First, I guess I need to define what the heck I mean by Goal Clarity
and what has lead me to believe this may be the most significant trait or characteristic that Top Sales Producers or Rainmakers all seem to possess.
I recently came across the term Goal Clarity in a book called “Integrity Selling for the 21st Century” by Ron Willingham. In the book he describes the term as:
“Goal Clarity- this means having clear, specific, written goals of what you want to have happen in the future.”
He further states that with Goal Clarity “you will stay focused despite setbacks.”
This is one trait that I see in most successful people no matter what their profession. It’s a level of confidence in their abilities and the ability to be successful in both good and bad times. A seemingly clear vision of their future without any self-imposed limits.
Nowhere is goal clarity (a clear vision of the future) more important than in Sales. Without a clear and specific vision of the future, along with a plan to reach one’s goals, can a Sales Professional be consistently successful through the highs and lows of selling. Without goal clarity the challenges we face in sales will soon become distractions to the best of intentions.
I have seen people that seem to be born with this clarity. Take for instance the the kid in in your third grade class that during career day stated he/she wanted to be a doctor. Sure enough they worked hard, made their grades, probably never considered anything else and became a doctor.
They certainly didn’t know anything about goals and goal clarity in 3rd grade but something within them was so strong that they could set their sights on a goal and achieve that goal. However, I feel certain that somewhere along the way they learned to use goals and began setting goals to achieve such a high accomplishment.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, several years ago we engaged a National Sales Trainer to help us improve our sales processes. Becoming good at setting specific, clear, written sales and personal goals was a vital part of the process. Goal setting was new to us at the time but once we began setting goals for ourselves and the sales team the results were impressive. I don’t want to give you the impression that all of our sales team bought into the goal setting process but those that did were surprised at their success in reaching their goals.
The one thing that I noticed was that our Top Sales Producers found the process much easier and in many cases had no trouble setting strong clear goals. I have since learned that many of these Account Managers had always set sales goals for themselves much as I had as a way to measure if the year was successful or not. In other words this was a way to keep score.
The one thing that I had not realized until recently was the value that writing the goals down and sharing them with others had on the success of our goal setting.
It is not my intent to go into how to set goals. I plan to go into great depth in a future article on how to set goals that will have a meaningful impact on your career and the small steps needed to make sure you are doing the right things to reach your goals.
However, I did come across an article that I think brings home the value of setting goals.
In Mark McCormack’s book “What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School” he tells of a study conducted of a Harvard graduating class. They were asked the question “if they had set goals for themselves or not.” And of those that had set goals “did they write them down”. The study showed that 84% of the students in the survey had set no goals for themselves. 13% said that they did have goals but had not written them down. And 3% said they both had set goals for themselves and had written their goals down. After 10 years the study found that the 13% (those students that set goals but had not written them down) were earning 2 times more than those with no goals. But it was the 3% (those that had set goals and had written their goals down) that showed the clear advantage of written goals by earning more than 10 times the other 97%.
So here are my thoughts on the survey and the importance of setting of goals.
- You may reach all your desires and expectations without setting goals.
- Just by setting goals you should have at least twice the likelihood of reaching your goals and full potential.
- But by setting and writing your goals down and I believe sharing them with others you are at least 10 times more likely to achieve what truly you desire.
After seeing the results of this survey I will be writing down all my future goals knowing this will increase my chances for success.
I also know that Goal Clarity leads to improved and consistent success in sales. It is a trait that can be learned and improved upon. I would suspect that the Rainmakers and Top Producers in your organization are constantly working to improve their goal setting skills. They understand that Goal Clarity and the ability to see what others can’t is the key to their success.
If you remember from last week’s post, I gave you a homework assignment to identify two sales goals you are committed to accomplish during this next sales year. I also asked you to write them down.
Now write a clear, specific plan using your written goals of what you want to have happen in the future. Do this for each of your goals. Please try to use the “Smart Goal Guidelines” while writing your plan. Next put your plan in a place where you can frequently review. Don’t be reluctant to make changes to your plan as needed to reach your committed sales goals. But always keep your focus on the goals you want to achieve.
This has turned out to be a very hard post to write. Even though I would have thought Goals and Goal Setting would be easy since there has been much written on the subject and has been a tool I have used most of my Sales Career. But as I try to write something entertaining and valuable it has turned into an introspective look of my goals realized and not.
Setting clear and meaningful goals is not an easy task and will require much thought and practice to become good at the process.
There is no better time than today to start!
Next week we will continue with the Rainmaker Series – Emotional Control.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. If you would like, please leave a comment below or you can email me at feedback@wewaonthenet.com.
You can also follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WE_Ward where I tweet articles I come across each week that I think may be of interest.
Now Let’s get out there and over-deliver!
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