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We look back on last year’s scheduling mishaps, missed opportunities, and customer service hurdles, resolving to avoid the same mistakes this time around. Some people write long to-do lists they never end up completing, some burn out early in the year by rushing towards their goals, and some give up when they do not see immediate progress. All of these people suffer from the same problem. They set themselves up for failure by picking goals that are not SMART. In a rush to achieve the perfect client base or desired revenue, many trades business owners focus on an imagined future and set goals based on that dream. Those goals are often vague and hard to achieve. In this blog we will teach you how to make your dream service company a reality by setting SMART goals. Â
The SMART framework is a series of guidelines on how goals should be structured. Giving goals boundaries and specificity makes sure you keep them reasonable and achievable. The acronym SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. We have expanded on all these terms and how they relate to goal setting below, however, if you want our whole eBook with more information on how to implement SMART Goals for the trades, go here!
Specific refers to the wording of the goal. Instead of saying “I want more clients” try breaking down exactly what type of client you want. For example, maybe you own an HVAC service company that works primarily with commercial clients, a specific goal could be “I want more work from commercial buildings”. Going a step further you could specify what getting a client would mean or what interaction you would like to have with these potential clients. Your new specific goal could be “I want more annual maintenance contracts with commercial buildings”
Measurable refers to a number value you can easily track being attached to your goal. Without having a key metric to recognize your progress with you might start to feel like you are not making headway on the goal you set. Building on our prior example, we can easily use the number of clients you want to be the metric you measure in your goal. A specific and measurable goal could be “I want 15 annual maintenance contracts with mid-size commercial buildings”
Actionable means that the goal’s ability to be achieved is under your control. This is a crucial aspect of SMART goal setting. If we changed our example goal to “I want 50 commercial buildings to hire my company for 10 work orders each” the ability to achieve this goal is no longer under your control. While you can position your business to be the most attractive option to your desired clients, the amount of work they need depends on so many factors that you have little to no insight into. Making sure your goals are actionable allows you to be the biggest influence on their success.
Relevant describes how in-line your goals are with your business. Returning to our example “I want 15 annual maintenance contracts with mid-size commercial buildings”, it is important to make sure that the goals you have set are relevant to the direction of your business. The example we used would make sense if you are a growing field service business that now has the team and expertise to take on bigger jobs with commercial buildings, it may make less sense if you are a one-person operation who only focuses on residential clients. Though goals should be aspirational they should also be grounded in the reality of your current circumstances.
Your goal being Time-Bound gives clarity and urgency to the work you need to do to achieve it. Often in the new year goals and resolutions are set without a time frame, this makes it easier for us to push the completion of them down the road until we’re back at the beginning of a new year with the same old goals. An example of Time-boundness could be “I want 15 annual maintenance contracts with mid-size commercial buildings in the 1st quarter”.
This year we encourage you to dream bigger and dream SMARTer. With the framework we discussed in this blog we hope you see how setting goals is half the story. The other half is what type of goals you set and how they can guide you towards success by changing the way you structure them. When you make SMART goals, you give yourself the tools to make smarter decisions. Download all 7 pages of our eBook here, for specific goal examples and more ways to implement them in your business.
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- Specific: Clearly define the exact outcome or type of result you want.
- Measurable: Attach a quantifiable metric to track progress.
- Actionable: Focus on goals you can directly influence or control.
- Relevant: Align each goal with your current business direction and resources.
- Time-Bound: Set a clear deadline to create a sense of urgency and accountability.
By following SMART goals, you’ll avoid vague intentions and give yourself a clear roadmap for achieving success.
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