The Brutal Truth About Why Your Revenue Goals Keep Failing

You set ambitious revenue goals every year. You create action plans. You feel motivated and ready to crush it. Then December rolls around and you're nowhere close to hitting your targets.

Sound familiar?

The problem isn't your work ethic. It's not market conditions or bad luck. The real issue is more uncomfortable than that: you're setting untruthful goals.

We recently had Doug Brown on Six-Figure Secrets of Fractional Experts, CEO of Sales Strategies and revenue growth expert who's helped build over 35 businesses generating $960 million in sales. Doug revealed why most fractional executives stay trapped in feast-or-famine cycles despite their best intentions.

What Are "Untruthful Goals"?

An untruthful goal is an aspiration you want but aren't actually committed to achieving. It's the difference between saying "I want to make $600K this year" and being willing to do what $600K actually requires.

Doug shared the perfect example: Janet, a marketing consultant who claimed she wanted to make $600,000 annually. She was charging $1,000 per month per client. When Doug did the math, he showed her she'd need 50 clients to hit her goal.

Her response? "Oh no, I don't want to do that."

That's when they discovered her truthful goal was actually $350,000 – achievable with just 8 clients using a different pricing model. She hit that goal because it was based on what she was actually willing to do, not just what sounded impressive.

The Math Most Fractional Executives Ignore

Here's where most consultants fail before they even start: they don't factor in the real math of their business.

If you want to generate $300K in revenue, you can't just divide that by your monthly retainer and call it a day. You need to account for:

• Expense of sale (marketing, sales tools, networking costs)
• Client churn (not every client renews)
• Refunds and chargebacks
• Seasonal fluctuations
• Time between clients

Let's say you charge $10K monthly retainers and want $300K in revenue. That's 30 client-months, or roughly 10 clients for 3 months each. But if your overhead is 20% and you have a 10% churn rate, you actually need about 13-14 clients to hit your real goal.

Most fractional executives are operating 2-3 clients short of their targets because they never did this math.

Why You're Really Not Prospecting

Doug's diagnosis is harsh but accurate: "They really have untruthful goals that they're not willing to commit to."

When you ask most fractional executives why they're not consistently prospecting, they'll give you surface-level answers:

• "I'm too busy with clients"
• "I don't have time"
• "I hate sales"

But the real reason runs deeper. They've set goals that require work they're not actually willing to do. So they unconsciously sabotage their own prospecting efforts rather than face the uncomfortable truth about their commitment level.

The Business You're Actually In

Here's Doug's reality check that every fractional executive needs to hear:

"What business are you really in? You're in client acquisition. How can you deliver those products or services if you don't acquire a client first?"

You might think you're a marketing consultant, operations expert, or sales strategist. But first and foremost, you're in the client acquisition business. Everything else is just delivery.

Once you accept this truth, the excuses about "not liking sales" start to sound as ridiculous as a married person saying they don't like compromise. If you want the results, you do what's required.

The Six High-Performing Activities Framework

Instead of relying on one or two methods (usually referrals and word-of-mouth), Doug recommends building six different client acquisition activities over 6-12 months.

His SSSML framework breaks activities into timeframes:

Short-term (results in 30 days):

• Cold calling
• LinkedIn outreach
• Direct networking
• Immediate referral asks

Medium-term (results in 60-90 days):

• Speaking at events
• Guest blogging
• Podcast appearances
• Joint venture partnerships

Long-term (results in 6+ months):

• Your own podcast
• Consistent content creation
• Building referral partnerships
• Thought leadership campaigns

The key is starting with short-term activities while building your long-term pipeline. Most people make the mistake of jumping straight to long-term strategies and running out of money before they see results.

The Metrics That Actually Matter

Doug's approach to predictable revenue is built on tracking the right metrics religiously:

• Reach-outs made (daily prospecting activity)
• Response rates (positive, negative, neutral)
• Appointments set vs. appointments kept
• Close rates from initial meetings
• Follow-up close rates (often higher than initial)
• Average transaction value
• Client lifetime value and buying frequency

These metrics tell a story. Low response rates mean your messaging is off. High response rates but few appointments suggest a positioning problem. Lots of appointments but poor close rates indicate you need sales training.

The Active Referral System

Most fractional executives have passive referral programs – they do good work and hope clients refer them. Doug advocates for active referral systems where asking for referrals is built into every stage of your process:

• In your marketing materials
• During the sales process
• When onboarding new clients
• At regular check-ins
• Upon project completion
• Even when clients don't buy

Make referral requests systematic, not sporadic.

The 30-90 Day Test

When trying new prospecting activities, give them 30-90 days before deciding if they work. Grade each activity A through F:

• A-B range: High-performing activities to double down on
• C range: Needs optimization but has potential
• D-F range: Cut your losses and move on

The key is giving activities a truthful evaluation. If you half-heartedly tried cold calling for two weeks, that's not the method failing – that's you failing the method.

Your Reality Check

Stop setting goals based on what sounds impressive. Start setting goals based on what you're actually willing to do.

Ask yourself:

• How many hours per week am I truly willing to spend on prospecting?
• What activities am I actually committed to doing consistently?
• What lifestyle am I willing to maintain to hit my revenue targets?
• How many clients can I realistically serve well?

Build your goals around honest answers to these questions. A $200K goal you hit is infinitely better than a $500K goal you miss by 60%.

The Bottom Line

Predictable revenue isn't about finding the perfect strategy or waiting for market conditions to improve. It's about setting truthful goals, doing the math properly, and committing to consistent prospecting activities that match your real capacity and commitment level.

Stop lying to yourself about what you want versus what you're willing to do. Your business – and your bank account – will thank you for the honesty.

Mylance

‍This value-added article was written by Mylance. Mylance takes your marketing completely off your hands. We build the marketing machine that your Fractional Business needs, but you don't have time to run. So it operates daily, growing your brand, completely done for you.Instead of dangling numbers in front of you, our approach focuses on precise and thoughtful input: targeted outreach to the right decision makers, compelling messaging that resonates, and content creation that establishes trust and legitimacy.To apply for access, submit an application and we'll evaluate your fit for the service. If you’re not ready for lead generation, we also have a free, vetted community for top fractional talent that includes workshops, a rates database, networking, and a lot of free resources to support your fractional business.