Stop Chasing Targets. Start Setting Objectives.

Every business wants growth.

More customers, more revenue and more opportunities. Yet many organizations make the same mistake when it comes to sales and business development: they focus almost exclusively on targets. This could be revenue targets, pipeline targets, deal targets, and while those measures are important, they often distract leaders from the activities that actually create growth in the first place. Because targets are outcomes, objectives are actions, and actions are where growth begins.

The Problem with Sales Targets

Imagine a business leader asks their team: 'How many deals are we going to close this month?'. It seems like a reasonable question. The problem is that deal timing is often outside of anyone's control. Prospects have their own priorities, budgets can be delayed, leadership teams can change direction, and projects can get postponed. Even when a sales process is executed perfectly, the outcome may not happen for months.

The most successful sales organizations understand a simple truth: You cannot always control when someone buys. You can control whether they know who you are when the need arises.

Modern Buyers Behave Differently

Today's buyers are more informed than ever before. They research independently, seek recommendations from trusted peers, consume content, and evaluate multiple options long before engaging with a supplier.

Research from Gartner has shown that B2B buyers spend only a small portion of their buying journey interacting directly with suppliers. By the time many buyers engage with a vendor, they have often completed significant research and internal discussions.

This changes the role of sales and business development. Success is no longer about being present when someone is ready to buy. Success is about building awareness and credibility long before they are.

The Long Game of Business Development

Many business leaders still evaluate sales activities through a short-term lens. Did we close a deal? Did we generate revenue? Did we sign a contract? Those outcomes matter, but they are often lagging indicators.

The leading indicators are different: meaningful conversations, new relationships, strategic introductions, industry visibility, thought leadership, market intelligence, and trust. These activities rarely show up on a monthly revenue report, yet they are often responsible for the opportunities that appear months later.

Trust Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Recent research from Edelman and LinkedIn reinforces this point. Their 2025 B2B Thought Leadership Impact Report found that high-quality thought leadership plays a significant role in influencing purchasing decisions and building trust with prospective buyers.

Buyers want confidence before they make decisions. They want evidence that a company understands their challenges. They want insight, expertise, and credibility long before they want a proposal.

Why Objectives Matter More Than Ever

Research frequently cited by LinkedIn suggests that approximately 95% of potential buyers are not actively looking to purchase at any given moment. If that is true, then focusing exclusively on closed business means focusing on only a small fraction of the market.

The larger opportunity lies in building awareness with the other 95%. Instead of asking 'How many deals did we close?', leaders should also ask:

• How many meaningful conversations did we have?
• How many new relationships did we establish?
• How many follow-up meetings were scheduled?
• How many decision-makers did we engage?
• How visible were we in our target market?
• What did we learn about our customers and prospects?

The Role of Sales Enablement

At Professional Executive Associates, we work with organizations that want growth but struggle to create consistent momentum. Sales enablement is not simply about helping people sell. It is about helping organizations build repeatable systems and processes that support long-term business development.

The right objectives create clarity. The right activities build trust. The right processes create consistency. And consistency is what ultimately drives sustainable growth.

Final Thoughts

Targets matter. Every organization needs goals. But targets alone do not create results. Objectives do.

The organizations that consistently grow are not always the ones chasing the next deal. They are the ones intentionally creating relationships, building credibility, staying visible, and earning trust long before a buying decision is made.

Because in today's business environment, success rarely belongs to the organization that shows up first. It belongs to the organization that is remembered when the need finally arises.

If your organization is focused on growth, take a moment to evaluate what your teams are actually being measured against. Are they being held accountable only for outcomes? Or are they also being encouraged to perform the activities that create those outcomes?

At Professional Executive Associates, we help organizations develop practical sales enablement and business development strategies that support sustainable, long-term growth.

If you'd like to explore how stronger objectives, better processes, and intentional relationship-building can create more opportunities for your business, we'd be happy to start the conversation.

Paul Bates - Director, Business Development