By Trudi Charest, RO

EVERY EYECARE BUSINESS NEEDS GOALS WHETHER YOU ARE A NEW OPTOMETRY OFFICE OR LARGE ESTABLISHED OPTICAL CHAIN. GOALS HELP YOU MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD, MOTIVATE STAFF AND GROW REVENUE. SETTING GOALS CAN BE A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED AS YOU REALLY NEED TO BE CLEAR AND THINK THROUGH ALL ASPECTS OF THE GOAL TO ENSURE IT IS ACHIEVABLE. IF THERE IS ANYTHING THAT DEMOTIVATES STAFF, IT IS A GOAL THAT IS CLEARLY OUT OF REACH.

I HAVE ALWAYS LIKED THE S.M.A.R.T GOAL CONCEPT.

S.M.A.R.T STANDS FOR:

S = SPECIFIC

M = MEASURABLE

A = ACHIEVABLE

R = RELEVANT

T = TIME

1. SPECIFIC

Write it down! Be very clear and concise about what exactly the goal is. Keep it simple… don’t overcomplicate the goal or it will get lost in translation.

Example: Grow revenue each quarter by 10% – EX: Gross Revenue $250K – Goal is to grow + $25K

2. MEASURABLE

Make sure it is easy to measure and track on a monthly basis so you can post results and staff can see where the office is on attaining the end result. Share the results visibly by either posting it in a staff room or emailing the team as a whole. Make it fun so it encourages staff to continue pushing if they are a little behind the goal.

3. ACHIEVABLE

Really consider whether the goal is achievable before communicating it to the team. You want it to be a growth goal but not so much growth that it is truly a reach to attain. Staff are smart and if they feel it is too high they won’t even try to hit it.

Example: 10% – 20% growth goals are usually a realistic target. Look at your growth year over year and see what has actually been the growth statistics and mirror something slightly higher.

4. RELEVANT

Choose goals and rewards that are relevant to what is happening in the office or industry and rewards that are what staff want versus what you want to give them.

Example: Team goals that help drive overall revenue are always relevant but if you are setting individual goals choose ones that drive current business objectives like growing 2nd pair sales.

Example: When it comes to rewards, find out by surveying the entire team as to what they really want as far as a reward. Give them some options from a team retreat to an eyecare conference to a shared $$$ reward.

  1. TIMESet the time guidelines when you communicate the goal so staff are very clear when they set the reward. That is what is going to drive the results so consider making different target payouts throughout the year to keep it motivating.

Example: Grow 10% gross revenue over last year. Results are tracked month over month and payout is every quarter. Bonus target if there is a 10% overall growth for the year.

To help you get active and create S.M.A.R.T goals for your office, we want to offer a FREE e-guide and worksheet you can download that will walk you through the steps to creating your own goals for 2017.

Go to www.training4ecps.com and download from the list of available resources. We offer lots of FREE resources to grow your eyecare business.

Trudi Charest is the Co-Founder & CTO of 4ECPs – an eye care resource company. 4ECPs has six divisions including Marketing4ECPs, Training4ECPs, Jobs4ECPs, SocialMedia4ECPs, Events4ECPs and Payments4ECPs.

Visit their website to learn more: www.4ecps.com or email at trudi@4ecps.com

Reference: Doran, G. T. (1981). “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management’s goals and objectives”. Management Review. AMA FORUM. 70 (11): 35–36