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How to Choose Sales Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that Align With Your Business Goals

Written by Amanda Meade | February 18, 2020

Your sales team has goals. In order to evaluate the activities that are being performed in pursuit of those goals, you need measurable indicators known as Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Aligning your team with the right KPIs increases productivity and enhances performance, but it also allows you to monitor the overall health of your organization and team. With KPIs, you can:

  • Measure progress
  • Analyze patterns over time
  • Make adjustments when necessary
  • Solve problems
  • Tackle opportunities

The hard part is choosing the KPIs that are most relevant to both your industry and goals. Here are some tips on how to select sales KPIs that align with your business goals.

KPIs Are Different for Every Sales Team and Business Model

It’s critical to understand that there are plenty of KPIs, but not all are suitable for your unique sales team and organization. Before getting started, ask yourself these questions:

  • What is the purpose of the organization?
  • What is it that my team wishes to achieve in the next fiscal year?
  • How will I be able to know that we've reached our goals?
  • Is the goal merely money-related?

In order for a KPI to be effective, it must have certain characteristics and be balanced in a sense that will fulfill both short-time and long-term needs for your organization. For example, an online media company may choose KPIs that measure unique visitors, page views, and time one site. In contrast, a brick and mortar company would focus on things like capital expenditure, customer satisfaction, and stock turnover.

Once you answer the questions above, you can choose the indicators that are of true importance to your organization and team. Depending on the area you would like to improve in your business, here are some ideas for KPIs:

Put KPIs Into Action

Once you have the data for your chosen KPIs, you can analyze the information to understand why your sales team and organization are getting certain results. With a proven way to track data, you can improve performance and follow through with action steps. As important as it is to establish the right KPIs, it’s essential to tie those KPIs to an end goal.