Setting SMART goals for business success

When setting goals in business, it’s important to cover all bases to ensure you have every chance of success. If you go to your monthly staff meeting and the outcome goal is to ‘generate a substantial amount of leads for the business’, your failure is imminent. Sure, this goal sounds great in theory, but with a lack of strategy, direction, and focus, there’s no way to know how it should be carried out.

The following headings outline the framework for smart goal-setting:

Specific – Don’t be broad, focus on a specific area for your goal.

To make this goal more specific, outline which areas of the business you are attempting to generate leads in and identify which methods you will be using to do so.

e.g. Generate leads for business reviews through social media and digital marketing.

Measurable – How will you measure progress and success?

In order to measure, we need benchmarks. Have a look at a few previous months’ lead generation numbers, and decide how you want to increase this. As long as you can look back to compare and contrast, the goal becomes measurable. e.g. Increase leads for business reviews by 15%.

Attainable – In short, be realistic.

If your goal is to increase leads by 80% in the following month, it’s likely that this is unrealistic and has a much bigger chance of failure. Of course you can create a challenging goal, but don’t make it too difficult that it’s unachievable.

Relevant – Ensure the goal is relevant to your strategic plan.

If your products/services are lacking quality, and you have day-to-day operational issues within the business, the chances are you won’t be focusing on generating leads, but rather much more important things! Also take into consideration the external forces of your environment, if there’s currently a downturn or 3 new competitors have opened up, is your goal relevant to the realities of the market?

Time-based – Choose a deadline (and stick to it).

Identify an end-time when your goal should be completed so that you know exactly when you should reach your objectives. By setting a deadline, you can pick points along the way that you can measure progress to stay motivated.

---

Having trouble making smart decisions in your business?

Our innovative new program, Verve Group CEO, combines the value of your financial information and predictive analytics software with the business acumen of a Verve Group consultant to help you make smarter, data driven business decisions.

You'll work closely with an experienced Verve Group Director to uncover problems in your business and cultivate a collaborative process that validates every major decision you make. Read more here.

Ready to start making better decisions for your business?

Get started today.