I have set a lot of stupid goals in my life. Goals made in
the rush of excitement with little thought to how they were
going to get done or how they fit with the other priorities
of my life. I have sold expensive pieces of exercise
equipment for pennies on the dollar and have thick
notebooks of training material lining my shelves as
testimony to the futility of stupid goals.
Goal setting, however, is still an important part of my
life. But a certain kind of goal setting, SMART goal
setting. Goals are SMART when they are Specific,
Measurable, Achievable, Relevant to current business
objectives, and Time bound.
When goals follow this formula, they also get done. Which,
or course, is the whole point of goal setting.
A FIVE STEP SYSTEM FOR SETTING A SMART GOAL
1. State your goal in one sentence.
The one sentence rule forces you to be sharply focused and
state clearly and plainly what you intend to accomplish.
This kind of clarity right at the start of the goal
planning process makes it incredibly powerful.
Here is an actual statement from a SMART Goal of salesman I
worked with:
To achieve $1.8 million of agricultural sales in 2006 by
selling $600K of fertilizer by April , $600K of fungicide
and growth regulator by June, and $600K of lime, herbicide,
and other products by December.
Note how this goal is very specific and measurable, by both
amount and product. In analyzing his accounts at the
beginning of the year, it became obvious that it was
achievable and the dates we set were in line with the
growing season of his customers. It is also aligned with
the overall business objectives of the company and his own
family's financial goals.
In short, it is SMART.
2. List the main benefits of achieving this goal.
Fitness experts tell us that we are not to focus on losing
weight, a negative outcome, but on gaining health, a
positive one. When we place the benefits of our goals
before us, they become powerful motivators for the process
of change.
The benefits of this sales professional's SMART goal were:
1. I will feel a great sense of accomplishment of having
sold more product than in any other year.
2. I will feel good about the job I am doing for my
company, a place I love to work.
3. I will enjoy increased pay through commissions and
bonuses.
4. I will set the table for years of repeat business with
these customers.
A clear vision of the benefits of a goal infuses passion
into the goal planning process and drives us emotionally to
get it done.
3. List the steps of action for achieving this goal
Here is where the rubber meets the road and, according to
my client, the part of the goal planning process gave him
the most value. We listed step by step what it would take
get this goal done.
Each step was given a date and a deadline that was then
placed into his calendar.
As we continued working together, I held him accountable
for completing these steps of action. As they were met, we
celebrated, or, if they were missed, we made a mid-course
correction and moved on. Here are some of those steps of
action:
1. Update and analyze soil samples of my all my customers
by April 24.
2. Write up fertilizer blend recommendations based on the
soil samples by March 8.
3. Make appointments with all my customers to present
recommendations by March 10.
4. Apply first round of dry fertilizer by March 30.
5. Apply second round of liquid fertilizer by April 30.
4. List the possible obstacles for the completion of this
goal
This is a missing link when most people set goals, asking
oneself the question, "What can go wrong?" It is NOT smart
to think only about the new opportunities a goal brings you
without analyzing the obstacles that stand in your way.
Furthermore, if a goal has nothing standing in its way, it
would have been done by now. By uncovering as many of these
obstacles as possible at the beginning of the goal planning
process, you can address them right from the start so they
don't derail performance.
In other words, if there are clouds on the horizon, bring
an umbrella so that you are ready for them! With this
salesman we identified these three obstacles:
1. Letting a bottleneck develop by doing all my own soil
sample work 2. Losing sales due to pricing concerns 3.
Losing sales due to product supply
5. List the possible solutions to the obstacles of this goal
Having placed the obstacles this sales professional faced
on the table, we realized that some of them had hindered
his goal completion in the past. So we began to design
solutions, which included talking with his manager who had
no idea that there were product supply problems!
Here are this SMART goal's solutions:
1. Work closely with scouts to help with gathering soil
samples
2. Get pricing strategy set BEFORE customers bring it up.
3. Solve supply problems at the management level.
WHAT HAPPENED AS A RESULT?
Following this exact SMART goal planning process, this
salesman increased his sales from $1.2 million to $1.8
million. His goal was accomplished, not in the year's
timeframe we gave it, but in SIX MONTHS. That is a sales
increase of 50% in 50% less time.
Perhaps the most important thing to understand about this
story, however, is that this was not a sales superstar. He
was a normal, average guy, very much an introvert. His
sales had been stuck at $1.2 million or less for over the
past five years. Yet, with a SMART system in place, he
experienced success beyond what he thought he could
possible accomplish.
What would an increase of 50% of sales in 50% less time do
for your business? Get SMART and you could experience the
answer to that question.
----------------------------------------------------
Bill Zipp, President of Leadership Link, Inc., is a
seasoned small business specialist. Bill has spent
thousands of hours working with hundreds of business
leaders, and his proven program, The Business Fitness™
System, provides a step-by-step plan for building a strong,
self-sustaining small business. For a FREE Special Report,
The 3 Biggest Killers of Small Businesses Today (And What
YOU Can Do About Them!) visit http://www.LeadershipLink.net
.
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