How to H.I.T. your GOALS

Every successful person I have ever met has agreed that having goals are important, and the bigger and more specific they are, the higher probability they have in order to be achieved.  I have both failed many times trying to hit goals and have achieved many as well and have found a similar pattern that was common every time I was able to achieve any kind of success both personally and in business.

In order to H.I.T. (Hard Work | Integrity | Talent) your goals it will take this formula to achieve success.  Hard work is key. This is not a new idea, and I believe the majority of people do work really hard. Hard work is a no-brainer when it comes to being successful.  Gone are the days that 9-5 will be enough to achieve big goals, and the "stereotypical" work week is more along the lines of 12 hour days instead of 8 hour days.  If you can look around your circle of friends and say your one of the hardest workers, that is a really good start.  Integrity is vital in a leadership role.  People must believe and trust you in order to follow you.  Everyone will make mistakes, no one is perfect, but those who operate with Integrity and operate honestly and truthfully in business will achieve success.  When leading, if there is no Integrity, trust and opportunity do not exist.  Talent is the last piece of hitting your goals.  Yes, you must posses talent in the specific field you are in, in order to achieve higher levels of success.  Everyone has a different bar of what success is for them, but if there are no basic skill sets in the activity you want to be successful in, it makes the goal almost impossible to achieve.  For example, if I wanted to be an NFL quarterback but lacked the talent to throw a football, it would make it almost impossible to achieve that goal.  Talent can be worked on and practiced, of course, but a basic skill set must be there first.

So with this simple formula of Hard Work, Integrity, and Talent anyone can achieve their goals!  The catch is very simple.  These are non negotiable.  If 1 of them is missing then it will become very difficult to achieve any success greater than you currently have.  A person who works really hard and operates under high integrity but does not possess any talent in that specific field, will really struggle to achieve their goals.  Vice versa a person who has a lot of talent and operates under integrity but lacks the ability to work hard, will again find it difficult to achieve success.  Most people are very talented and work really hard, but if Integrity is missing, goals and success are never achieved.  So the lesson learned from this weekend is simple then: Find out what you are great at (Talent), work your butt off (Hard Work) and do it with high (Integrity) and then you can begin hitting your goals of becoming more successful in both your personal and professional life."  

- Ryan Caugherty

How to Run an Effective Sales Meeting

Everyday, the sales and marketing team at CORE Communications gets together for a meeting of the minds. Couldn't we just gather weekly? Probably, but we have found a daily meeting is a great way to start the morning, set our team goals, set our individual goals, and sharpen our skills. Over the years, we have come up with what we have found is a great recipe for these meetings, so that they are always helpful and never draining. Here is what we at CORE believe is important to running an effective sales meeting:

1. High-energy: Think of a morning meeting as a morning cup of coffee. It should get you going, not put you to sleep. In order to keep a meeting high-energy, everyone should be involved and have a chance to say their piece. If only one person is running the meeting lecturing the entire time, it can be hard for the rest of the team to stay focused.

2. Set team goals: In sales, of course there is always incentive to perform individually, but everyone likes to feel that they are part of a greater cause. If you set a goal for your team and ask them all to participate, it is better than not, but if you ask your team to set a goal together, they will be bought into the vision, and believe it is attainable. Ask your team what you think they can accomplish together, and allow for a dialogue until there is a consensus. You can take this a step further by setting a team incentive for hitting that goal, based on something that gets everyone on the team excited.

3. Listen to individual goals: Everyone is driven by goals, but most people are even more driven to hit them when other people know their goals. When a salesperson privately sets a goal that no one knows about, he or she may find it easy to not follow through on accomplishing it. Once others know, not only will the salesperson not want to fall short in front of their peers, but other team members will likely do all they can to help them hit their goals.

4. Encourage competition: If there are two members of a college baseball team competing for the all-time best batting average at that school, what would happen? They will both elevate their personal game, while increasing the overall number of wins for the team that season. At CORE Communications, we encourage friendly competition among team members. The great thing is, everyone wins in the long run. The competitors have no choice but to elevate their game, and the team will perform at a higher level. Typical challenges at our office involve dancing the macarena during a meeting, or having to sing a song. Of course, we have a lot of fun watching people settle up their bets.

5. Keep a consistent agenda: Determine a system that works for you, and follow a regular agenda in order to keep meetings as effective and tight as possible. Also set aside time for one-on-one meetings so that off-topic conversations don't throw off your schedule. Team meetings are great, but one-on-one time can be even more effective, so make sure there is a protocol for this as well.

Copyright CORE Communications, Inc. Houston, TX 2014