By: Allison Rodriguez
By now, you know that you should have SMART goals for your business—goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely. However, it’s easy to fall victim to SMART goal madness. SMART goal madness happens when you start putting everything in that frame.
We’ve been there, too. As you create both long- and short-term marketing and sales strategies, sometimes the SMART formula won’t give you the flexibility and creativity that you need. Here are three times when you might need a different goal-setting strategy.
- When your goals for the future are bigger than what a SMART goal can depict
A truly innovative company will have some goals that are simply outside of the confines of a SMART goal. These often involve a fantastical element: if you could create the ideal company, what would it look like? This article from entrepreneur.com suggests that SMART goals are insufficient for goals like this because they “don’t allow a person to forge an emotional connection to the goals.”
Envisioning the dream version of your company isn’t something that will translate well to one SMART goal, but it’s vital when outlining your company’s mission, ethos, and future mindset.
- When you need a game-changing shift in your company’s approach
The appeal of SMART goals is that they are manageable and rooted in specific data that’s based on your company’s documented abilities. SMART goals are great because they are incremental changes that have been shown to be attainable; past history says this is a goal that your team can reach. Like most positive attributes, this attainability can be a double-edged sword.
There are some goals that go outside of the realm of what your company has been able to accomplish in the past. These goals are not as common and require your team to push the bounds of what you have considered attainable or relevant in the past. “Breakthrough accomplishments and leadership require more than what’s asked of you,” one sales expert notes. Sometimes it’s necessary to push your limits and get outside your comfort zone.
- When you identify a new customer need that you weren’t aware of before
Your buyer personas are living entities for a reason. Customers and prospects have shifting needs; to stay on the top of their minds, use data to best anticipate what is going on in there! Once you have identified a new goal or challenge in your customer or prospect’s mind, work backwards to strategize how your products or services can fill that gap.
This is a pivot from thinking about your company’s skills first and then working forward. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos explains, “‘Working backwards’ from customer needs can be contrasted with a ‘skills-forward’ approach where existing skills and competencies are used to drive business opportunities.” This is a radical departure from SMART goals that could be crucial in making your company an innovative presence.
We’re not suggesting that your marketing and sales departments eliminate SMART goals, but that they be ready to integrate other strategies in addition to those SMART goals. For more on this topic, check out our previous post, Setting Goals for Innovation in 2017 (Hint: It’s not always S.M.A.R.T.)!
Thanks for sharing!
