If you’re like most Agents, the start of a New Year means a new start, new goals and a whole new energy around your business.

But how do you convert all that into sales results?

Step One: Set one high goal for yourself… like sky-high goal. Write it on a piece of paper.

Step Two: Make sure your goals are S.M.A.R.T. goals. Originally created by George T. Doran in a 1981 issue of the magazine Management Revue, this model for setting and achieving “dream like” goals is one of the most popular and recognized ways to make sure you achieve high flying goals.

Here’s what your goals need to be to be S.M.A.R.T. goals:

Specific

This is where you step up, and make a commitment to something specific you will achieve in 2013.

A general goal would be “I’m going to increase my business in 2013”, but that’s not specific enough.

Instead set a goal such as “I’m going to make 10 prospecting calls every day, take a marketing training course so I know how to attract more prospects and close more deals,  and get a minimum of 5 new prospects in my office every month”.

Measurable

Make sure that when you set your goals you have attached a number to it such as “increase my business from 30 to 45 clients in 2013”. That way you’ll know when you’ve achieved your goal (& celebrate it), and it makes it easy to check in with yourself to see how you’re doing(there’s a tip on how to do that below).

Attainable

While this may seem like a “Can I actually do this?” section where that little nagging voice comes into your head and says your goal is crazy, that’s not it at all.

I firmly believe that you, yes “you”, can achieve goals beyond your wildest dreams. There is no actual reason why you can’t, only “limiting beliefs” that hold you back.  So toss those aside, make an outrageous goal for yourself, and then make it attainable by working back to see what you need to do to make it happen. Do you need to close 1 more deal a month in order to increase your closed deals to your dream goal? That doesn’t seem so hard does it? When you work back you put the big, scary goals  in perspective – it’s just a few more actions, and results every month, and by the end of the year, you’ll be able to look back and say “Wow, I did it!”

Realistic

Again, I want you to DREAM BIG on this one! Why, because far fetching, sky high goals are often achieved more than “easy” goals. The low goal exerts a low motivational force…and that’s not what I want for you.

I want you to stretch yourself to commit to a goal that is beyond your wildest dreams. Don’t settle for average – if you set average goals, you’ll get average results, and that is definitely not what I want for you – you deserve so much more than that!

Timely

Set a time frame for your big goal – and it’s more likely to come true. The easiest one is to set a goal for 2013. When you set a year long goal, consider setting up a reminder in your calendar for the first Tuesday of every month with a one hour time block where you can look at your progress so far this year, celebrate your success, notice what you did that worked, and make a commitment for what you would like to change.

Step Three: If you want to really boost the chances that you hit that sky-high goal for 2013 tell people about it! By verbalizing your goals you are stepping into a different space – this isn’t your “secret wish” anymore, this is your “I’m closing 45 deals this year” proclamation to the world, and it will have an extremely positive impact on your mindset, your outlook and your business success!

Step Four: Take Action! Turn that goal into a reality by doing something everyday that will get you closer to your big goal.

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To your success,
Ingrid

Referred to as “The No Nonsense Marketing Maven,” Ingrid Menninga has xray vision for carving out marketing opportunities and the creativity to convert them into gold! Ingrid delivers high impact, low cost, customized marketing strategies for turbo-charging entrepreneurs and small business owners to great profits. After 12 years of working with legendary companies such as Carlson Marketing Group, Pizza Pizza, Invis Mortgages, and Royal LePage Canada, she left corporate Canada to launch JOLT Marketing In just 3 short years after starting JOLT Marketing, Ingrid has carved out a spectacular success roster working with Canada’s leading Real Estate and Mortgage brands such as Slavens Real Estate, GWL Realty Advisors, Mortgage Architects,Dominion Lending Centres, and Oriana Financial, to the tune of delivering a 250% increase in sales and participation on average. Having achieved high accolades for skyrocketing sales for countless companies, Sales Agents and budding Entrepreneurs with high profit marketing campaigns, Ingrid is frequently asked to share her expertise in industry journals such as Canada’s Real Estate Magazine – REM, at speaking engagements for RE-Bar Camps and InMan’s Agent ReBoot, and in Sales Seminars for industry organizations such as IMBA(Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario) and other leading industry organizations.