In our previous step we selected SMART goals (by George T. Doran) now we continue that process to get to specifics:

• Specific– target a specific area for improvement.
• Measurable– quantify or at least suggest an indicator of progress.
• Assignable– specify who will do it.
• Realistic– state what results can realistically be achieved, given available resources.
• Time-related– specify when the result(s) can be achieved.

Tie your metrics to our previous Steps where we created our:  Vision, Strategy, and Business Objectives here is where we get Specific, Measurable and Time Bound. In some cases, the metrics will be in Work Hours saved in others actual $ Dollars, in some cases added functionality or process consistency. These Key Performance Indicators are our measure of success. It is really easy to get sidelined into fluffy bunny; fuzzy objectives that sound good but are like trying to nail Jello to a Wall when you try to measure them. Good Business objectives keep us focused and help us avoid chasing shiny objects.

Keep it to hard measurable numbers in dollars. This is usually easier than it seems, if you reduce the time spent on data entry by going to Web To Case functionally, first identify how much time your team is spending doing data entry for Cases, then average their Wages including Benefits (Human Resources will have this info)  this will give you the fully loaded costs of their hours. Then do the math. The time saved can be shifted to outbound calling to grow sales this will also be measurable. If you team spends 3 hrs a day outbound calling adding just one hour a day can increase sales by 30%.

Then there a few problems that are so annoying and frustration to both your team and customers that they are worthy of solving even if there is no definable monetary benefit. Sometimes team & customer satisfaction is hard to define in dollars yet is a very worthy goal unto itself.

Examples:

A. Increase Productivity by 20% in our Customer Service – Tech Support Departments.

1. Reduce Call time by 15% using Salesforce tools to speed customer interactions by 2^nd qtr
2. All Case paper work will be digital and accessible to everyone, reducing paper costs by 10% end of 3^rd qtr
3. All reporting of metrics in Salesforce to reduce time spent creating month end reports saving 6 hrs
4. Initiate Salesforce ‘Web to Case “so customers can create cases 24 hr a day reduce data entry by 30% due 2^nd qtr
5. Build Salesforce Lightning Paths for Customer Service and Tech Support 1^st qtr
6. • Each Path will have the Guidance for Success for the top 3 issues
7. • Leads, Cases, Orders, Quotes & Work Orders
8. Write workflows to automate the Customer Satisfaction Survey e-mail function reduce man hours spent on this function by 5%, $3,000 savings per person per year by 4^th qtr
9. Targets of opportunity identified during the process that provide better ROI than our current goals, ongoing.

B. Sales & Marketing: Grow our sales by 15% this year by standardizing, automating, and streamlining our sales process.

1. Standard Lead Qualification process reduce Lead Qualification process from 3 months to 14 days, with 100% Trade Show Lead follow up from current 10% follow up, by 1^st qtr
2. All commissions will be calculated in Salesforce, saving Accounting 30 hrs a month
3. All Weekly & Monthly Sales activity will be in Salesforce saving 3 hr a week preparing Excel Spreadsheets, by 3^rd qtr
4. A well-designed Sales Process with the Path built into our Opportunity Object, including Guidance For Success 1^st qtr
5. Automate lead assignment, from web to leads, Trade Shows and purchases lead lists, by 2^nd qtr
6. Implement paperless contracts & documentation for 80% of all transactions by year end.

These are just the starting points for setting your Business Objectives. Over the years I have found that clear written objectives are clear to even a casual reader. Have someone who is not involved and who will tell you straight up if it’s fuzzy or unclear read them. This is a Team Effort run them by the team have them submit goals. Once you get going it is amazing the opportunities for improvement that come up.