It’s a new year and there’s lots of blogs and articles doing the rounds on how to set goals. But why are they important? And what is the psychology behind them? Read on to find out more.
Why do goals work?
Quite simply setting goals is shown to increase one’s motivation. The simple act of articulating what you want to achieve enables one to take the next step and to consider what is required to achieve the desired result. In fact, research shows that setting goals can increase achievement by up to 30%.
Good goals
Performance goals have been shown to negatively impact upon trust in management and to compromise organisational performance. In sales, they might reward counter-productive behaviour such as a desire to offer discount in order to secure an order. A good goal of course does the opposite. Research shows that the most powerful goals are:
1. specific (as opposed to doing your best),
2. challenging yet realistic,
3. clear,
4. include short, medium and long-term
Goals increase persistence and self-efficacy, making individuals less susceptible to the undermining effects of anxiety, disappointment and frustration (Schunk, 1990). Abuhamdeh and Csikszentmihalyi (2012) showed that challenge is particularly important for the enjoyment of intrinsically motivated and goal-directed activities. Deci & Ryan (2000) found that achieving an optimally challenging task gives people a true feeling of competence. A combination of short-term and long-term goals is ideal to sustain motivation and persistence (Turkay, 2014).
Goals in sales
It makes sense that goals should be a useful in sales where success in achieving the objective is easily determined. In their research into the Sales Challenger, Dixon and Adamson (2011) found that top performers are focused on long-term goals as opposed to short-term measures. Dudley & Goodson (2007) identified that goal clarity is positively associated with performance, but only up to a point. Where goal setting morphs into detailed planning it can result in sellers over-preparing for events which negatively impact upon their performance.
Of course, goals alone are not enough. In order to be effective, a salesperson must have high levels of motivation, goal clarity and commitment. A seller must want to perform well and have sufficient focus on their goals to be able to direct their energy towards the right activities.
Conclusion
So there you have it. Good goals are effective in helping to set direction and can be used to ensure that the activities of the salesperson are aligned. However, when goals are broken down too far they can reduce activity and negatively impact upon sales performance. And remember that goals alone are not enough. There is an important relationship between motivation, commitment and goals that enables top performers to direct their effort and energy towards the right activities.
References
Abuhamdeh, S. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2012). The importance of challenge for the enjoyment of intrinsically motivated, goal directed activities. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38, 317330.
Dixon, M. and Adamson, B. (2011), The Challenger Sale. How to Take Control of the Customer Conversation. Penguin.
Dudley, G.W. and Goodson S.L. (2007), The Psychology of Sales Call Reluctance. Behavioural Sciences Research Press.
Latham, G. P. & Locke, E. A. (1979). Goal set ting: A motivational technique that works. Organizational Dynamics, 8(2), 6880.
Mento, A.J., Steel, R.P., & Karren, R.J. (1987). A metaanalytic study of the effects of goal set ting on task performance. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 39, 5283.
Schunk, D. H. (1990). Goal set ting and self-efficacy during self-regulated learning. Educational Psychologist, 25, 7186.
Turkay, S. (2014). Setting Goals: Who, Why, How?. Manuscript.
