Jun 29, 20219:12 AM - edited Aug 12, 202111:03 AM
Key Advisor | Diamond Partner
How do you sense-check your goal?
You’ve clarified your vision and done your research but you’re still not quite 100% ready to share it with your team. See some of the methods professionals like you have used to check if their goals are achievable, and maybe share your goals and see if others think you’re going in the right direction.
There's different time frames for goals. Actually I can have subdivisions how I want to do it. From long term goals that can be pointed for years, until every day goal. Every goal needs to be evaluated in all the process, because if the goal is long term and is not working I have to make changes or even change the goal.
Oct 30, 20227:48 AM - edited Oct 30, 20227:48 AM
Member
How do you sense-check your goal?
In my experience, we divide goals on a time basis, but also through a combined relationship between conversion/retention/upselling activities (related to the overall revenue goal) and communication activities.
First, we have the revenue goal, as the final result we expect to achieve at the end of the year.
Then, we divide this goal on a quarterly basis, not equally, but in relation to the previous years' results; this is because it is almost certain that each quarter doesn't contribute equally to achieving the preset revenue goal, due to a series of reasons related to the market changes, or even internal operations.
As expected, the next step is to divide the goal on a monthly basis, this time proportionally equally.
The key in our assumptions is that we treat our expected Sales Cycle as a dynamically changing variable, so we adjust our revenue goal accordingly.
When it comes to communication activities, things are more simplified as we relate the type and quantity of activities to the expected goal (e.g., how many calls you need to make in order to convert a prospect that will bring "x" revenue).
We've figured out that this way our Sales Teams acknowledge better and faster a potential issue, and they understand that fixing their communication approach will bring the expected results.
Last but not least, we consider interaction with our teams very important throughout this process, so we keep improving the way goals are being defined. In many cases, we share with our Sales teams the communication goals instead of the revenue ones, for many reasons (i.e., they can follow it easier, leaves less room for excuses, it brings more stress to their daily workload, etc.).
One method to sense-check a goal is to align the goal with actual activities that would achieve the goal. When you think of the required activities, it is easier to see if its achievable. I have seen startup companies and consultants struggle so much in business sometimes not because their services or product is not good enough, but they do not charge sufficient markup for the effort used. Sometimes, I ask my team that everybody wants more customers but can we handle 15 customers at a time?
In this activity, the manager will actually seek feedback from team members about ideal output numbers which would make the final outcome of goals a product of dialogue. These kind of questions on desired effort to reach the goal can lead to more realistic targets.
I've worked for companies that ingrain their vision early on with every employee to make sure each of them are on the right track. I've also worked for ones to rarely talk about it.
The ability to check the vision to then understand it's long term commitment to growth and revenue is crucial. It can be things like making sure the vision is taked about quarterly, or it's in common areas in the office. To then transpire that so that employees are engaged in the long term revenue and want to continue to do their part to make sure the vision becomes a reality.
When sense-checking your goals, you can compare them against historical metrics of the company. And then work to identify what elements may have prevented the organization from achieving the goals your attemping to implement now. Have those barriers been eliminated (personnell, personalities, resources, etc.), or do you have a plan to overcome those barriers in order for your teams to achieve the goals you've created.
Also work with 1 or 2 other key inidivduals in the organization that can help influence the goals. Get their input and buy-in to help create alignment in the organization before sharing broadly.
This makes sense to me. But I wonder how difficult it is to use previous years' data for benchmarking right now. Is that data relevant anymore? Is 2019 a more comparable year? If so, are the conditions similar enough to use that data for benchmarking? Thoughts that I have when considering performance goals.
It not just about having goal. We can focus on the scalability. Are the goals driving you towards the vision? If no, then those goals needs to be realigned. Consider this like a manual automobile, if you must run at 200km/h, you must learn to work on the acceleration from gear 1 to 5. If you keep cycling within 1 and 2, you may never hit 200km/h. Goal also have external factors that may affect it and these must be checked. It is possible the driver wants to get to 200km/h but the road is bad. This is why i would like to say every goal should be considered in relation to the external and internal factors that may affect its success or failure.
I do understand the power of revenue goals, however it has be aligned with the strategic direction and strategic choices already been made by the company. When you are selling services, such as consultancy it is easy to say yes to every pay check, and this would bring you closer to your goal (revenue), however it is not aligned with your long-term plans.
Does others say no to a pay check? It is tough especially in a start-up phase.
Agree - typically, when you're in a start up phase, if you don't have heaps of investment, you need to do what pays the bills. As the business becomes more established it becomes easier to select clients based on your strategic goals, rather than just the less inspiring work which keeps the lights on.
A good way to orient the analysis over the suposed goal, it is to undestand the previous result in order to make greater decision and now, in terms of how to align to the team. This starts early when we set the vision of the company.
From a high level perspective it's important to ask "Does this goal align with the mission and values of our company?" Increased revenues are great but they are not the only indicator of a successful business 😉
