Keeping New Year’s resolutions is difficult for everyone – especially when they revolve around your pharmacy and livelihood. The stakes are higher and the pressure to succeed is significantly greater than resolutions pertaining to yourself. So why is it that setting and achieving goals for your pharmacy year after year is such a difficult task?
For the most part, there is one main reason that resolutions fail…setting vague goals. For example:
- I will increase my sales
- I want to provide a new service
- I want to cut costs
Vague goals always lead to vague results – and usually, failed goals - since they are missing several key pieces. If you want to turn your failed resolutions into accomplished ones, you need to turn your vague goals into SMART ones.
SMART goals work because they include each of the following pieces:
S – They are specific. You know exactly what you want to accomplish and include details of what, when, and how. The more specific your description, the bigger the chance you’ll get exactly that. S.M.A.R.T. goal setting clarifies the difference between ‘I want to be a millionaire’ and ‘I want to get 15 more patients a month for the next ten years by developing a diabetes program’.
M – They are measurable. This allows you to assess your progress. Goals that cannot be measured, cannot be managed. You’ll need concrete evidence. Being happier is not evidence; going from $10 per month in revenue to $10,000 by cutting expenses, streamlining revenue, and implementing time saving technologies is.
A – They are attainable. It is important that your goals are within reach. Aiming too high will demotivate and frustrate you, more than help. Take the time to weigh the effort, time and other costs your goal will take against the profits and the other obligations and priorities you have in life. If you don’t have the time, money or talent to reach a certain goal – or a plan to get the things you need – you’ll almost certainly fail.
R – They are relevant. The goals you set need to matter to you and your company. Irrelevant goals only lead to distractions from those that are more important. You and your staff must be able to clearly understand the positive outcomes that will result for the pharmacy by achieving these goals. If you’re lacking certain skills, you can plan trainings. If you lack certain resources, you can look for ways of getting them. The main questions, why do you want to reach this goal? What is the objective behind the goal, and will this goal really achieve that?
T – They are time framed. All your goals need to have deadlines to prevent the desire to procrastinate. Time is money! Make a tentative plan of everything you do. Everybody knows that deadlines are what make most
people take action. Install deadlines, for yourself and your team, and go after them. Keep the timeline realistic and flexible, that way you can keep morale high. Being too stringent on the timely aspect of your goal setting can have the effect of achieving your goals and objectives into a race against time.
Once you have your goals in place, talk with a Marketing Specialist to put together a plan to help you achieve your goals. The GRX team has over 25 years of experience helping independent community pharmacies achieve their unique goals and can help you create and implement a plan to help you too.
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