Don’t Just Set Goals, Achieve Them!!

“Goals give your business and your life direction.
Taking consistent daily action at the right time and in
the right order will then help you achieve your goals
easily and effortlessly.”
Tania Allen, Founder,
Vision Alliance.

We are all familiar with the art of setting goals.  Like most business owners, I’m sure by now you may have set some goals for the next six or 12 months.  You have made a promise to yourself to do things differently, work more efficiently perhaps and of course make more money.  Setting goals is the easy part.  So how do you go from being a goal setter to someone who actually achieves their goals easily and effortlessly?

Achieving your goals comes easier when we know where we are heading.  Goals are like a destination.  They are where you want to go.

Without goals, you simply cannot arrive at a destination, and if you don’t know where you are going then how will you ever know what actions you need to take to achieve higher levels of success and achievement.  It would be fair to say then: Goals give your business and your life direction.  Taking consistent daily action at the right time and in the right order will then help you achieve your goals easily and effortlessly.

If you look around you, you will notice successful people have very different habits.

They think, and do things differently.  They are however no different to you or I.  We can achieve what they do and more.  They just have particular habits that anyone can apply.

Here are some key essentials to help you build the momentum so that you get closer to realising your full potential and getting  closer to achieving your dreams and goals.

Know your why

Why you want to achieve your goals will always play an important role in whether you will achieve them or not.  When setting your goals the stronger your why, the more committed you will be to doing whatever it takes to achieve them.

Set holistic and balanced goals

Successful people set goals in all areas of their business and life.  When working on your goals be sure you develop goals in six areas of life: relationships, spiritual, contribution, financial, health and business.

By pursuing goals in each area, you will create a more balanced and integrated life.

Be clear about what you want

All goals must be clear and concise, so when setting your goals be specific about what it is you want.

Aim high

Most of the time we are all aiming too low.

It’s time to get out of your comfort zone.  As the now-clichéd saying goes: Shoot for the stars, if you miss you’ll still be on the moon.

Make your goals slightly unreasonable; in other words, don’t allow your (perceived) limitations to get in the way.  Don’t allow your old conditioning to stop you from going after what you really want.

Write your goals in detail

Just the act of writing down goals sets the process in motion, so be specific.  The more information you include the more probable the final result will be.  By being as accurate as possible you invoke some of the natural laws of the universe in your favour as well as getting your brain to work for you in the most efficient way possible.  It’s always a good idea to follow the SMARTA criteria

(Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time bound Actionable) when setting goals and be sure you always set a date for achievement.

By writing your goals down you will be much clearer on where you are heading.

Look at it every day, stick it on your fridge, or your computer, it can be a picture, the words, whatever will motivate you to keep striving to achieve your goal.

Make your goals consistent with your values

Most people don’t do what they value first and therefore find themselves stressed and out of alignment.  Create a list of your highest values and then create your goals around them.  This will give you a sense of being on purpose consistently.

Know the consequences

It’s very important to look at the consequences of achieving the goal.  Ask yourself when setting your goals: “How will achieving this goal affect me or others?  Is this outcome good for me and others.”  Not all goals will have positive effects on others so it’s important you understand the positives and possible negatives to achieving your goals.

Review your goals daily

This is an important part of achieving success and must become routine.  Review your list of goals each morning when you wake up.  Visualize your completed goals and how your life looks and feels as a result.

Each night before you go to bed, repeat the process.  This is a great way to train your brain to expect your goals to materialize.

Create a Plan and take Consistent Daily Action

This is in fact the most important element to achieving your goals.  It’s okay to know where you are headed and what you want to achieve however if you don’t get off your backside and take the necessary action to make it happen then nothing will happen at all.  Be sure the action you take is consistent.  Get into a daily habit of knowing what actions you need to take and in what order you need to take them in order to move closer to achieving your goals.

Take some time now to get clear on your goals and create a plan, once you have your goals worked out you need to ‘reverse engineer’ them starting with the end in mind and working back to the starting point.

Check your Progress and Celebrate your Wins

Goals by nature are high achievements in life, and sometimes it can seem too hard to reach them, we lose motivation and give up!

Break your goals into smaller ‘milestones’ so you can celebrate your wins along the way.  It’s important to measure your progress to determine if you have gone off course.  Measuring your progress regularly will enable you to shift back on course quickly with minimum disruption to your momentum.  Keeping a check on your goals is also important as sometimes goals change so you can bend and flex where you need to, moving the goal to meet your changed conditions, requirements or intentions.

Don’t get discouraged

You will either achieve your goal, or you will gain insight into whatever is in the way of its achievement.  This is not a setback; rather, it is part of your forward progress.  Stay focused on what you want to achieve and you will find ways to solve difficulties or break through barriers.  Celebrate every success and before you know it, you’ll have to make a whole new list for ‘next level achievement!’

Finally, be committed!

There’s a big difference between being interested in achieving your goals or being committed to their achievement.  Those who are interested tend to do what is convenient, what is easy and what everyone else does.

Those who are committed will be able to achieve whatever it is they want no matter want, because they will learn what they need to learn, they will rehearse what they need to rehearse, they will practice and they will do whatever is needed to be done.

Committed people don’t have excuses; they relentlessly give up all their excuses and the reasons why they don’t have what they want.  They get rid of their excuses and they stop blaming  their outside circumstances and  put their attention on how they will and how they can achieve their goals.

So the most important question I encourage you to ask yourself today is: Are you Interested or Committed in Achieving Your Goals?

If you need some help and support in gaining clarity around setting and achieving your goals, email tania@vision-alliance.com to receive a Complimentary Goal Achiever Pack valued at $97.

 

Generating Leads

Your aim is to generate leads and opportunities and convert these into increased revenues to your business. This article outlines some of the challenges you may be already facing and highlights some quick simple steps of how you can generate more leads into your business.

In my experience one of the fundamental challenges most business owners face is not being able to generate enough leads into the business. Without a consistent supply of leads into any business, the business is usually faced with poor cash flow and finds it difficult from one month to the next.

You may have already experienced this and you now can be in a position where you have the opportunity to change what’s going on.

If you want to create amazing results in your business, and want to turn your vision into reality, the only way this can happen is if you are fully accountable for your success and are responsible for the actions you take on a daily basis.

Leads are prospects or potential customers.

It’s important though to attract quality leads into the business and not just any lead as this can waste your valuable time and money.

Your marketing efforts will determine the quality of the leads you bring into your business and the challenge businesses face in this area is 80% of all marketing doesn’t meet the expectation of the business owner.

Try not to limit yourself when it comes to advertising and marketing your business.

Traditional marketing methods include local paper advertising and emailing.

Opportunities let outside the square and can include strategies such as, building your referral networks.

Ads and direct mail are only the beginning!

They are important, however they should not be the only source used for generating leads for your business.

Not all lead-generating techniques are created equal either. Some techniques will work well for a certain business, and those same strategies won’t work for another. Much is dependent on your type of business, your location, timing, how well you apply the lead generating strategy, and a host of other variables that tend to make marketing an inexact science. Therefore it’s important to test and measure each strategy to find out what works, and make it work.

So here’s a brief look at what you can do to start bringing more quality leads into your business.

Firstly start thinking WHO, WHERE, WHAT, HOW & WHY when it comes to marketing your product or service.

Who are my ideal clients / market?

Understand who he/ she is and why.

Where are we going to find our clients?

Why will they buy from me? What makes us unique? Remember people shop on value and emotion.

Now you know who you want to target,

Create a Lead Generation Action Plan for the month

  • Listing at least 2 to 6 different lead generating strategies,
  • What steps you need to take to implement the strategy.
  • Who will complete the task/s required  to complete the strategy, and
  • Be sure you also have a Due date for the activity so you stay on track for the month.

Daily Consistent Action will produce results in your business that you need!

Here is an example of a lead generation action plan. (Click the image for a bigger version)

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Closing the Gap

No matter what stage of development your business is presently in, all small business owners want more revenue. That is always priority number one and to be honest, it should be.

As the year starts to pass us by very quickly you may be asking yourself, how can I achieve more as we creep towards the final half of the year and the beginning of a new financial year? Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? Where have all those months gone?

As fast as the year may go, so does our opportunity to really create the results we want in our business.  So how can we really achieve more? The difference between those just going with the flow and those who grab hold of the steering wheel with two hands and deliberately drive their revenues forward is in how they plan for the achievement of higher revenues and then what strategies and tactics they implement, and the actions they take in order to achieve the desired outcomes listed in that revenue plan.

Identifying Your Gap

Before you get started in putting together your revenue plan, it’s important to know where you are now and of course where you want to be. This is what we call your gap.

A gap analysis defines your present and future objectives in both financial and non-financial terms. The difference between the two is the gap and becomes the starting point for building your business to the next level.

A gap analysis need not just be about money, it is however usually where most people start, including your revenues, profits and cashflow. Your non-financial considerations could include the number of team members, your product or service offering to the marketplace and the number of satisfied customers. Other areas could also include the number of hours you work, the number of recreation days, family days and the holidays you take.

To create your own gap analysis, simply list the goals that are most important to you and your business. List where you are today with each of those measurables, using a number scale system. E.g. on a scale of 1-10, 1 representing little results are being achieved right now and 10 being the ultimate place where you want to be. Write down a number for each goal that represents where you are and then write down a number that represents where you want to be, let’s say, in one years’ time. The distance between those two sets of numbers is your gap. Now you can start working on closing the gap.

Once you define the gap that exists in all areas relevant to your business you can then create a revenue plan that will map out the exact process required so you can eliminate that your gap, reach every one of your goals and objectives and do so within a very specific time frame.

Creating a Simple Revenue Plan

Your revenue plan need not be too complicated. It is an outline of how you intend to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be. Your Revenue Plan actually begins the process of generating leads for your business by knowing specifically the product and/or service your business will offer, the number you want to sell, the price you will charge and when you project these sales will take place.

Once these objectives are clearly and specifically defined you will have an excellent idea of the number of leads your business needs to generate in order to accomplish every one of those objectives.

Putting together your revenue plan is relatively simple. Start by listing on a piece of paper all the products and services your business provides. Your next step is to then multiply each product or service by the prices you charge and then multiply that by how many units you expect to sell for the specific period (quarter, six month or one year period). Setting your revenue plan out in a table is all you need. What’s important is you set your plan in stone so that you can get to work moving closer to your desired outcome. I like to work with a simple table to begin with that gives you a snapshot of the year then using a more detailed spread-sheet I then break that revenue plan into a month view plan which enables you to be more specific when planning what strategies and tactics you will take action on in order to achieve your plan.

If the results on your revenue plan do not match the objectives on your gap analysis then simply make adjustments until they do. This may mean increasing your prices, increasing the number of times a customer buys from you or it may mean increasing the average amount a customer spends with you at any one time. It’s a simple road map for reaching your targets.
If you haven’t yet drafted an outline of a revenue plan, get started today and see the difference it makes in such a short period of time.

Example Revenue Plan Snapshot

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Now you are ready for the next step. Creating your sales process. A Sales Process will help you maximise your potential and achieve your revenue goals.

The sales process includes choosing the most appropriate channels for getting your message directly to your ideal customers, choosing the right marketing strategies and associated activities. I see this especially in retail, when usually the business owner relies on the most obvious channel – foot traffic. They hope for the best that the customer chooses them today. It’s like playing a game of chance. You have an equal chance that you will win, and an equal chance of not winning the customer. Put simply it is essential you understand your sales process. If your franchisor hasn’t a solid sales process in place then create your own.

Remember your success is dependent on you, not your franchisor. So what would your sales process consist of?

Typically your sales process would include these steps:

  • Identify your ideal client / customer
  • Generate leads
  • Qualify your prospects
  • Present your product or service to your prospect
  • Convert your prospect into a customer / client  (remember to upsell, cross-sell and down-sell)
  • Lead nurturing – Following up leads that have not yet converted
  • Delivery – Servicing your customers including following up

Defining your ideal client is the first step to attracting the kind of people you want to do business with and will greatly increase your revenues.

Without sales and marketing you would have no business at all. It would therefore be fair to say that sales and marketing are the lifeblood of every business. As Peter Druker once said a business has only two functions – marketing and innovation.

The key to dramatically increasing your sales and marketing results is very dependent on your ability to attract not just more clients, but more ideal clients.

So before you dive straight into your sales and marketing activities in order ot increase your revenues, it’s important to understand who your ideal client it. I liken the ideal client to a favourite toy you used to play with as a child. You may still play with the other toys however the bulk of your time is spent with your favourite one, in otherwords the one your prefer to spend more time with. This is the same for your ideal client. Sure you may have other client types but your ideal client is the one you want to focus the bulk of your time. The ideal client is the one who not only buys your product or service, they love your product and service. They literally share your passion for what you do. These are the clients who really want what you have to offer instead of just needing what you offer. Ideal clients mean fewer headaches, returns and complaints. They’re a pleasure to deal with and they’ll not only buy from you once, they’ll keep buying from you forever. Or if you offer a one-off product or service, your ideal client will be willing to tell their friends and family to buy from you. These are the type of clients who will spend more money with you than the average client ever would.

They will send you great referrals and give you unsolicited testimonials. When you properly and specifically identify your ideal client you will soon find you are working less and earning more, which is what your ultimate aim in business should be.

Knowing who your ideal client is will enable you to craft a message that speaks directly to them which will help. This can have a massive impact on your business allowing you to increase revenues, and have more time, more money and more freedom to do the things you love.

Time to Take Action

Before we move onto the next step and key area in your business take some time now to

  1. Complete a GAP Analysis on your business. Where are you now? Where you you want to be?
  2. Prepare your Simple Snapshot Revenue Plan and your Detailed Monthly Revenue Plan listing all your products and services and what you want to achieve
  3. Describe the type of customer you want to do business with.
  4. Describe the type of customer who you believe will give you the greatest return on your marketing investment.
  5. Looking at your current business which customers do you believe right now are the easiest to find, easiest to sell to and require the least amount of time spent on them?
  6. Describe the type of customer who will stay with you the longest and spend the most with you.
  7. Review your past marketing strategies. What have worked? What havnt? What else could be done to maximize your potential?