Sales Quotas: Types, Setting Yours, & How to Exceed Them in 2024

Sales quotas: on the face of it, they’re just targets. But for sales managers and their teams, these quotas are the focal point between strategy and execution.

Sales quotas are about understanding the sales cycle, giving incentives to the sales team, and aligning with the overall business strategy. But how can you set realistic sales targets and keep track of everything?

Enter stage left: sales quota software. Platforms like Mosaic empower your SaaS business to smash its sales targets through a data-informed approach.

We’re revealing how to harness past performance metrics, conversion rates, and a nuanced understanding of your sales process to establish quotas that not only drive revenue, but also inspire your sales team to think past the commission.

What is a Sales Quota?

A sales quota is a defined sales objective, usually measured in sales volume or earnings over a specific period, serving as a benchmark for sales professionals’ success and compensation.

In the SaaS sector, products are often intangible subscriptions rather than physical goods, so quotas become a vital measure of progress and productivity.

For sales reps, quotas are clear, quantifiable objectives that keep them focused on the prize. By setting these targets, sales leaders create a roadmap for the wider team, pushing the boundaries to grow while keeping an eye on the company’s strategic finance vision.

Types of Sales Quotas in SaaS

A classic benchmark of sales is revenue quotas. These are straightforward and ask sales teams to hit a specific monetary figure each month, quarter or year. This type focuses on the lifeblood of any SaaS business – recurring revenue from subscriptions.

Volume quotas are another example. Geared towards activity, these can look like the number of new customer acquisitions or total subscriptions sold. Another standard quota is for profit, looking at how profitable the sales team is, such as the average sale price.

Each quota serves a purpose: measuring outcomes to help sales reps achieve and surpass the business’ objectives. It’s heavily linked to the companies ‘magic number’ which reveals how sales and marketing spend results in revenue.

Why Do Sales Departments Have Quotas?

Sales quotas are a cornerstone in the architecture of any successful sales department. Aside from acting as benchmarks to work towards, they give a clear structure to the sales team looking to drive growth. Here are more reasons why sales quotas are vital for any SaaS company.

How to Set Your Sales Quota

Sure, your business might need to hit sales targets this year. But what’s the best approach to tackle the issue? Here we’ve created a step-by-step guide on how to set sales quotas using data, so your sales team is ready to tackle the challenge without feeling demoralized.

1. Analyze Historical Performance

Setting your sales quota begins with a deep dive into your historical performance. Sales managers can start by assessing sales metrics like conversion rates, average deal size, sales cycle length, and revenue growth.

The CRM system is often the treasure trove for this historical data, complete with insights on the sales process and performance trends over time. Looking for patterns in this data, like peak seasons or the ramp-up time for new sales reps, can help to shape new quotas.

2. Identify and Set Your Baseline

After assessing historical data, it’s time to identify and set your baseline. This should combine the average performance of your sales team with industry benchmarks and how other competitors are performing so the company doesn’t get left in the dust.

Sales managers should consider the activity quota (number of calls, meetings, demos) and the revenue quota, representing different aspects of sales performance. This baseline means you’re defining what’s considered the norm for your sales force going forward, which future performance will be assessed by.

3. Decide on Which Method

The two standard methods for setting baselines are the top-down and bottom-up methods. In the top-down approach, each sales rep might receive an equal slice of the revenue target, but the technique often overlooks individual performance differences.

The bottom-up approach favors people’s individual sales abilities more. For example, if a company had a $50,000 quarterly sales target, the highest achievers might have a target of $20,000 while more junior sales representatives are given $10,000. This aligns the sales quotas more closely with each rep’s proven sales record.

4. Outline Tasks and Workload Expectations

With the baseline set, the next step is to outline the specific tasks and workload expectations to help achieve the sales quota. Usually, sales leaders will break this down into daily, weekly and monthly targets.

For example, if the quota is to close a certain number of subscriptions each quarter, what does this translate to regarding the number of demos or phone calls needed per period?

This granular planning helps sales teams understand their daily objectives and creates a structured, no-nonsense plan that’s ambitious yet attainable. Small steps are the name of the game.

5. Beware of Unrealistic Quotas

We all want to see sales targets smashed, but setting unrealistic quotas can be a nightmare scenario leading to demotivated sales people, a toxic work environment and high turnover — the last thing any start-up needs.

Sales leaders have to strike a balance between aspirational and achievable. Setting a quota far beyond the team’s highest historical performance without a clear strategy for growth or change in circumstances can backfire.

Instead, focus on a data-led approach that produces challenging quotas but with a clear path forward. Your staff will thank you for it in the long run.

6. Other Challenges

Sales leaders should be alive to other challenges that could impact quota setting. This includes market fluctuations, changes in the sales force (like the addition of new team members), and shifts in the sales organization’s structure. 2023 has proven external factors like economic downturns or shifts in consumer behavior may also factor into sales quota setting.

Quotas may also need to be tailored to different regions or groupings within the sales team, acknowledging that a one-size-fits-all approach rarely works. This way, sales managers can create a flexible strategy that allows for bumps in the road.

How to Monitor and Exceed Your Sales Quota

Sales quotas are a must in the competitive SaaS environment. But the traditional monitoring methods are increasingly giving way to more sophisticated, data-driven approaches. Here’s where comprehensive CRMs and CFO software become indispensable.

Real-Time Performance Tracking

Sophisticated CRM systems offer invaluable real-time insights into every sales team member’s activity to see how they’re doing. This instant feedback loop is key to quickly pivoting tactics to keep sales on track. You can also use a commission tracker to see how much commission every person in your team makes. This is a motivator for your sales team to use insights from your CRM and work for more incentives.

Data-Driven Quota Adjustments

The power of analytics can’t be overstated with sales quotas. Historical data and current sales performance metrics provide a factual basis for quotas that nobody can argue with. Need to pivot? Use up-to-date data for a personalized path to quota attainment.

Integrating Benchmarks and Goals

Good sales software makes finding the sales baseline a cinch. By analyzing conversion rates, revenue-based quotas, and sales pipeline health, teams can develop a sales plan that factors in short-term objectives and long-term business goals.

Proactive Sales Strategy Refinement

Want to adjust the team’s methods after a lull in sales? With software, sales leaders can swiftly identify trends, forecast quota shortfalls, and recalibrate sales activities as needed. It’s about continuous improvement rather than rigid goals that aren’t reviewed.

Create Realistic Sales Quotas with SaaS Financial Software

Realistic sales quotas need to marry historical sales performance and future potential. SaaS financial platforms like Mosaic give sales leaders the tools to create a structured and analytical approach to the task, like financial dashboards and personalized data analytics.

These platforms guarantee that goals are not just numbers plucked from the air but are informed by robust data, reflecting a clear path to revenue goals. As for compensation plans, these can be effectively formulated to motivate the sales team.

How to Build Profitable Sales Quotas with Mosaic

Creating quotas that drive profit without demoralizing your sales team is a delicate balance. Let Mosaic take the reins and give you lightning-fast sales quotas grounded in data-driven insights.

Align Quotas with Data

Tap into Mosaic’s rich analytical features to slice through historical data precisely. Mosaic analytics assess historical data and pinpoint specific trends to set aggressive benchmarks that aren’t out of reach.

Foster Regional Relevance

Have different regions that need different quotas? Don’t sweat it. With Mosaic, break down sales by region or other groupings to craft quotas that reflect the unique market conditions and opportunities of each area.

Capitalize on regional teams’ local strengths and create tailored sales targets with the geographic intelligence Mosaic provides. Your quotas won’t just speak to numbers — they’ll speak to potential.

Real-Time Metrics

Stay sharp with Mosaic’s real-time visibility into each rep’s performance. It’s less reacting and more strategizing with deep data dives ready at the drop of a hat to keep your team one step ahead.

Calibrate New Talent

Use Mosaic to track the ramp-up of your new hires, setting incremental quotas that scale with their ascent. It’s about nurturing talent and transforming rookies into champions of your sales department.

Precision in Every Prediction

Close rates are the guiding star, and Mosaic is the shepherd. Set quotas that mirror the caliber of your leads and the likelihood of their conversion so every target is a step towards greater profit.

Decision-Making That Drives Profit

Strike the right balance for profit maximization with Mosaic’s comprehensive insights. Sales managers can leverage the data to push for higher performance at the right time and pull back to avoid burnout.