Are you unclear on what is what you hope for your business and setting goals, writing your goals down, and tracking your progress towards those goals for your business? Missy shares 4 reasons why setting goals for your business is important for getting the results you were hoping for when you first started your business.
There’s a question I’ve been pondering for the past few weeks after coaching a couple of our students through our leadership program on goal setting.
Do people really dislike goals or do they just fear tracking them?
I don’t think I’ve ever worked with a network marketer who said that they didn’t have goals for their business. Whether it’s simply to get their product paid for, to reach the top rank of their organization, or make an impact in the world with the amazing benefits of their products -they have goals.
So why does putting pen to paper or entering numbers on a spreadsheet invoke feelings of fear and potential failure for so many?
Some of the things I hear often are ‘I don’t want to feel the pressure’ or ‘I don’t want to feel bad if I don’t reach the goals I set’ or even ‘I don’t need to set goals to be successful’.
The question I often push back with is “As an owner of your personal business do you think you can be successful WITHOUT looking at the metrics that drive your business forward each month?”
What I’d like to do today is take a moment to see if we can reframe those negative thoughts and fears and talk through how we can actually think about goals as our BEST FRIENDS for our business and understand that the metrics that we can measure are TOOLS for SUCCESS instead of numbers to judge ourselves by…
There are SO many benefits to the practice of goal setting each month but let’s narrow it down to 4 for our time together today.
#1 – Focus – You know you want to grow your business or reach an income or rank goal, right? But do you know what that means in terms of how many new customers you need to bring in each month or how many recruiting conversations you need to have to find a new team member? If not, then how will you grow?
Goals help us KNOW what to do and when we KNOW what to do we can GROW our business. Think about getting into your car and heading excitedly towards a destination where you’ve never been before -you likely know the general direction but could you get there without a detailed map?
When we set a goals for activities we are building that roadmap to get to that place where we may have never been!
#2 – Control – Do you use hope as a strategy in your business? Well, if you’ve ever said, “I hope to enroll 5 new customers next month” or “I’m hoping to find a new business partner in September” then you are not leaning into the true control that you have over your success. Do you know your close rate on sales appointments? Do you know how many of your customers order month over month?
Well, my friends, knowing these connections and metrics in your business – also known as goals – can give you an amazing sense of control over your destiny. Stop hoping that you’ll enroll someone and find out exactly how many calls and appointments it will actually take. What we do activity wise is the one thing we can absolutely control each day in our business!
#3 – Growth – Did your parents ever track your height on the inside of a door frame or maybe something cuter if your mom was more crafty than mine? I remember that it was fun to see how I had grown year-over-year. There was an excitement to seeing it in pencil on the wall.
Tracking goals can create the same kind of magic in your business especially as we begin our journey as a network marketer and it seems like the big things – revenue, new customers, business partners – are growing a bit slower than we had hoped.
If we take time each month to take a real look at the leading indicators – phone calls, appointments, classes, recruiting conversations – then we can not only celebrate that we are building momentum and creating a pipeline but we can begin to see how those activities are helping our business grow month over month.
Also, do you know the trends in your business? Do you know the months that will be strong b/c of a product launch or the holidays? Do you know how to predict these so that you are able to push through the quieter months without feeling like you want to curl up in a ball? Well, goals are your friend for looking at the bigger picture and building resilience so you and your team don’t QUIT when things get tough. You stay hopeful and engaged!
#4- Duplication – Have you ever had a great appointment or even an awesome month but you can’t exactly pinpoint what you did to get that result?? Looking at how everything you do each month actually connects to the result that you achieved can not only help you get more consistent results but can you see how it will help you be an amazing leader, too?
Your new team members will look to you for guidance on how many calls they will need to make or what it takes to reach your level of success. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could provide them with some real data to help them??
So now that we’ve chatted about all the amazingness goals and metrics can bring to your business I’d like to challenge you to take action if you are someone who is still a bit uncomfortable with setting goals.
TIME TO TAKE ACTION!
Set 3 activity goals for next week. Don’t make them too easy or too hard but DO put them on paper and share them with someone…this part is important. Then at the end of the week review those goals, celebrate the ones you hit and reflect on what you did to get there, and if you missed one simply ask yourself what got in the way of reaching that goal then adjust the sails a bit and set 3 more goals for the next week!
I’d also invite you to comment with the reasons you LOVE goal setting and how it’s helped your business, OR if you are someone who still struggles with the practice of setting goals. That’s okay – please share that as well. We love to help you feel more comfortable and confident around this important side of your business!
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Have a great day!
Missy