in the next quarter
Key results to meet the objective:
- Close 30 new deals in the next quarter
- Increase average deal size by 5%
- Increase customer retention rate by 10%
Example 2
Objective: Retain current clients while increasing by 20% in the next quarter
Key results to meet the objective:
- Issue a client satisfaction survey to identify areas for improvement and address concerns
- Increase engagements through monthly check-ins and personalized communications
- Develop and roll out a referral program to incentivize current clients
Example 3
Objective: Increase market share by 5% in the next year
Key results to meet the objective:
- Increase sales efforts through targeted marketing campaigns
- Expand sales channels within two new markets
- Conduct market research to identify areas for improvement and potential opportunities for growth
Setting and tracking OKRs provides a roadmap to achieve specific goals and enables teams to progress toward those goals. Even if all the OKRs are not achieved, tracking progress toward them provides valuable insights that can be used to improve future performance.
Use OKRs to drive sales growth
When implemented effectively, OKRs can help businesses to focus their efforts, prioritize their actions, and track progress toward their sales goals. If you set them up correctly, create an achievable timeframe, and set yourself up for success, you will likely cross the finish line as a winner instead of falling short.
By using OKRs to drive sales growth, businesses can take a more strategic approach to achieving their sales objectives. They can focus on the activities most likely to produce the desired results and adjust as needed to stay on track. With the right OKRs in place, businesses can improve their chances of success and achieve their sales goals more efficiently.
