Tammy Vasbinder | Owner
Goal setting is so very important for business owners. Don’t wait for others to motivate you - they can’t. Only you can motivate yourself.
One of the easiest ways to encourage a motivated mindset is by setting goals that you know you can achieve. This will help you gain more success in business.
I am a firm believer in goal setting. When meeting with clients for a marketing or sales consult, the first thing we do is make a list of short- and long-term goals. If you haven’t already done this for 2020, I encourage you to write them down.
So where do you begin? When writing your goals, you should be specific. The goals need to be measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely!
First, take a look at your year in its entirety. Ask everyone on your team for the top 2-3 things that went well in their department this year and the 2-3 things that didn’t go well. Write them down and transfer them into a shared document to have in one central place for everyone to review. Take a moment to go over the successes of your team across the whole year. This will give you material to discuss specific goals for each team member for the following year.
Next, decide what your goals are for next year. If you have a large company, help your staff set their goals as well. Maybe there's a financial goal, market share gain, increase of customer satisfaction, or reengaging past customers. Goals that are more specific are easier to track and therefore, more achievable. For example, "each sales rep to acquire four new customers per month" is a better goal than "increase sales."
When setting your financial goal, determine the following:
> What’s your average sale?
> What’s your closing ratio (If you present or send a quote to 10 prospects, how many of them become a customer?)
> How many clients bill with you each year?
This information is crucial when determining your financial goal. You would be surprised by how many business owners do not know the answers to these questions. Once you answer these questions, you will be able to back track the numbers to help you achieve your financial goals for 2020.
Let’s say you’re a remodeling company focusing on kitchen remodels, and your average kitchen remodel is $40,000. Your targeting homes are probably valued at $400K or more, so here are some examples of goals that you should set:
Shore term goals:
> Call 10 targeted prospects each day
> Set two appointments per day / total of 10 per week
> Close 20% of the 40 monthly prospects
> Bill $320,000 per month (40 customers x 20% closing ratio = 8 new monthly customers x the average sale of $40,000 = $320,000)
Good luck setting and achieving your goals and remember two things. Share your goals with others and celebrate with your team after you hit your goals. Goals that have been achieved are an opportunity for celebration. Successful companies set goals that support the business mission and recognize employees for a job well done. What desirable outcomes would you like to achieve? Now is the time to create goals to make those outcomes happen.