(By Pat Bryson) The months fly by, and we find ourselves halfway through 2024. Yesterday seemed like Jan 1. It will be December 31 before we know it. Are you on target to hit your 2024 revenue goals? It’s time for a check-in.
Funny thing about goals: most of us think we have them, but we don’t. We may have “wishes” or “I hope to get….” but they aren’t truly goals. When I drive across the country, I use my GPS to navigate my path. It will tell me how to get where I’m going, but I must first put in a location. Without that, it will send me around in circles.
Do you know that 87% of the population just drifts through each day without any direction? They have no goals. Another 10% think about their goals, but only 3% actually document them. June is a good time to make sure we have programmed our internal GPS so that it has us on track to accomplish our purpose.
For goals to be effective, they must contain several elements:
- They must be clear and concise.
- They must be attainable.
- They must have a time frame.
- They must be measurable.
- They must be in writing.
Too often we have “objectives” but not goals. Objectives are vague desires with no operational plan for achieving them. Turning these vague plans into organized goals is a little like programming the address you wish to go to into your GPS. Once you have done so, you begin to receive step-by-step instructions to get you there.
Your goals for 2024 should be written down in a manner so that you can keep them constantly with you and top-of-mind. A friend of mine who as a market manager had three goals: revenue, expenses, and cash flow. He had those three numbers laminated and hung them in his shower. Each morning, he saw them. And he hit the numbers! You can try that or make your goals your screen saver. Keep them constantly in front of you.
Having a desire to get new clients is not a goal. Wanting to get 26 new clients in 2024, is. By using a specific number your desire now becomes a goal: clear, concise, and measurable within a time frame. How achievable that number is depends on you. Will you follow the road that your internal GPS sets for you? Write down your pathway. Start down the road.
You will be amazed at the power that written goals will give you. They will help you to finish 2024 as the best year ever!
Happy selling!
Pat Bryson is the CEO of Bryson Broadcasting International, a consulting firm that works with sales managers and salespeople to raise revenue. She is the author of two books, A Road Map to Success in High-Dollar Broadcast Sales and Successful Broadcast Sales: Thriving in Change available on her website. Read Pat’s Radio Ink archives here.
