In the beginning, it’s fun to write goals down, especially if you have a fancy new notebook or you have constructed a special program or spreadsheet to use in your computer. What gets old is keeping up with the goals once you’ve set them. In the following paragraphs, we’ll look at three simple steps you can use to get and stay motivated to set and reach your goals.
Visualization
It’s easy enough to talk about visualization – the act of visualizing your goal already accomplished – but how often do you let yourself get carried away. Jim Carrey did just that when years ago, he wrote himself a check for millions of dollars for acting services. The mock check he wrote himself was for 10 million dollars; he went on to command 20 million dollars for just one movie. Maybe he even visualized himself telling that story on “Larry King Live” to millions of viewers. The point is, he was so serious about his goal that he visualized the realization of it to the point that he took massive action and made it happen.
Notation
How many times do you revisit the goals you write down and update your progress? How many steps have you been able to cross off your list? Remember, goals are simply specific steps that are broken down into manageable pieces. For example, if your goal is to lose ten pounds in a certain amount of time, when you have lost only two pounds, don’t moan and groan that you have lost only two pounds; instead divide those ten pounds into increments of two pounds each and go in to your goal setting list and cross those two pounds off. Now rewrite your goal to lose eight pounds. Don’t you feel a sense of accomplishment? Of course you do! You see, small steps like these are what reaching goals of any size are all about.
Celebration
You don’t have to wait until your goal is 100% completely reached to celebrate. Celebrate each step of the goal reaching ladder if you like. Do whatever it takes to stay motivated. For example, if your goal is to save $1,000 for a special vacation, don’t be discouraged when you realize part way through your goal timetable that you only have $250 saved. Celebrate! Buy yourself a travel magazine that features your destination or if you don’t want to spend any money at all, work in to your food budget a special dish from the area of your planned vacation. Spend the evening cooking a themed dinner and listening to the kind of music you’ll hear on your vacation. Celebrate each step of the goal setting and reaching process until you’re all the way there!
If you are involved with sales as your career, you will no doubt have a quota that your employer wants you to hit. This is your goal and at least part of your salary may be dependent upon achieving that goal. That can be a good incentive but it can also be a worry!
Sometimes we set our own goals and sometimes the company sets them for us. But whichever, if we are serious about out sales goal setting, we need to make a practical plan in some detail which shows how we will achieve these goals. So few sales reps actually think to do that. No wonder so few sales goals are met!
So let’s have a look at how you can have more success at meeting your sales goals. First, you have to plan effectively. Your sales goals should be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timed. Failure to make a detailed plan that starts with these basics accounts for almost all failures to achieve sales goals.
Once you have SMART targets, you can start to break the sales goal down into smaller, bite-size objectives. That way, you can see what you need to do on a weekly or daily basis in order to achieve your sales goals.
So how do you start with this kind of sales goal setting?
First, ensure that you have a definite and clear objective. You may want to achieve, for example, $1,000 in new clients this year and $1,000 from repeat clients in a year. Once you have this goal in mind, you should break these goals down into what you need to achieve each month or each week. Count on closing only approximately a third of the leads you get. That would be about the average. Bear that in mind when you are working what you need to do short-term in order to set you on the path toward that annual sales goal.
You should find that suddenly your annual sales goals are not so frightening and are actually quite achievable. If they don’t seem realistic and achievable to you, you may have to modify your annual sales goals.
Once you know you have the right sales goals, it’s time to set about trying to achieve them. Make yourself daily objectives. Half the difficulty in achieving sales goals is in getting started, so once you have started, you’re on your way. Start today!
You should keep track of everything you do toward achieving your goals. Track all your meetings, and what sales you close on. That way, you can measure your success and modify your efforts as you need to. This measurement should soon suggest to ways in which you could improve your sales performance. You should take responsibility for these things that you need to change – and change them!
Set specific time aside each week or each when you will implement the specific actions you planned toward your goals. You can’t expect to improve your sales if you don’t put in the time and effort. Keep this implementation time sacred. Don’t get distracted by emails or phone calls; just do what you planned to do.
You always need to reinforce your sales goals, in order to keep your motivation going. Chart your progress toward your goals on a regular basis and take the time to notice and be proud of your achievements. Realize how this progress makes further sales goals possible, so re-assess your sales goals regularly too, so you achieve as much as you can and feel a sense of achievement along the way.