The Real Problem With Annual Sales Goals

Over the last two weeks, my LinkedIn feed has been full of Sales Kickoff posts. It got me thinking about goal cycles.

I like goals.
What I like more is discipline backed by systems that actually get work done.

Back in 2012, when I was running a GTM team, my boss, Peter Weyman, handed me The 12 Week Year and told the team to use it. Not a book plug—just a method that stuck. We didn’t execute it perfectly, but it permanently changed how I plan.

The core idea is simple:

• Think long-term—lifetime goals, 30/15/5 years, annual.
• But plan short-term.

Anything beyond a quarter is mostly fiction.

The 12 Week Year forces focus. You set a small number of goals (usually three) and build a concrete plan to achieve them in 12 weeks. The 13th week is for review—what worked, what didn’t, and what changes next.

Here’s what my current quarter looks like at a high level.

Here's a bit of each goal's plan:

(There’s more detail underneath—these are just snapshots.)

What matters isn’t perfection. It’s specificity with flexibility.

Plans need structure, but they also need room to breathe. If they’re too rigid, they collapse the moment reality shows up.

This approach has worked exceptionally well for me. I carry the same discipline into every client engagement.

I also block time on my calendar for the work tied directly to each goal. Client work still happens—but if I don’t protect the important work, it gets crowded out.

Which brings me back to Sales Kickoffs.

Kickoffs usually launch teams into annual goals. That’s fine. But momentum fades fast when there’s no short-term execution plan underneath them.

Annual goals without quarterly discipline turn into slogans.

The best kickoffs don’t stand alone. They’re one moment inside a larger planning system.

I saw this clearly in the sales leadership roundtable I run with David Kreiger. In December, we had Rich DeGuzman walk through how he runs kickoffs. The key takeaway wasn’t the event—it was the planning. He works on kickoff strategy all year. It’s woven into how the company operates.

So as January wraps up, do a quick gut check:

1. Are your plans already drifting? If yes, zoom in—not out.
2. Look at the end of March, not the end of the year.
3. Pick three goals.
4. Work backward from March 20—not the 31st.
5. Build a real plan.
6. Then execute with discipline.

That’s how goals stop being aspirational and start becoming reality.