SETTING TARGET COMPLETION DATES
It’s time to record those Success Ingredients on your Action Worksheet. Look at the example in Figure 4-3. List the ingredients you have chosen on the Success Ingredients section of your own worksheet; notice that the example shows target dates for each one. You need to do this, too, so think about what would be a realistic amount of time to allow yourself to complete or acquire each item. It’s okay to choose a target date that is more than a month away.
In setting a target date for your Success Ingredients, use the guidelines introduced in Chapter 3 for realistic goal-setting. Review the “Time for a Reality Check” section if you need a refresher. You should consider both the working time and the elapsed time needed for completion.
If you decided you were finally going to finish that brochure you’ve been working on, it might only take you two hours of working time to complete a final review of the last draft your graphic designer sent you. But then it will take the designer time to make your changes and get it to the printer, and the printer will need time to get it on the press. So estimate how much elapsed time will be required to get it all done.
If you aren’t sure, don’t leave the target date blank while you check with the designer and the printer to see what is reasonable. Allowing others to determine your schedule may be one of the habits that has gotten you into trouble in the past. Try this instead: Decide when you would like to have the printed brochure in your hand; then call the designer and say, “I need to have my brochure complete by the 31st. If I get you my final changes by the 20th, can you meet that date?” If your request is unreasonable, the designer will tell you. Then you can negotiate for a new date, and change the target date on your worksheet.
Figure 4-3: Adding Success Ingredients to the Action Worksheet
The function of having a target date for each Success Ingredient, just like setting a marketing goal, is to get you into action immediately. Once your brochure has a due date, you will make a call about it and say, “This is when I need it,” instead of, “When can you have it?” You will immediately be in more control of your marketing, and much more likely to produce results sooner.
Changing the target date after establishing it is not cheating; it is being realistic. What is the point of beating yourself up because you failed to meet a target date that you already knew was impossible? It’s much better to keep your target dates realistic so you can reward yourself for reaching them. This goal-setting technique is particularly important regarding Success Ingredients. Having a great brochure may be important for your business-building approach, but the brochure alone will not get you any clients. You will need to call, mail, follow up, and so forth before that brochure helps you land a sales conversation, and ultimately, a client. Therefore, you need to reward yourself at the beginning, for all the effort that went into completing the brochure, before waiting to see the results it helps you produce.