Stop Chasing Revenue: The Input Goals That Actually Create It (Year-End Edition)

Revenue is an output. If your team only tracks outputs, your coaching becomes reactive and your forecasting becomes guesswork. High performing sales systems track both leading indicators and lagging indicators, because leading indicators help you steer the ship before you hit the rocks. HubSpot explains this distinction clearly: leading indicators predict future performance, while lagging indicators confirm whether objectives were achieved. 

This article shows you how to set input goals that create pipeline, create conversion, and create revenue, especially during year end planning.

Why output only goals fail in December

Output only goals create panic behavior

When the only visible target is revenue, reps tend to:
• Chase the easiest deals, not the right deals
• Discount too early
• Skip qualification
• Avoid uncomfortable prospecting

The result is short term activity that damages long term pipeline.

Output only goals hide the real bottleneck

If revenue is down, the problem could be any of these:
• Not enough activity at the top of the funnel
• Weak messaging
• Poor show rate
• Low discovery quality
• Weak proposal process
• Stalled deal management

Without input metrics, you cannot diagnose which lever to pull.

The inputs that actually drive predictable revenue

Think of revenue as the end of a chain. Your job is to control the early links.

Input category 1: Prospecting activity you can actually control

Choose 2 to 3 daily metrics that match your sales motion:
• New accounts added to outreach per day
• Calls per day
• Personalized emails per day
• Social touches per day

Important: do not set fantasy numbers. Set numbers that reps can hit consistently for 6 weeks.

Input category 2: Meeting creation metrics

Meetings are the bridge between activity and pipeline.

Track:
• Meetings booked per week
• Show rate
• Meeting to SQL conversion rate

Scale Labs sales metrics guidance commonly frames calls, meetings, and qualified opportunities as leading indicators, while revenue and win rate are lagging indicators. 

Input category 3: Pipeline creation metrics

Pipeline is the true leading indicator of future revenue.

Track:
• SQLs created per month
• Opportunities created per month
• Pipeline value created per month

If your pipeline value is not growing, your future revenue is already at risk.

Input category 4: Quality inputs that prevent fake pipeline

Activity without quality creates noise. Add one quality control per stage:
• Every active deal has a dated next step
• Every deal meets stage exit criteria
• Decision maker is engaged by a defined stage

This is where systems beat motivation.

How to convert a revenue target into weekly input goals

You need a simple chain that your team understands.

Step 1: Start with deal math

You need:

1. Revenue target

2. Average deal size

3. Deals needed

4. Close rate

5. Opportunities needed

6. SQLs needed

7. Meetings needed

8. Outreach needed

This is not theory. It is your operating model.

Step 2: Use your real conversion rates

If you do not know them, estimate, then refine every month.

Example:
• Show rate: 70 percent
• Meeting to SQL: 40 percent
• SQL to opportunity: 60 percent
• Close rate: 25 percent

Now you can calculate how many meetings and how much outreach you need.

Step 3: Set weekly targets per rep

Keep it tight:
• 3 input goals
• 1 pipeline creation goal
• 1 quality rule

Step 4: Review weekly, coach weekly

A weekly input review is where you coach behavior, not outcomes.

Ask:
• Which input is below target
• Why
• What will you change next week
• What support do you need

This is the difference between management and coaching.

A simple year end scoreboard your team will actually use

Track weekly:
• Calls made
• Personalized emails sent
• Meetings booked
• Meetings held
• SQLs created
• Opportunities created
• Next steps scheduled

Do not add more until the team is consistent.

Common mistakes when setting input goals

Setting too many metrics

If you track 15 KPIs, no one tracks anything.

Tracking activity without conversion

If outreach is high but meetings are low, the issue is messaging and targeting.

Ignoring quality

If meetings are high but SQLs are low, the issue is qualification and discovery.

Changing inputs too often

Inputs need time to compound. Keep targets stable for a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks.

If you only manage revenue, you will always manage too late. The teams that win in Q1 are the ones that treat sales like a system: they set a small number of input goals, review them weekly, and coach the bottleneck instead of blaming the outcome. Keep it simple, keep it consistent for long enough to compound, and use real conversion math to turn targets into actions your team can execute every week.

FAQs

What are leading indicators in sales?

Leading indicators are controllable activities that predict future results, like calls, meetings booked, and qualified opportunities created. 

What are lagging indicators in sales?

Lagging indicators are outcomes like revenue, win rate, and closed deals. They confirm what already happened. 

How many sales KPIs should a team track?

Most teams do best with a small set of inputs plus a small set of outputs, reviewed weekly.