Targets, contests and coaching
A target is calculated, not decreed. A contest has limits, or it gets gamed. And coaching happens on a recording, not on an impression.
A quota built from rates, not from a wish
An SDR’s meeting target follows from three numbers you already know: the dials possible per day with your dialing mode, the conversation rate and the meeting rate per conversation. Sixty dials a day, eight conversations, one meeting in eight: one meeting a day, about five a week once ramped. The site’s prospecting calculator runs the maths both ways.
A quota set above what the rates allow is not ambitious, it is wrong. The SDR knows it within two weeks, and what disappears is trust in all your numbers.
Split the year without flattening it
An annual target divided by twelve ignores holidays, mid-year arrivals and your industry’s slow months. The site’s quota calculator produces a month-by-month quota per rep that accounts for start dates, ramp and seasonality, and adds up exactly to the annual target.
Present the result to the team together with the method. A quota that is explained gets discussed once; a quota handed down gets discussed every month.
- Ramp for new hires: half the target in the first quarter, for example.
- Seasonality: August and the second half of December are not worth March.
- A total that lands exactly on the annual target.
The contest: short, bounded, verifiable
A contest wakes a team up for two weeks, not for a quarter. It targets one specific behaviour you want to install: meetings held, not meetings booked; conversations longer than two minutes, not dials. And it plans for the worst case: what happens if everyone wins, and what does it cost?
The site’s contest generator calibrates the tiers, the podium, the maximum cost and the rules to share. Keep one verification rule: a meeting counts if it is held and logged in the CRM within the hour. Otherwise a contest measures creative accounting.
Coach on a recording, every week
Coaching an SDR happens on a real call, listened to together, with a scorecard: opener, permission, value, listening, next step. Thirty minutes per SDR per week, one recording chosen by them, one by you. One strength, one thing to work on, one thing to try this week.
That ritual is worth more than any one-off training: it installs the habit of listening back. The SDRs who improve fastest are the ones who replay their own calls alone, because they learned to do it with you.
Key takeaways
- The quota is calculated from possible dials, the conversation rate and the meeting rate.
- Two targets: activity (which the SDR controls) and outcome (which also depends on the list).
- Split the year with arrivals, ramp and seasonality, not into twelve equal parts.
- A contest is short, targets a verifiable behaviour and has a known maximum cost.
- Thirty minutes of coaching per SDR per week, on a recording, with a scorecard.
Check what you remember
Question 1 of 4One correct answer per question. The explanation appears after your choice.
Where does a meeting quota calculation start?
Go further
- Sales Quota Calculator Each rep’s quota, month by month, adding up to the annual target.
- Sales Contest Generator Tiers, podium, maximum cost and rules ready to share.
- Sales Call Scorecard The weekly coaching scorecard, with a PDF sheet.
- How many calls does your target take? The quota that follows from your rates, both ways.
A term you are not sure about? The cold calling glossary
