ABCABC CompanyRevScoreboard · the ten things
ABC Company is fictional. Figures come from a real sales organization; every name has been changed.
09 of 10 · The Weekly Rhythm

The Weekly Sales Scorecard

One page per seller per week: behaviors first, outcomes last.

1The question

Does each seller know their number this week?

2Why it matters

“Be more proactive” is an adjective. “Twelve verified conversations this week” is a number. That is the whole difference between coaching and complaining.

Order matters: behaviors first, outcomes last. A seller controls how many conversations they have, not which deals sign. A standard that starts with what people control feels fair, and fairness is what makes it stick.

Two numbers, never one: a floor that everyone can reach and that carries a consequence, and a ceiling that is opted into and punishes nobody.

What the research says

Specific, difficult goals beat “do your best.” They report meta-analytic effect sizes from .42 to .80, drawn from their 1990 review.

Locke & Latham (2002), American Psychologist 57(9), 705–717 · doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705

Feedback backfires often enough (over a third of the time) that design matters: task-focused, specific, private.

Kluger & DeNisi (1996), Psychological Bulletin 119(2), 254–284 · doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.119.2.254

Overprescribed goals have side effects: narrowed focus, distorted risk-taking, unethical behavior. Locke and Latham reply in the same issue. The floor-and-ceiling design sits between the two.

Ordóñez, Schweitzer, Galinsky & Bazerman (2009), Academy of Management Perspectives 23(1), 6–16 · doi.org/10.5465/AMP.2009.37007999

Across 1,246 reps in 136 teams, managers' coaching skill was directly related to annual goal attainment. Frequent coaching from a low-skill coach hurt. The scorecard review is a coaching occasion, not a guarantee.

Dahling, Taylor, Chau & Dwight (2016), Personnel Psychology 69(4), 863–894 · doi.org/10.1111/peps.12123
AEvidence grade A. Proven across many studies: a meta-analysis or a finding replicated again and again. The grade rests on goal-setting and feedback research. The floor-and-ceiling split is design, informed by a live academic dispute.
What it doesn't settle. Goal-setting research is mostly about individual, short tasks. Weekly seller floors are a reasonable application, not a replicated finding.

3What to collect, every time

Input A number the CRM can't give you: the plan, quotas, working weeks, spend.Field Does the field exist, is it required, and who fills it in?Definition Your own definition of a thing we then compute against.Prediction Your answer now, in writing, checked against the record later.
Definition
What a seller is expected to do each week, in writingThe floor, if one exists.
Definition
What happens today when a week is missedWhether the floor has a consequence.
Input
Who enforces the floor, and are they willingA floor nobody enforces is worse than none.
Input
Base and variable pay, and what triggers payoutThe scorecard rows and the money must point the same way.
Definition
The meeting that survives a busy weekThe scorecard lives inside it.

4How it's computed

  1. Goals come from the coverage chain (thing 3), divided down to each seller's month.
  2. Count each behavior from dated fields: new opportunities, audits, presentations, logged activity.
  3. Pace = actual ÷ (monthly goal × share of the month gone).
  4. Green 90%+ of pace · Yellow 60–89% · Red under 60%.

5What ABC's record shows

July scorecard, every seller

July 1–23, 2026 (month to date) · 74% of the month gone
SellerActivitiesNew oppsNeeds auditsCensusesPresentationsWon $Coverage
Val Rasmussen1665%14157%12162%7135%7236%$31K163%2.0×goal 4×
Emery Kettering00%779%340%596%3101%$2,13516%1.5×goal 4×
Oakley Delacroix44180%14157%567%6116%267%$4,20036%3.0×goal 4×
Onyx Gutierrez26106%29326%11148%6116%267%$00%3.5×goal 4×
Tatum Ingram25102%10112%794%477%00%$29K379%7.7×goal 4×
Cove Abernathy39159%890%8108%00%134%$00%5.4×goal 4×
Greer Quintero28114%556%00%239%00%$00%2.6×goal 4×
Marlo Eberhardt29118%9101%113%239%134%$9,560165%2.4×goal 4×
Cyd Northcote1978%334%567%119%3101%$00%3.9×goal 4×

Green ≥ 90% of pace · Yellow 60–89% · Red < 60%. Monthly goals: activities 33, new opportunities 12, needs audits 10, censuses 7, presentations 4; revenue from each seller's 2026 plan. 5 seats with no July goal (new hires and open seats) are left off.

3 of 9 sellers on pace for July revenue. Behaviors are on the left, outcomes on the right. A seller who's green on the left and red on the right needs coaching on the deal, not the effort.

6What a sales leader does Monday

  • Print one page per seller and review it in the one-on-one, behaviors first.
  • Agree on the floor in writing, then hold it for a quarter before changing it.

7The founder version

Building your first CRM? Do this now, so you can answer the question in a year.

  • Set your own weekly floor: conversations held, new opportunities, next steps booked. Score it every Friday.