A key determinant of an individual's success or failure in meeting a goal can be summed up with one small word (or, more accurately, acronym): S.M.A.R.T.
No, I'm not referring to the person's IQ, GPA, or ability to complete the New York Times crossword puzzle. I'm referring, rather, to the presence or absence of five important goal attributes. Goals most likely to be achieved are:
- Specific
Becoming an effective salesperson, while definitely a worthy pursuit, is too vague to be an effective goal. How can we determine what steps to take unless we are more exact about what we are looking to accomplish? Instead, we must identify and base our goals upon distinct characteristics of good salespeople, such as high sales volume, repeat customers, and referrals. - Measurable
Once we identify which aspects of sales we would like to enhance, we must determine what criteria will be used to measure our performance. To simply say that we want to increase sales is not enough - unless, of course, we'd be satisfied with a sales growth of $.01! Instead, we need to explicitly state that we are striving to exceed last year's sales figures by X number of dollars or Y percent. - Attainable
Effective goals are slightly out of our immediate grasp but not so far that there is no hope of achieving them. If they are set too high, or we lack the necessary resources or support, we tend to become frustrated and abandon them. If they are set too low, we forfeit the opportunity to develop ourselves.It is important that we not only consider our own skills and abilities when developing goals but outside factors as well. For example, while a sales goal of $1 million may seem reasonable given our past performance, changes in our customers' finances or the emergence of new competitors in the marketplace may influence our ability to succeed and should, therefore, be taken into account.
- Rewarding
Unless we feel that our goals are worth the effort we must put in to reach them, it is difficult to get and stay motivated. What one person finds rewarding and inspiring, however, may hold no value for someone else.For example, while we all work extremely hard to meet our sales goals, we may each do so for different reasons: One of us may be motivated by a pay raise or promotion. Another may place higher importance on being recognized at an awards dinner. Another may be striving toward the company-paid Caribbean vacation that is granted to the top salesperson. And for yet another, the mere satisfaction of meeting the goal may be reward enough.
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