Ever walked into a sales floor where everyone looks like they’re attending a funeral? Red dashboards everywhere, managers pacing with furrowed brows, and reps making desperate calls like they’re trying to reach the ex who blocked their number?
That’s not a winning culture. That’s a panic room with commission plans.
Here’s the cold truth: if your entire sales org is constantly missing targets, the problem isn’t your team – it’s those BS stretched goals someone cooked up during an executive fever dream.
“But we need STRETCH goals to motivate people!”
Really? Because nothing says motivation like making people feel like perpetual failures. That’s like putting the cookie jar on top of Mount Everest and telling a toddler to “just try harder.”
Sales is beautifully simple:
- Find people who need your stuff
- Show them why your stuff solves their problems
- Close deals
- Get paid
- Repeat
Notice “stare anxiously at impossible numbers” isn’t on the list.
When we set realistic targets that people can actually hit (and occasionally exceed), something magical happens. Salespeople start walking around like they own the place. Confidence spreads. Wins stack up.
Winning is contagious. Losing is too.
So here’s a radical idea: what if we built quota models that didn’t require divine intervention to achieve? What if green dashboards were the norm, not the exception?
Want to build a culture of winning? Start winning. Actually closing deals. Actually hitting targets. Actually celebrating success rather than constantly explaining why we missed.
Your sales team doesn’t need another motivational speech about grit. They need winnable games and the space to play them well.
Stop normalizing failure by disguising it as “ambitious targets.” Start normalizing success by making it achievable.
Winning isn’t just what happens when the contract gets signed. Winning is a behavior you practice every day.
And it’s a hell of a lot more fun than the alternative.
