It’s that time of year again. Time to set some goals for the upcoming year and get yourself organized. More often than not, goals fall into two categories: out of reach or easily met. Goal setting is considered to be extremely difficult. The questions you can ask yourself are: What makes a great goal for my organization? One that my Sales team rallies behind and tries their best to meet?
In this blog, we’ll provide you with a method to improve your goals. At LeadHQ we often utilize the SMART method for our goals. Here, SMART stands for:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Realistic
- Time-bound
We believe that by setting our goals in a SMART way we are able to grow step by step. First, we will break down each of the 5 SMART elements. Second, we will tell you why we have implemented this method ourselves for all our goals, not only sales related goals. Finally, we will provide you with insights on how using the SMART approach can help create goals that work for your organization and allow your sales team to thrive.
What does SMART stand for when setting goals?
SMART stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. SMART goals use a specific set of criteria to help ensure that objectives are clearly defined and attainable within a certain timeframe.
Specific: A great sales goal is specific. It clearly states what you want to achieve. For example, rather than setting a goal to “increase sales,” a specific goal would be to “increase sales by 10% in the next quarter.”
Measurable: A great sales goal is also measurable. This means that you can track your progress and know when you’ve achieved your goal. For example, a measurable goal would be to “make 100 sales calls in the next week.”
Achievable: A great sales goal is Achievable. Here you can check whether or not the goals are actually able to be met. You should ask if the objective and goal can be accomplished. Identify whether or not you have bit off more than you can chew. If so, your team might become less motivated. When you check the achievability of the goal, make sure to allow the team to communicate all the potential challenges. You can evaluate and discuss with your team when the goals are set.
Realistic: A great sales goal is realistic. This means that it is achievable, given the resources and time you have available, but it should also challenge you to stretch yourself. For example, a realistic goal would be to “increase sales by 10% in the next quarter,” if you have been steadily increasing sales by 5% each quarter.
Time-bound: A great sales goal is also time-bound. This means that it has a deadline, so that you can stay on track and achieve your goal. For example, a timely goal would be to “increase sales by 10% in the next quarter.”
To put it simply, the criteria of the SMART goal setting method helps to ensure that objectives are clearly defined and attainable within a specific period of time, allowing your team to understand the motivation driving that specific goal.
Why do use SMART goals?
Let’s be honest, everyone has created goals that we failed to meet in one form or another. Our team and other teams reach for the stars every day! This is also true for our sales team. When organizations aim to increase revenue, they first need to set a goal, such as how much revenue they want to generate. By setting goals, our teams and organizations are able to visualize where they are required to go.
Hence, when we aim to reach a very ambitious goal, we need some sort of plan or road to get there. This road becomes viable and visible when we use the SMART method for our goals. Among the benefits that we’ve experienced when creating SMART goals are:
A clear communication process between the involved parties. Team Members know what they contribute and why they are carrying out activities and tasks. This boosts the motivation of the teams.
Minimizing vague and confusing goals.
Previously, we had set multiple goals for our sales activities. While these goals were often created with an overall strategy in mind, our team members found them vague and confusing because they had limited additional background information.
Once we started working with the method to create SMART goals, our team was able to understand our new goals. Now they have a better understanding of the goals and see why they’ve been set. Each of the activities they undertake are in relation to the goals, which boosts their effectiveness and productivity levels.
One roadmap.
Since developing our goals with the SMART method, everyone sees clearly what we want to achieve and when we are expected to achieve it. In some ways, we have created a clear roadmap for each goal. As a result, seeing our progress develop each month boosts the confidence of our team.
Improved evaluation.
FInally, since we’ve developed our goal setting method, we’ve been able to analyze our progress on each goal perfectly. By knowing what goals are set and why they are set, we are able to evaluate our goals by evaluating the right metrics.
Can you benefit from creating SMART goals for your sales process?
As stated above, SMART goal setting helped us immensely by improving our goal setting and the total goals that we reached. This is true not only for goals used internally but also for goals that we set when working with our partners.
So, why could SMART goal setting help you create great goals for your sales team?
- Keep your team motivated
- Have a great timeline or roadmap of each goal.
- Improved focus on the results.
- Evaluation and adaptation are easier.
- Improvements can be created where needed.
These are our tips on why SMART goals are important and why your business could benefit from utilizing the SMART approach for your annual goals.