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Napoleon Hill “A goal is a dream with a deadline.”

Zig Ziglar “Goals are dreams we convert to plans and take action to fulfill.”

Unknown author “Goals that are not written down are just wishes.”

Jim Rohn “Goals. There’s no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them. There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.”

Mark Victor Hansen “Big goals get big results. No goals get no results or somebody else’s results.”

Seneca “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”

Norman Vincent Peale “All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do.”

Author unknown “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

Milton Berle “I’d rather be a could-be if I cannot be an are; because a could-be is a maybe who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a has-been than a might-have-been, by far; for a might have-been has never been, but a has-been was once an are.”

One of the most important aspects to the process of goal settings is to first establish and define your goal. The truth of this evident in a statement made by Lee Iacocca: “The discipline of writing something down is the first step toward making it happen.” For one reason or another, when we write something down it seems to be more permanent. It is rarely forgotten and we are constantly reminded of it.

To help illustrate this, think about why we write down a grocery list every week. We do this so nothing is forgotten or skipped over. We make this list so every necessary item and component is purchased. If you have ever gone grocery shopping without a list, you know how confusing of an experience it can be. You seem to be all over the store, only to get home and realize things you had forgotten to buy.

It is quite one thing to say you want to accomplish something, but without a clear and defined plan; few goal settings are rarely accomplished. It is too easy to get sidetracked without a plan to keep you on the path to your goal.

The first step in your goal settings plan to set a goal is to write the plan! Commit the goal and yourself to paper and you are more invested in the process and therefore much more likely to succeed.

If you’re like most, you have probably made a few resolutions for the upcoming year. And if you’re like most, you’re probably wondering what went wrong with all those wonderful intentions. You may be asking yourself, ‘Why can’t I stick to a diet,’ or ‘I just don’t understand it; I promised myself that I’d go to the gym,’ or “Why am I so weak.” It seems like such a puzzle to try to figure out why all of this different resolutions seemed to fail. Unfortunately, despite our best intentions, the ability to change our habits is only as good as your motivation to start to change yourself.

The main reason for failing to fulfill these objectives is an inability to realize the full benefit of a goal. When trying to get off the couch to go for a run, you may find it difficult and start to rationalize with yourself that, “loosing an extra 10 pounds won’t be that big of a difference,” or say ‘I am fine with my appearance just the way I am.’

Due to our inability to realize the full potential of our goal, we ultimately give up and fail. The same is true for goals in our professional life. Because we fail to realize the full potential of a goal in our professional life, we simple let opportunities fall by the way side.

However, with the help of Bryant Nielson and ‘Lengthen your Stride’ you will be able to better realize your long-term personal and professional goals by realizing your full potential. After realizing the full potential of all your goals, you will be increasingly motivated and extremely more likely to complete your goals and become more of a success in both personal and professional avenues of your life.

Every single interaction is an opportunity to do marketing, not a chance to cut costs.

There are three (3) things that are always included in the successful conclusion to a successful goal cycle. They are: commitment, completion and closure.

Commitment. Unless the person making the goal is committed to working on and towards a particular goal, it is at best nothing more than a wish. Commitment is the spark that ignites the fire that moves a person.

Completion. What is the use of working a on goal and stop when you are just feet from the finish line. Working towards 80-90 or even 95% of the objective is nothing more than falling short. We need to focus on completing the goal! 100% is only what can be acceptable.

Closure. When you first establish a goal, you set your destination. Our commitment to working on the goal is our vehicle that will take us towards that horizon. Completion is insuring that our vehicle has sufficient gas to reach our destination. Closure is our reviewing our goal and enjoying the achievement that we have done.

By employing the 3 C’s in every goal situation, we insure that our overall plan and actions are successful and our long-term direction is still where we are seeking.

I am not the originator of this list, but found it instructive as to the success and failure of companies and success.

1. A lost customer means lost feedback and the opportunity to improve.

2. A lost customer means lost sales and revenue that is lost forever!

3. A lost customer causes asking, “Why didn’t we recognize the problem before losing them?”

4. A lost customer means having lost a testimonial to use in selling to others.

5. A lost customer opens us up to potentially negative word-of-mouth that might affect our reputation with prospects, customers, suppliers and staff.

6. A lost customer means having lost all their possible future referrals.

7. A lost customer has a negative impact on the confidence of our entire staff. (more…)

Your bags are packed and you’re ready to go, your first overseas trip. From the Midwest town of Chicago to the rolling hills of Rome Italy, you’re going to see it all. You throw your bags into a cab and your off to the airport.

A little while into the trip you you encounter some huge public works program that had blocked all of the traditional routes to the airport. You ask the driver to check the map because you’ve reached an intersection you’re not familiar with. You panic for a moment because you realize he does not have a map.

But you say the heck with it because you know where you’re going. You take a right, change the radio station and keep on going. Unfortunately, you never reach the airport prior to your plane leaving!

Too many of us treat goal setting the same way. We dream about where we want to go, but we don’t have a map to get there. Or fail to plan for obstacles that we may encounter along the way.

What is a map? In essence, the written word. (more…)

Too often we find that we blame others for issues that impact us and our lives. We suggest that our life is the result of what others have done or are doing and we eliminate our responsibility towards those events. My suggestion to any possible resolution is to take 100% responsibility.

Take responsibility for what you are contributing.

Take responsibility for what you are acting upon.

Take responsibility for what direction events are taking you.

This reminds me of a merry-go-round. As a child, the charm of the merry-go-round was that it did not go far, you could see your parents every 15 seconds or so and that there was reassurance in their support as you went round and round. The problem with the ride is that it did not do much else. Too often, we find our life, both personally and professionally, not much different than that merry-go-round. We just continue going in circles and are afraid to get off the ride.

Taking responsibility for everything is our first step towards getting off this ride. So, what are you doing to get off the ride? Are you happy with your life? Your marriage? Your family? Your spirituality? Your health? How about your professional life?

You cannot expect any other outcome without changing your ride!

The first component of Sales Cycle Management (SCM) is Opportunity Management. In traditional sales pipelines, salespeople and managers do not spend enough time focusing their efforts on the most promising sales. Instead, effort seems to be misplaced or spread evenly over all possible sales, even the ones that will probably not close. To counteract this, Opportunity Management is the process of tracking the work done before the sale, and adjusting resources and effort accordingly. It may seem at first to be more work than it’s worth, so let’s take a look at the benefits of OM.

First, tracking the work before the sale allows you to focus on the most promising sales. In traditional pipelines, even the “maybe” sales or the ones that may never close seem to stay in the pipeline. By focusing on the most promising, the effort goes full steam into closing and creating a relationship. Along these lines, OM allows sales managers to create a budget based on the expected return and expense on the client. Since you’re tracking the work the salespeople are doing, sales managers can look at that work and specifically coach to it. This specialized coaching will lead to improved results for the entire organization. But how can you go about creating an OM system? (more…)

You’ve spent time in Opportunity Management and Sales Forecasting. You know which clients are the “top ten” probable sales – and you know how many sales you need to make to be profitable. Without account planning, your hard work may go to waste. Account planning is simply the act of applying a precise, project management approach to the individual client – and the sale. What are the benefits of a well-built account plan?

As we’ve briefly discussed, account planning brings your Opportunity Management activities full circle. You’ve got your top possibilities and now you’re going to create a specific plan to make the sale – and keep the client. Account planning allows salespeople and sales managers to closely analyze the sales process – and readjust as necessary. Because you create a detailed plan, sales can be transitioned into a relationship, client-based orientation, versus a hard sell. Here are some steps to take to create your account plan. (more…)