Article Overview
Why choose OKRs for your sales team
OKRs or Objectives and Key Results are a collaborative goal-setting tool used by sales teams and other departments to set challenging, ambitious goals with measurable results. OKRs are how you track progress, create alignment, and encourage engagement around measurable goals.
OKRs can be a superpower for creating an environment where employees are able to work with purpose. Companies like Intel, LinkedIn and Airbnb have achieved amazing results with OKRs, but less often discussed is the fact that deploying a goal framework in the right way can create a vastly better working environment.
The OKR methodology is very simple, and when used properly, OKRs can help your sales team create things like high output management, team alignment and increased communication in all your business goals.
Writing and implementing OKRs for your sales team
When it comes to creating and writing incredible OKRs consider the following formula:

Designed to fit the needs of any organization size, department or industry, OKRs work the same for setting goals throughout many company levels. They can also be used by individuals or small teams to achieve results.
Objectives need to be clear, actionable and (ideally) inspiring, while also actionable and time-bound.
Key results determine whether an Objective has succeeded or failed. They are quantifiable, measurable and time-bound, so that it's easy for the team to gauge progress. Contributors on the KRs should measure progress regularly (ideally weekly), and then at the end of the OKR period (typically a quarter), there’s a regular grading of the KR and retrospective.
When it comes to writing and setting OKRs, it's a good idea to make it collaborative. By conducting a brainstorming session, it engages your sales team, gives your team a level of ownership and drives accountability for those results.
Ultimately, you want to create a process where teams feel empowered to create their OKRs and then challenge teams across the business to ensure they’re focused on the right priorities at the right time. This process encourages creative thinking and informed risk-taking, all to push your sales team forward.
Sales OKRs: Best practices and examples
When getting started with sales OKRs, we get common questions like “how do I write a good sales OKR?” or “can you give me a good example of a revenue generating OKR?” To answer these questions, we created a list of example sales OKRs so you can have some inspiration as you begin to write your own company, department, and team OKRs.
Sales revenue OKR examples
Objective: Hit quarterly revenue of $10,000,000
Key result 1: Expand successfully into the APAC region by achieving $1,000,000 in New ARR
Key result 2: Achieve >30% of new business in upsell/cross-Sell to existing customers
Key result 3: Increase the conversion rate from SQL to opportunity to 11%
Key result 4: Decrease the sales cycle for the standard version of the product from 32 to 15 days
Objective: Generate new bookings pipeline
Key result 1: Generate of $12M in 'Land' pipeline
Key result 2: Generate $4M in 'Expand' pipeline
Key result 3: Do 7 product demos per week on average per sales rep
Objective: Recruit world-class A-players for our sales team
Key result 1: Hire 10 new AEs by the end of January
Key result 2: Hire 20 new SDRs by the end of January
Key result 3: Hire 5 new sales managers by the end of January
Key result 4: Maintain a 4:1 onsite "Interview Offer" ratio
Objective: Develop our reps into the best sales team in the industry
Key result 1: Implement new sales training platform demonstrated by successfully delivering 3 training modules
Key result 2: Complete weekly sales coaching lunch & learns
Key result 3: Interview and finalize on new sales training methodology trainer to be delivered next quarter
Key result 4: Complete regular monthly anonymous surveys of SDRs and AEs and get their feedback
Sales manager OKR examples
Objective: Grow our sales in the central region
Key result 1: Develop 50 new qualified opportunities in strategic named accounts
Key result 2: Successfully onboard 10 new resellers that focus on the central region
Key result 3: Rollout SPIF for central region driving 70% rep quota attainment in the central region
Objective: Improve sales in South America
Key result 1: Land 30 new customers with greater than $20k in ARR in South America
Key result 2: Implement a new sales training program for our South American team
Key result 3: Receive 10 5-star reviews from our customers who indicate willingness to be references
SDR manager OKR examples
Objective: Implement SDR social selling process
Key result 1: Generate 75 SQL’s to sales executives
Key result 2: Generate >$185,000 in qualified pipeline through social selling techniques
Key result 3: Successfully train 5 SDRs on social selling practices as measured by passing the Sprout training segment
Objective: Exceed our quarterly pipeline quota by 50%
Key result 1: Generate 150 sales qualified leads
Key result 2: Generate in $500,000 in qualified pipeline by end of Q3
Objective: Grow our upsell and cross-sell
Key result 1: Promote 3 SDRs to the account manager (existing customer sales) role
Key result 2: Increase upsell and cross-sell revenue by 40%
Key result 3: Increase net retention to 98%
Key result 4: Have regular weekly alignment meetings with customer success
Sales enablement OKR examples
Objective: Enable our sales to be more successful
Key result 1: Successfully deliver sales enablement training platform by X date as measured by 80%+ sales team training on how to use the system
Key result 2: Deliver the new process for measuring outbound vs. inbound pipeline through presentation to sales execs by XX date
Key result 3: Improve email sequences to result in a 20% improvement in click rates
Key result 4: Implement the new forecasting module, migrating to the new methodology by XX date
Key result 5: Revise the sales compensation plan and obtain approval by sales management & board by XX date
Objective: Improve our sales analytics process
Key result 1: Implement a sales analytics and business intelligence platform successfully delivered by XX Date
Key result 2: Deliver new sales management alert triggers based on triggers in sales cycle (i.e. size, stage change, etc.)
Key result 3: Deliver weekly summary of sales activity metrics to sales management team by XX Date
Key result 4: Deliver Weekly Sales Pipeline metrics summary report to sales management team by xx date
Channel partner sales OKR examples
Objective: Grow sales through our channel partner
Key result 1: Recruit & Sign 30 new channel partners in Eastern, Central and Western geographies
Key result 2: Deliver proposal and obtain approval for the Q2 channel incentive program
Key result 3: Successfully launch the new channel partner portal as measured by 50% logins from partners
Key result 4: Deliver improved channel partner onboarding process as measured by a 20% improvement in certification test passing scores
How Gtmhub simplifies OKRs for sales teams
At Gtmhub, we’re committed to helping you bridge the gap between strategy and execution. Inspired by the Objectives and Key Results (OKR) methodology, our platform is designed to help you align your teams, improve focus and foster transparency.
Quick-start your OKR journey with ready-to-go OKR templates from our Marketplace or connect with 160+ Integrations to update your OKRs and KPIs automatically to easily make data-driven decisions with our customizable Insights and Dashboards.
Ready to achieve your most ambitious goals? Start a free trial today or book a demo to see Gtmhub in action.