Setting the right sales goals is the difference between a team that hits its numbers and one that just hopes for the best. Vague targets like "increase sales" don't work because they lack the clarity and direction needed to measure progress and motivate your team. To really drive revenue, you need goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
This guide gives you 10 practical sales goals examples you can use right away. Each one is a customizable SMART template with tips for sales leaders, AEs, and SDRs. We'll cover everything from landing new customers and building a healthy pipeline to retaining clients and increasing your average deal size.
Forget fuzzy ambitions. This article provides a clear roadmap for setting goals that create predictable growth. You'll learn not just what goals to set, but how to structure them for maximum impact, so everyone on your team knows exactly what they need to do to succeed. Let's get started.
Revenue growth targets are the foundation of any sales plan. They set clear monetary goals for increasing sales income over a specific period, like a quarter or a year. These goals are the ultimate measure of a sales team's success and align the entire organization around a common financial target.
This is one of the most fundamental sales goals examples because it directly links sales activities to the company's bottom line.
Revenue targets are non-negotiable for any sales team. They're essential during annual and quarterly planning, when setting budgets, or when launching new products. They anchor all other goals, ensuring every action is aimed at generating income. To learn more about the mechanics behind hitting these numbers, read about improving pipeline velocity to accelerate revenue.
These goals focus on expanding your customer base by signing brand-new accounts, often called "new logos." Instead of relying on upselling existing clients, these targets ensure you're constantly expanding your market reach and reducing dependency on a few large accounts.
This is one of the most important sales goals examples for high-growth companies, as it directly measures your market penetration and momentum.
Set new customer acquisition goals when your main objective is market expansion, entering new territories, or launching a new product. They are crucial for startups and scale-ups needing to show traction. To meet these goals, explore proven strategies for generating business leads or dive into this guide on building an outbound lead generation machine.
Retention goals are all about keeping your existing customers and increasing their total worth over time, also known as Lifetime Value (LTV). It's far more cost-effective to retain a customer than to acquire a new one. These goals shift the focus from a single sale to building long-term, profitable relationships.
This is a critical set of sales goals examples for any business with a recurring revenue model, as it directly impacts your stability and predictable income.
These goals are essential for businesses with recurring revenue, like SaaS companies. They're especially important for account managers and customer success teams whose main job is to nurture and expand existing accounts. Focusing on retention is also key when acquisition costs are high. To do this well, you need to understand and optimize the entire customer journey funnel.
Pipeline goals focus on building a healthy backlog of qualified opportunities. A strong pipeline is the lifeblood of a sales team, creating a predictable flow of deals that leads to consistent revenue and eliminates that end-of-quarter scramble. The focus here is on the value, volume, and velocity of deals moving toward a close.
This is a key set of sales goals examples because it shifts focus from lagging indicators (like closed revenue) to leading indicators that predict future success.
Pipeline goals are crucial for sales managers who want to build a predictable revenue engine. They help you forecast revenue, spot potential shortfalls early, and find bottlenecks in your sales process. To build an effective pipeline, it's vital to define your process clearly. You can learn more about how to structure your sales pipeline stages for maximum clarity.
Average deal size goals are about increasing the monetary value of each sale. By focusing on higher-value deals, you can hit your revenue targets with fewer transactions, which improves efficiency and profitability. This shifts the team's focus from the quantity of deals to the quality of each opportunity.
This is a powerful entry in our list of sales goals examples because it pushes reps to think more strategically about upselling, cross-selling, and targeting larger accounts.
This goal is ideal for mature sales teams looking to optimize performance. It's particularly effective when you're launching premium product tiers or want to improve sales cycle efficiency. Focusing on deal value encourages reps to prioritize opportunities with the highest potential return, making your entire sales process more profitable.
Sales activity goals are the building blocks of a successful sales process. They measure the daily actions your reps take, like calls made, meetings booked, or proposals sent. By tracking these leading indicators, managers can ensure consistent effort and provide coaching where it's needed most.
This is one of the most effective sales goals examples for new reps or teams that need to build momentum, as it focuses on controllable actions rather than just outcomes.
Activity goals are perfect for managing performance and diagnosing problems in your sales funnel. They're great for onboarding new hires because they provide clear daily instructions. They are also useful when a team is underperforming; by breaking the process down into core activities, you can pinpoint exactly where reps are struggling.
Win rate goals focus on improving the percentage of qualified opportunities that turn into closed-won deals. This metric reflects your sales process efficiency, qualification accuracy, and overall strategy. It shifts the focus from pure volume to the quality and skill involved in closing business.
This is one of the most insightful sales goals examples for diagnosing the health of your sales motion. A low win rate often signals issues in qualification, product-market fit, or competitive positioning.
Set win rate goals when you need to optimize your sales process. They are essential if your pipeline is full but you're still missing revenue targets. To achieve these goals, consider tools and strategies like HubSpot deal scoring to prioritize opportunities with a higher chance of closing. This helps your team focus its efforts where they'll have the most impact.
Sales quotas are specific revenue or unit targets assigned to individual salespeople. These personal goals drive accountability, create healthy competition, and ensure each team member contributes to the larger company objectives. They break a big company target down into manageable, individual responsibilities.
This is a classic in our list of sales goals examples because it directly links an individual's efforts to their compensation and the company's success, creating powerful motivation.
Individual quotas are fundamental in almost every sales organization. They are most critical when defining compensation plans, conducting performance reviews, and forecasting future revenue. This goal ensures every salesperson has a clear, unambiguous target, eliminating confusion and aligning daily activities with high-level financial outcomes.
Product penetration goals focus on increasing the adoption of specific offerings within your existing customer base. This strategy is about going deeper with your accounts, not just wider, by ensuring more customers are using more of what you sell. It’s a powerful way to maximize revenue from your product suite.
This is a vital type of sales goals examples for companies with multiple products, as it aims to increase customer LTV and create stickier relationships by embedding your solutions more deeply into a client's operations.
This goal is ideal after a new product launch or when you notice certain features are underused. It’s also crucial for account managers and customer success teams whose compensation is tied to expansion revenue. By focusing on penetration, teams can proactively demonstrate value, reduce churn risk, and uncover upsell opportunities.
Market expansion goals focus on moving into new geographic regions, customer segments, or industry verticals. These strategic goals drive long-term growth by diversifying revenue and reducing the risk of being too concentrated in one market. This approach pushes the sales team to capture untapped opportunities.
This is a strategic entry in our list of sales goals examples because it forces a top-down approach to growth, moving beyond simply selling more of the same thing to the same people.
This goal is critical when your current market is getting saturated or when competitive pressure is high. It's a key focus for leadership during annual strategic planning. Use it to energize your team with a new challenge and a clear mandate to explore uncharted territory, backed by a solid go-to-market strategy.
| Goal | Implementation complexity | Resource requirements | Expected outcomes | Ideal use cases | Key advantages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth Targets | Medium — forecasting and cross-team alignment | Moderate — sales, marketing, finance, analytics | Clear top-line increase measured vs target | Company-wide planning, investor guidance | Simple KPI, organizational alignment, easy tracking |
| New Customer Acquisition Goals | High — market targeting and campaign execution | High — marketing spend, sales outreach, channels | Expanded customer base and market share | Scaling startups, entering new segments | Drives expansion and reduces dependency on current customers |
| Customer Retention & Lifetime Value Goals | Medium — CX programs and product improvements | Moderate — customer success, product, analytics | Lower churn, higher LTV, predictable recurring revenue | Subscription models, mature customer bases | Cost-effective growth, higher margins, stronger loyalty |
| Sales Pipeline Development Goals | Medium — process design and CRM discipline | Moderate — lead gen, CRM, sales ops | Consistent deal flow and improved forecasting | Improving sales predictability and capacity planning | Visibility into future revenue; identifies bottlenecks |
| Average Deal Size & Value Goals | High — pricing, packaging, consultative selling | Moderate–High — senior sellers, solution design | Higher revenue per transaction, fewer deals needed | Enterprise deals, margin-focused strategies | Increased revenue efficiency and better margins |
| Sales Activity & Activity Ratio Goals | Low — set metrics and tracking routines | Low–Moderate — CRM tracking, manager oversight | Increased activity levels and early performance signals | High-volume teams, ramping reps | Drives consistency, accountability, easy to measure |
| Win Rate & Deal Closure Goals | Medium — analytics and process refinement | Moderate — training, enablement, analytics | Improved conversion rates and sales efficiency | Competitive markets, process improvement initiatives | Reflects effectiveness; guides training and process fixes |
| Sales Quota & Individual Performance Goals | Medium — quota setting and calibration | Moderate — compensation design, reporting systems | Clear individual targets and performance measurement | Commissioned salesforces, talent management | Motivates reps, links pay to performance, identifies talent |
| Product & Service Penetration Goals | Medium — account strategies and enablement | Moderate — customer success, marketing, training | Higher adoption, increased wallet share per customer | Cross-sell/upsell strategies, product launches | Leverages existing customers, lower marginal cost than acquisition |
| Market Expansion & Geographic Growth Goals | High — localization and strategic planning | High — market research, local teams, budget | Diversified revenue and long-term scale | Entering new countries, verticals, or large markets | Opens new markets, reduces concentration risk |
We've covered a wide range of sales goals examples, from high-level revenue targets to daily activity metrics. The key takeaway is simple: a goal without a plan is just a wish. The SMART framework gives you the structure, but your execution brings it to life. Whether you're an AE trying to increase your average deal size or an SDR focused on booking meetings, success comes from relevant, timely, and insightful engagement.
Effective goal-setting isn't a one-time event. It's about continuously connecting your daily activities to the bigger picture, understanding the "why" behind each target, and adjusting your approach based on what works.
Keep these core principles in mind as you set your sales goals:
Here's how to turn these examples into results:
This is where account intelligence platforms give you a strategic advantage. By monitoring key signals like new executive hires or technology changes, you arm your team with the context needed to start meaningful conversations. This proactive approach turns cold outreach into warm, relevant engagement, helping you hit even your most ambitious targets.
Ready to stop guessing and start engaging with precision? Salesmotion delivers real-time, actionable account intelligence directly into your workflow, helping your team hit their numbers by creating more pipeline, faster. See how Salesmotion can transform your sales process today.