Goal Clarity

I have heard it said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you won’t know when you get there.” (Author Unknown) Another adage is “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” (Lewis Carroll) Another is “If a man knows not what harbor he seeks, any wind is the right wind.” (Seneca)

And then a couple from one of my favorites Yogi Berra “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” And finally “When you come to the fork in the road, take it!”

So what is goal clarity and why is it important? And finally, how do you use goal clarity to drive your business?

Ron Willingham in his book “Integrity Selling for the 21st Century” makes the point that Strong Goal Clarity is a common trait of highly successful people. He lists the following questions to ask yourself:

1. “Do I continue to write down clear, specific goals?
2. Do I revise and update my goals each month?
3. Are My goals are consistent with my values?
4. Do I feel worth of achieving higher goals?
5. Do I break my goals down into small daily steps?”

Mr. Willingham also suggests rewarding yourself along the way as goals are achieved.

A methodology of defining goals is referred to as “Smart” goals which is outlined in Wikipedia as follows:

“S – Specific: Should be significant and a stretch;

M – Measurable: Meaningful and Manageable – If you can measure it you can manage it!

A – Actionable: Achievable, yet ambitious and assign “WHO” will do it;

R – Relevant: Realistic and results oriented

T – Time Bound: Assign Who & By When (due date)

Now we will combine some of the above thoughts and demonstrate how to use goal clarity to drive your businesses’ performance.

Example:

You set a revenue target of 10% above the previous year.

You break that down into sales goals:

5% will come from existing customers

5% from new customers

No price changes

This is Specific and measurable, but not yet actionable, relevant or time bound

We talk with the Salesmen and they indicate they will need to meet with 5 potential new customers per week to achieve the new customer target. We document that and they agree they believe that is attainable. They agree to turn in a sales report weekly with their five potential customers.

They also indicate they feel the 5% from existing customers will be difficult. So they set a goal that they will meet with their existing customers more frequently to help show them how our products can help them be more successful. We document that and they agree they believe that is attainable. They agree to report this weekly as well.

So now our goals are specific, measurable actionable, and relevant.

Sales also asked that we reduce the error rate of shipping the wrong product to .5% as they feel that alone will help existing customers become more satisfied with using the company to meet their needs. This too is specific, measurable actionable, and relevant.

So now our goals are specific, measurable actionable, and relevant.

Now we add time bound, “By When” these things are to be done. If they are going to hit the 5% and 5% targets, they need to hit the ground running, so the approach, initial prospecting and other things may need to be done by the time the New Year starts in order to achieve the targets.

The written goals should be posted in a conspicuous place for the sales team to constantly be reminded, they need to be broken down into daily, weekly, and monthly goals, that are updated at least monthly and the people involved need to be held accountable for attainment of these goals by the due dates assigned.

Finally set up some rewards along the way. When Olympian Mark Spits swam for Indiana University, they were the number 1 swim team in the country. The coach rewarded the effort of his swimmers with Jelly Beans. And these swimmers worked really hard each day in practice to obtain this reward. So it does not necessarily need to cost a lot of money to be effective.

These steps are not difficult, but they need to be followed to assure the ultimate goal is achieved. Allow Goal clarity to show you and your people the destination and how to get there and in the process show how SMART you can be!