How to set and split your sales team goal

A good sales goal meets three conditions: the team understands it, sees it every day and believes it can reach it. This guide takes you step by step, from the yearly number to each person's share.

1. Decide what you'll measure

We recommend a goal based on monthly recurring revenue (MRR) rather than "sales this month". In Back to Zero, MRR adds the recurring revenue signed during the year plus the month's one-time sales, so it grows as the team builds. A "sales this month" goal starts at zero on the 1st.

2. Work out the yearly number and bring it down to the month

1. Start from reality: how much new recurring revenue and how many one-time sales did you close last year, month by month?
2. Define growth: for example, 20% more than last year. Base it on real capacity (people, potential clients, seasonality), not on wishful thinking.
3. Split it by month: if your business is seasonal, each month's goal can be different.

In Back to Zero you set the year's monthly goal. If you change it mid-year, the change applies from the following month, so nobody feels the goalposts moved mid-game. If a year starts without a goal, the app warns the admin.

3. Split it by rep

The company goal is divided into percentages that add up to 100%. The fair starting point is equal shares, then adjust:

• Experience: someone in their first quarter can carry a smaller share.
• Portfolio or territory: whoever handles the big accounts carries more.
• Time available: someone who also manages or has other duties, less.

Example: with a 300,000 goal and three reps at 40%, 35% and 25%, their goals are 120,000, 105,000 and 75,000. When a sale is shared, each person adds their share of it to their own goal.

If someone joins or leaves, Back to Zero suggests splitting equally again from the current month; you decide whether to adjust it.

4. For larger teams: by group

With several teams (by region, product or channel), first split the company goal among groups, then, within each group, among its reps. Each group sees its own counter, goal and email, and you can run a healthy ranking between groups. In Back to Zero this is part of the Team+ plan.

5. Make it visible every day

A goal that's only reviewed at month-end moves nobody. What works is seeing, every morning, how far you've come, what's left and how many days remain. Back to Zero's daily email shows progress for the company and for each person against their own goal.

Common mistakes

• Impossible "aspirational" goals: they're abandoned by week two.
• Changing it mid-month: it destroys trust in the number.
• One goal for everyone regardless of portfolio: it punishes whoever has the hard territory.
• Measuring only the amount: pair it with days without a sale, which tell you whether the pace is healthy.

In Back to Zero, in 3 steps

1. Go to Goals, choose the year and enter the monthly goal.
2. Review the suggested split (equal shares) and adjust it; percentages must add up to 100.
3. Done: starting tomorrow, the email and dashboard show everyone's progress.

If you haven't set up your account yet, start with getting started.