Building a SMART Target
Make your targets SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
The SMART target
Specific
The goal is specific to increase the number of sales by increasing the sales closing rate from 35 to 40%. If you are not sure if your target is specific, a good way to see is whether you can 100% prove with certainty that it has been met or not. Is that possible to do or is it too vague? For this target, it is easy to see that it will either be reached or not. Targets that include numerical metrics are straightforward to make specific. However, that doesn’t mean to say that non-numeric metrics are to be avoided completely, you might need to think differently about how you will ensure that the target is specific.
Measurable
The target must be measurable. This is possible by having a goal that is specific (we know that we are monitoring sales leads) and then how exactly that specific target metric will be measured. In this example, the number of sales leads vs the number of closed leads will be monitored. The percentage can be found with a simple calculation.
Achievable
Is the target achievable? Do you have the skills, knowledge, and resources to make it happen? In this case the target is attainable because the company has access to a Consultative Sales Process. They are implementing a new method where they will make sure that each sales appointment follows the same steps, and they will offer the clients three different pricings. The company recognized that clients prefer to have choice when picking a product and they are more likely to go with them if they can choose which option they get. It makes the client feel empowered in their decision.
Relevant
The target needs to be relevant and related to the business. There is no point setting and achieving a target that doesn’t help the wider mission of the company. Examples of irrelevant targets could be:
- We will focus on making more money.
Whilst this states a good intention it doesn’t give any information or context around what or how more money would be made, or even why more money should be made. Setting and reaching targets takes work so there should always be a solid justification for them.
Time-bound
A realistic timeline should be set with milestones and regular check-ins built into the plan. In this case, the deadline is in three months’ time and progress will be checked each week. Some milestones could be added for when the closing rate reaches 36, 37, 38, 39% to celebrate some of the success in getting toward the end target. It’s important to remember that timelines can change. For example, it might become a sudden realization that this target needs six months rather than three. Until the effort or work is started, sometimes you won’t realize how much time something will take.
Final thoughts
When you are ready to build and document your SMART targets, we recommend that you use a spreadsheet or template to keep track of your progress. We have provided a SMART target template to get you started.