What Does SMART Stand For?
The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. As you write your objectives, do so with this framework in mind. As you start to plan a project, setting SMART goals will help you define and measure success. Only three percent of adults have clear, measurable, time-bound goals that are written down. However, those in that three percent accomplish ten times more than people with no goals.
How to Write SMART Goals
Specific – Your goals must be specific. Don’t just say that you want to increase sales—provide a number. Instead, get specific. Are you increasing overall sales or sales on a product or service that needs to be improved? Also, include the time frame you need to work within. You want to increase sales by 20% in the first quarter.
Measurable – Your goal needs to be measurable. In the example above if you want to increase sales, how do you measure that? How can you measure your objective? Usually, this will be through a conversion of some kind, in our example, we can measure sales by the number of products or services purchased. In this case, it is relatively easy to track the number of new sales.
Achievable – Keep your goals achievable. For instance, it’s probably not realistic to say you want to increase sales by 100% in the first quarter. For one, you may not actually have the capacity to increase sales by that much. You may need to order more inventory, or revamp processes to make this achievable and perhaps those efforts are just not realistic in the time frame you are working within. Achievable goals keep you moving forward and help you plan realistic implementation. Instead of setting a goal to increase sales by 100% in the first quarter, a review of your processes and inventory may show that a 20% increase is more realistic.
Relevant – Your goals need to be relevant. Why is this goal important to your business? For example, increasing sales by 20% in the first quarter will help you to launch a new product in the fourth quarter which is part of a long-term goal for the business.
Time-Bound – Deadlines are important because you need parameters to accomplish your goal. Setting a specific timeframe will help you and your team to stay on track, which will help you reach that goal. In our continuing example, the first quarter is the time frame. Set a specific date, such as March 31 as the deadline.
Reaching Your SMART Goals
Strategy, planning, and implementation are vital to helping any business grow. Whether you sell products or services, you need SMART goals to be successful. Whether it’s on the strategy and planning end, or implementation, Baseline Creative would love to help you reach your goals. Contact us to start a conversation.
