I remember at time about 15 years ago when I was working with a sales manager and he told me to set goals for the following year. After having been the owner of my own company before I knew what to do. So about a week later I submitted my sales targets/goals. He looked at them and said they were no good.
I looked at him and asked him why he said that. His response was very revealing. He told me that my goals were not high enough. I said as compared to what? I had only started work for him in August and had a very good start. I realized that he wanted me to set higher sales goals because he thought that it was going to motivate me even more than I was already.
What did I learn? People have to set goals for their reasons. These reasons can be for retirement income, a trip or to put extra money away for your child’s education. The sales goals should stretch you to reach farther than you thought you could achieve, but they should always be reasonable. The targets need to be reasonable as if they aren’t, you may start to question yourself. When you start to question yourself you may feel so much pressure that you start to have a defeatist attitude.
So when you set your next targets/goals make sure they are S.M.A.R.T.;
- Specific – regarding numbers, contacts etc.
- Measurable – by having numbers you can measure how you are doing
- Attainable – with some stretch to what you think you can achieve.
- Reasonable – is your new goal a reasonable increase while still stretching your ability?
- Trackable – so you can track and see your progress.
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