How to Set Realistic Retail Sales Goals
We’ve talked about the importance of retail sales, and how to go about creating a sales strategy that fits your salon, but what if you’re not really motivated to sell in the first place?
That’s where sales goals can come in very, very handy.
There are many different approaches to creating motivational retail sales goals and it’s important to create one that works for you. In this post, we are going to look at one of the most widely used goal-making strategies and add a little something extra to make it more relatable.
S.M.A.R.T. Goals
It’s more than likely that you’ve heard of the SMART Approach to goal setting and that’s because it really does work. First coined by consultant George Doran in 1981, the SMART goal setting system has been implemented in nearly every industry that you can think of.
For those of us not intimately familiar with project management lingo, SMART is an acronym that stands for:
Specific: You can easily name the goal you are setting.
Measurable: You will be able to tell if you are making progress.
Assignable: You can identify who will handle this goal.
Realistic: You can identify what can be achieved with your available resources.
Time-related: You can set a realistic timeline for achievement.
The reason this approach has been so successful is because it’s simple and intuitive, while still establishing some key components for success. While “Sell more products, make more money” is a good place to start, there’s not a whole lot to work with.
Instead, let’s look at why you want to want to make a specific amount of money, so that we can create a workable plan to get there.
Making Sales Goals Relatable
One great approach to setting SMART retail sales goals is to give your retail sales the job of paying one or more of your bills. For example, let’s say that you set the goal of having your retail sales cover your electric bill. Here’s what that would look like:
S: Retail product sales profits cover monthly electric bill.
M: Average the past 6 months electric bills and keep records of retail sales profits weekly.
A: I will be in charge of retail product sales
R: Averaging my last 3 months of retail product sales, I know this goal is achievable.
T: My timeframe is 30 days
By breaking your main goal (i.e., selling more retail) into smaller pieces, it becomes easier to fit into a workable plan.
Taking Sales Goals Further
There has been an update to the SMART Approach, that makes this strategy more easily applicable to long term goals. And luckily, it’s just as easy to remember:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Assignable
- Realistic
- Time-related
Evaluated: You can look at your strategy and identify what worked and what didn’t
Reviewed: You can reflect and adjust your approach to achieving your goal.
Adding these two additional steps can help you grow your retail sales goals from “I want to sell enough to pay my electric bill” to “I want my retail sales to pay all of my utilities”. By looking at your retail sales as an integral part of your business, it takes some pressure off of your services, which are likely more profitable. At the end of the month, having achieved that goal, you’ll be able to pocket more of your service-based income.
Selling retail products doesn’t have to be a chore. By setting realistic, achievable retail sales goals, you can make retail a foundation of your business strategy and build more long-term profitability.
