Q: We’re trying to become more diligent with goal setting. What are some best practices for setting goals and quotas? – Submitted by Chris Hargis, General Manager of World Gym, Ponte Vedra, Fla.
A: Setting goals is one of the most important activities you can do to become successful, both personally and at your fitness business. First, let’s discuss some basic rules of goal setting; then, we’ll look at a formula you can use to calculate your goals.
Write it Down
If a goal isn’t written down, it doesn’t exist. You and your staff must know what goals your club needs to achieve. The first step is to write it down and have it visible to all involved.
Be Detailed
Your goal must be specific and measurable. A goal is not to increase revenues; a goal is to increase August revenues by 10 percent over the previous August. A goal is not to sell as many memberships as possible; a goal is to sell 34 memberships over the next five days. The more detailed you are, the more likely you are to reach the goal.
Keep Goals Believable
Your goals have to be slightly out of reach, but not unbelievable. You can’t set a goal of earning a million dollars a month by the end of the year — unless you truly believe that you can earn a million dollars a month. For example, if you were currently earning $20,000 a month, perhaps a believable, yet slightly out of reach goal would be to increase your monthly income within a year to $30,000. Put a number to it, and definitely don’t set your goals too low!
Let’s Get Specific
1. Determine how much you want to make each month.
A good rule of thumb is to add 5 percent to whatever your sales were in the same month last year.
2. Divide this number by the number of working days that month.
So, if you did $20,000 in sales last August, this August you’ll set a monthly goal of (20,000 x 1.05) = $21,000. That is your monthly goal. Then you’ll divide that by the number of working days in June (21,000 / 26) = $807 (Note: a working day is any day you have staff selling memberships).
In order to reach your goal of $21,000 in August, you need to average $807 in sales per working day in August.
Each day you will recalculate. So let’s say on “day one” you gross $1,400. That means at the end of the day you will subtract 1,400 from $21,000. That leaves you with $19,600 remaining to reach your goal for June. Then divide 19,600 by the number of remaining working days in June (25). $19,600/25 = $784
Now your daily goal for the remainder of the month is $784. You can write this on a board in the office so everyone knows the number that has to be reached.
Keeping up with this daily goal is one of the best ways to make sure your goals are reached each month. By keeping this number fresh in the minds of your team members, it keeps them focused on that goal throughout the day.
Your entire team needs to understand that something needs to be sold every day, and they must be reminded how their actions are helping the overall mission of the business. This includes sales people, front desk staff, personal trainers, managers, even childcare and group exercise instructors. Everyone must understand that the mission of any for-profit business is to make money. And everyone must know how much money they should be trying to make.
Don’t forget, you can always revise your goals. Your plans change, your business changes; things happen! Perhaps you will exceed your goal much earlier than planned — then, set the goal even higher! Remember, if you shoot for the moon and don’t make it, you’ll still be among the stars. -CS
