6 Different Types of Goals. Are you using them?

Sales leaders set goals. But they often set only one type of goal, and in doing so they set themselves up for failure. Here are different types of goals to set:

  1. Achievement goals – These describe results that you will have when you finish the goal. Examples include: retire with a million dollars at age 65, earn a promotion by June, increase sales by 5%. Most major goals are achievement goals.

2. Action goals – These describe specific actions that you will take to accomplish achievement goals. Examples include: meet with an investment counselor, attend a workshop to learn new job skills, contact all of the prospects in the database.

3. Layered goals – These specify the same goal with different levels of priority and difficulty.

4. Rate goals – These specify actions repeatedly done over time. Examples include: Read two books per month, exercise three times per week, or write in a journal every day. Many personal growth activities can be performed as rate goals.

5. Limit goals – These set boundaries. Examples include: Spend less than $5,000 on new equipment, go to bed before 10 PM each night, take less than 45 minutes for lunch while at work. These help manage priorities.

6. Exclusion goals – These state things that you will not do. Examples include: Do not watch TV after 8 P.M., do not use a cell phone when with other people, do not eat junk foods. These help you decide in advance which activities you will avoid.

Now that you know the six types of goals begin thinking about how you can incorporate these into your short and long term plans. Doing so will put you on a path to maximum achievement!

Some Do. Some Don’t.

Some do.

Some don’t.

Some will,

Some won’t.

Some do now,

Some do later.

Some never do

And say: “See you later”

Some get it,

Some don’t.

Some grasp it,

Some won’t.

Some live,

Some die.

Some ask:

“Why?”

Why it is? Who knows.

It’s just how it goes.

Some laugh,

Some cry.

Some are honest,

Some lie.

Some win,

Some tie.

Some say: “Just try.”

Be curious.

Move on.

Some pro,

Some con.

Some fake it.

Some make it.

Work with it,

Not against it.

Some slip,

Some rise.

Some see

With clear eyes.

You can’t

Change it,

Rearrange it.

It’s the set up,

Just face it.

But you can

Change yourself.

To attract some-

Living Wealth.

Your goal

Your control.

Some believe,

Some achieve.

Some reach,

Some hold.

Some are shy,

Some are bold.

Some grow,

Some won’t.

Some do.

Some don’t.

Find your Pony to Blow Past your Goals!

I was asked to present a few points to our sales team recently. Here is what I shared below. Hope you find some tips you can apply and use to immediately drive results.

Find your Pony to Blow Past your Goals!

Pretty Awesome Pony!
Pretty Awesome Pony!

Two little twin girls, named Pessimist & Optimist where having a birthday soon. Pessimist told her mom and dad that she wanted a new bicycle. Not just any would do!  A red bicycle with pink tassels and a sweet banana seat was what was in demand.

Little Ms. Optimist told her parents “whatever you get me I’m sure I’ll love!”

The birthday arrived and every friend was in attendance. Little Ms. Pessimist was given her new bike; however it wasn’t as she demanded. This new bike wasn’t red but in fact was orange; the tassels were not pink but were green. “This is the worst birthday ever!” she lamented.

Cute little Ms. Optimist was presented with a large box manure. Her eyes filled with excitement as she began to grab this manure by the handful throwing it in the air. Handful after handful digging in anticipation, she finally looked up at mom and dad and exclaimed:

“With this much manure there has got to be a pony in here somewhere!”

You may feel like your digging through your own manure right now; customers not calling back, manufacturing issues, competing priorities, stress, etc. There can be a Pony in most situations. You just have to keep digging.

How can you find excitement in the day to day?

  • Take stock in what you DO have. It’s easy to take things for granted when you live in the sales trenches daily.
  • Challenge yourself to expand into new areas. Writing is a new area for me that has challenged me beyond belief, but has proven to be extremely rewarding. What areas can you expand into in your professional life?
  • Think short term to build momentum for the long term. I read a great quote earlier this month by Tom Peter that said “Excellence is not an aspiration; Excellence is the next 5 minutes.” Go do big things.. 5 minutes at a time!

Be objective about your business!

In the minutia of day to day it’s easy to let your emotions hang and carry from activity to activity. One bump in the road and you start saying “I told you so” to yourself. Driving your business solely on emotions can lead to cynicism when things don’t go your way. Cynicism is the kiss of death in sales.

Remember this: Killing objectivity in your business is not murder, its suicide!

Know your numbers and the ones you can impact: How many leads do you need? How many conversations do you need to blow past your goals? What is your closing %? Etc.

Take note of the numbers that you CAN impact not the ones that you can’t. If you can’t control the number of leads that marketing provides, measure how many referrals you collect. You can’t control the leads that answer the phone, but measure the number that do and how you convert. Find your Pony in the numbers!

Twitter-ize your sales process

I’ve had a love affair with Twitter as of late. Twitter has challenged me to write short valuable messages. Twitter allows only 140 characters. Trust me; it’s a challenge to get your point across in 140 characters.

I’m sure there are areas in your sales process that are unnecessarily long, drawn out, time intensive. Find ways to cut it down and become more efficient in your sales activities. Don’t take 1 hour to do a 30-minute task. Compress the time it takes to hit your goals. You may just find that you blow past them…

Click on the Subscribe button to get updates on new post. Connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn. I repsond to all feedback, questions, and posts.