A simple reminder on the value of a plan

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A simple reminder on the value of a plan

From Wayne Ens:

The Right Goals for Tough Times

Having a goal to bill $1 million without having a plan to get there, is like dreaming of building a house without figuring out how many bricks you need to build it.

The three most important aspects of setting goals are;

1.) Have goals

2.) Have achievable goals

3.) Have challenging goals

Choosing the RIGHT goals can make all the difference when clients and prospects are nervous about the economy.

To be ‘achievable,’ your goals must be controlled by you. You have no control over the economy, client fears, or even over getting an order signed.

What you do control is your activity; the number of new business calls you can make each week, the quality of your presentations, the number of spec commercials you present, the size of the orders you ask for, and various other sales and relationship-building activities.

Two things will happen when you set activity goals instead of end result goals;

1.) You can always achieve your goals and feel like a winner.

2.) You WILL improve your sales and your end results.

For your goals to be ‘challenging’, they must take you onto higher ground and require more effort than you have exerted in the past. Whatever got you where you are today, won’t be enough to get you where you want to be tomorrow.

If you know your closing ratios, average sale figures, and execute enough of the activities which are required to make sales, you will succeed.

By focusing on that which you control (activities not sales), sales will happen!

When times are tough, attitude is everything. If your goal is to make a sale, and you don’t, you feel like a loser. If your goal is to make the best darn presentation you’ve ever made, you feel like a winner just making it, and odds are the sale will follow if it really was that good.

P.S. Procrastination is the assassin of opportunity!