Planning for 2018 – Where Should You Start?

Is it really that time? I keep looking at my diary and it says November. Where did October go?

It feels like this year has gone in a blink and we are already at that time where our minds start to consider what 2018 will look like.

I hope that you carve a couple of days out in December or January to really dig deep and think about what you want.

Here is my number 1 tip I use in my business and with advisers to help them get clarity and focus.

Keep it simple

It can be easy to put down 20 big goals (or tasks) for the year and by the end of the year, you wonder what you achieved.

You change your goals on a whim, add new things in and get sidetracked.

To really win with goal setting you have to be clear on what winning in 2018 actually looks like. I always suggest advisers start to question themselves on these 6 places.

New Business – Where was I in 2017 ($/Client Numbers) and where am I aiming for 2018?

Retention & Servicing – What do I want to do to improve my persistence and to offer more value?

Systems – What systems have I neglected in the business and need to improve?

Compliance – What do I need to do to keep moving towards compliance?

Staff – Who have I got on my team now and who do I need?

Hand Off Bucket – What am I doing in the business that I hate, am bad at or should outsource/hand off.

Remember these are your goals, not the plan to get you there.

That is a next step that needs time spent on each goal to work out what needs to be implemented to make the change. These goals should be unchanged.

Once done it looks like one page of goals.

You want to print it out and sign the bottom, put it on the wall and give it to your team. It will get everyone rowing in the same direction.

A story on having defined goals that sticks in my head is one by computer company Dell.  

They have such specific monthly goals for the year that if they are making too much money they change what they are doing to actually reduce sales.

This could mean turning away sales, selling cheaper or pushing people to the following months.

It seems crazy but they know exactly what they want to be profitable and what suits them.

Fix your goals, stick to them, read them daily and you will be amazed at what you will be saying at the end of 2018.