Without a clear destination in mind it’s easy to get lost when visiting a large city. With a clear goal and map in hand, a frustrating episode of wrong turns quickly becomes a fun adventure . The same is true when it comes to business. In sales it’s important to have a map of your goals and objectives. With a set of goals and metrics it’s easy to see your progress and the likelihood of meeting those objectives. But sometimes, it’s easy to get buried by the paperwork. And often times, people never get around to it. What’s a savvy sales manager to do?
Consider a simple two-step process that’s half online and half good old fashioned paper. Other than GoogleDocs, there are no fancy apps to learn or download.
Drawing the Goal Line
All of us should have at least five major goals you plan to achieve by years end. But the goals shouldn’t be ephemeral hopes and wishes; they should be complete, concise and achievable. These goals are commonly known as SMART goals:
- Specific – I want this problem solved and it will look like “this”
- Measurable – tied to some number: increase, decrease, percentage, etc
- Attainable – doable with the resources you have access
- Realistic – laws of physics honored
- Timely – completed by some date: e.g. 3 days, 6 months, EOY, etc..
So for example: Selling a lot of widgets, is NOT a SMART Goal. Selling 10 widgets in the next 4 months is a SMART goal. Posting a video on YouTube that will go viral is NOT a SMART goal; this isn’t realistic, you can’t control it. But you can control posting one video on some topic in two weeks. That’s a SMART goal.
A Project Plan Per Goal
Each goal will get a project plan, a list of steps and milestones needed to complete the goal. Place the project plan in a GoogleDoc. What’s great about a GoogleDoc is it’s free, safe and accessible anywhere on the web.
Create a numbered list and write the things you need to do, in order. Sometimes it’s best to work backwards from the end goal. Once written, strike out steps as you progress. It’s important to review the project plan every few days. If other people are delegated a step on the project list, it’s your job to keep on top of them.
If you work the project plan, you’ll work the goals.
Each morning make a “to-do” list. I do this on paper but you could do it online. Make sure items on the list address tasks on the project plan. My goal is to do 90% of the items on the list by the end of the day. Often times it’s 100%. Items not completed get moved over to a new list the next morning.
If you work the items on the to-do list,
you’ll work the project plan.
This process is a simple way to keep focused and stop thrashing. By breaking a job down into small doable tasks, projects that at first look overwhelming, become achievable. Steady progress wins the race.
Time For Action
Make a list of goals now, five of them. Rank them in importance. Take the top three and build project plans for each. Build a to-do list and make sure items on the project plan are addressed. We have a Sales Babble Project Plan Template available for download.
We all dream about the things we would like to accomplish. The best way to achieve those dreams is to set goals. But sometimes we need a little help meeting our goals. The first step is to track your progress. Watching your progress is an encouraging experience.
How do you manage your projects? Take a moment and share in the comments how YOU manage your goals now.