Sales Targets Lower Performance
Why sales targets change behavior more than they measure it.
Sales targets don't just measure performance.
They change it.
Mid-month tells you everything.
One salesperson reaches 80% by the 15th.
They slow down.
Not because they're lazy.
Because the incentive changed.
Another is at 15% on the 20th.
Now every call feels urgent.
Discovery gets rushed.
The close comes too early.
Or they quietly decide the month is already lost.
Neither person is behaving irrationally.
They're responding to the system.
That's what targets do.
They don't simply measure performance.
They shape it.
Managers like targets because they're visible.
The work that creates them isn't.
A dashboard tells you who closed.
It doesn't tell you why.
How the call went.
Where trust was lost.
Which question uncovered the real objection.
Or why another prospect bought.
The target tells you where you ended.
The process tells you how to get there again.