3 Tips for Setting and Achieving Business Goals

Did your parents ever mark your height on the wall as you were growing up? Each little line was a measurement of pride, showing how much you'd grown. Setting business goals is a bit like that - but instead of measuring centimetres, you track your successes.

But to be honest, most business goals end up forgotten as soon as things get busy and day to day jobs take over. But there is a way to make your goals stick and I've got three tips which will change how you set your goals.

Tip 1: Avoid the One Size Fits All Approach

If you think your business follows a neat, predictable pattern, think again. Life's messy, and business is messier. So why on earth would you set the same targets for every month?

Instead of aiming for "five new customers per month", try this approach:

? July: 1 new customer (everyone's on holiday anyway)

? August: 0 (you deserve a break too!)

? September: 3 (back-to-school means back-to-business)

? October: 5 (riding that autumn productivity wave)

This approach accounts for seasonal swings, staff holidays, and those useful but time consuming industry events that eat up your time. Once you've set your monthly targets, break them down into weekly goals. Suddenly, that mountain of a yearly target doesn't look so scary, does it?

Tip 2: Befriend Your CRM (It's Cleverer Than You Think)

If you have ever had that excruciating feeling after forgetting a loved one's birthday, know that forgetting your business goals can be just as embarrassing (and a lot more costly). That's where your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system can help - think of it as a type of business PA.

A good CRM, like Microsoft Dynamics, doesn't just store phone numbers; you can create all kinds of goals. You can set targets for any timeframe - daily, weekly, monthly - whatever floats your boat.

And the best bit is that it scales. Whether you're a sole trader or have a team of 100, your CRM can keep everyone on track without you having to juggle numbers in your mind on top of all the other jobs you need to do.

Tip 3: Keep Score (And Not Just in Your Head)

You've set your goals. You've plugged them into your CRM. Job done, right? Wrong.

Setting goals without tracking them is like playing football without keeping score; fun for about five minutes, then pointless.

Your CRM should be working overtime here, tracking every call made, email sent, meeting booked, and customer won. It should be generating reports left, right and centre.

Check these reports regularly - daily, weekly, monthly - whatever works for you. Are you on track? Achieving your goals? Falling behind? Knowing where you stand means you can adjust your game plan before it's too late.

This is the business equivalent of those height markers on the wall. Each report is a new line, showing just how far you've come.

So those are my three tips to transform your business goals from dreams to reality. It's not rocket science, but it will make a big impact and will leave you will a bigger bank balance and a lot less stress!