I joined O2C back in September as their new business consultant, so thought it was about time I put my five eggs in on the blog.
Sales can be tricky and full of hurdles, so it’s important to have a streamlined sales strategy in place to help you.
I follow SMART, a useful tool to help me work more efficiently, focus and improve how I communicate with people. It’s a strategy that all sales people use if they want to be successful. Take a look and see if it works for you!
Specific
Your goal or objective needs to be specific.
To reach your goal or objective successfully you need to have a clear picture in your mind as to what you want to achieve. It’s not enough to say, “We want to make increase sales, or cut costs.” This isn’t a SMART goal or objective because it’s simply not specific enough.
You need to be thinking, “By how much do I want to increase my sales?” and, “Which costs do I want to cut?”
Have a precise picture of what you want the end result to be in your mind.
Measurable
You must be able to measure your goal or objective.
To achieve your goal successfully you need to be able to quantify it. You need to have an exact figure or target in mind of what you need to do to achieve your objective.
Achievable
Are you setting goals and objectives that you can achieve? For it to be achievable, it needs to be something that you can do.
You need to be thinking, “Do I have the relevant skills and abilities to achieve this goal or objective?” and, “Do I want to achieve it?” You need to be capable of achieving yourself.
Realistic
Can you realistically achieve the goal or objective with your skill set and in a realistic time frame?
To be realistic it needs to be within an achievable frame. It’s not enough to say, “I will increase my sales by 50% in a week” or, “I will reduce my costs by £5k in a week”.
You need to be thinking about how long a single sale usually takes and how long it takes for a reduction in energy to have an impact on the cost. Being honest with yourself is paramount to achieving.
Time bound
You must have true timeframe in place.
Do you have a time frame in place for achieving your goal? It’s not enough to think, “I will have hit this target soon” or, “I will reduce costs in the near future”.
Set yourself an actual date by when you’ll have achieved this objective. Put this date into your calendar or put it somewhere visual so that it’s a constant reminder of what you are working towards. This will be a motivational tool for you as well.
If you’re using SMART to set your goals and achievements and you stick to the guide above, you will achieve your desired results.
You need to review where you are against your time frame throughout. If you say you’ll achieve your goal or objective in six months, then look at it in three. Look at where you are. Do you need to make adjustments? If you do, make them and check your time frame. Is it still SMART?
We hope this helps you as much as it has me. If you’d like any more advice, please feel free to give us a call!
