IDDBA 2016: How to set goals you can actually achieve

Retail specialist Harold Lloyd has been offering tips to improve stores to IDDBA show attendees for 22 years, but he’s noticed not many of his ideas get executed. Why not?

Lloyd believes it’s because retailers have a hard time following through on their goals, whether because they don’t know how to start or projects get lost in the shuffle because they aren’t written down. He came up with a method he calls S.M.A.R.R.T.E.S.T goals.

Goals should be:

Specific: Don’t say you want to increase sales. Say you want to increase deli cheese sales by X amount.

Measurable: Figure out how to measure results, whether in dollars, percentages or time.

Actionable: Make sure you know all the steps you need to take to accomplish the goal. If you retired tomorrow, is there a plan your successor could follow?

Realistic: Even if your manager wants a 7% sales increase, make it 3.4% if you know that’s what you can achieve.

Relevant: Is this goal a priority for your company or is it just a preference? Is it important and urgent?

Timed: Each step needs a specific timeframe in which it will be achieved.

Ethical: Retailers shouldn’t practice shady business practices, but achieving goals is also not worth sacrificing your personal life, Lloyd said.

Shared: Goals are more likely to be accomplished if everyone in the company is on board. “Only three out of 100 employees today in your store have a business goal they’re working on,” said Lloyd.

Typed: You need to write down your goals or they won’t get done.

For short-term goals, Lloyd said to follow a 1-1-1 formula: One goal should take one hour to think and write and one piece of paper. Long-term goals go by 1-2-3: One goal should take two hours to think and write and three pieces of paper.

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