It is generally recognized that setting goals provides anyone in sales with both direction and motivation. It helps you to stay focused. It is also very rewarding to reach your goals.

But it is very difficult to incorporate goal setting into your routine if your host agency doesn’t give you access to the information you need to know where you stand, what you have accomplished and how far you are from reaching your goal.

So ask yourself, how do I know how I am doing each week or each month?

Let’s start with commissions. Does your host agency provide you with a system that allows you to view your commissions – both outstanding and paid – in real time?

An accounting system that provides all your commission information at a glance can be very motivating!

If your host agency has its agents tiered, how do you know where you stand? How close are you to the next tier, where you will presumably achieve great rewards? Again, if your goal is to reach the next tier above, or the one after that in a certain time period, you need the right tools to always know where you stand in order to be motivated. Just knowing this information is a huge motivator!

You will also want to consider your mix of product and suppliers when setting your goals. Have you calculated your average commission percentage based on the suppliers and products you are selling? What if you aimed a little higher – how will you get your average up?

Well, this is where the right accounting and reporting system is crucial to let you know the answers and where you stand at all times.

It is also important to have year-on-year information. How much had you sold last year by this time? What was your average commission last year vs. this year? Are you doing better, or the same, or worse? You need this information in order to stay on track, and be motivated.

And most importantly, be sure to celebrate when you reach your goal, however small. Make your goals attainable and then see how much satisfaction you get when you reach a goal. Goal-setting is the way to achieve steady progress.

So make sure you have the right host agency with a system that always lets you know where you stand.