Why Goal Setting Plays a Huge Role in Client Success 

Any well-established business knows that goal setting is one of the main ingredients in client success. As a leading Florida SEO company, we can definitely attest to that.

Goal setting is pretty much the first step in helping clients reach their full potential. It’s all about providing them with a future outcome - an outcome they desire, an outcome that will motivate them to keep going.

Listening to clients frustratingly express their lack of progress isn’t uncommon for many businesses. Most of the time, it has something to do with the goals they’ve set for themselves. These goals may either be too unrealistic, irrelevant, or ambiguous. Or perhaps, they don’t even have one to begin with.

If you belong in an industry where helping clients grow and thrive is your number one priority, this post is something you’ll find valuable. We’re rounding up several reasons explaining why goal setting plays a huge role in client success, all of which are based on our experiences here at Digital Resource.

With that in mind, let’s get started!

1. Goals Provide a Sense of Direction

Goals are there to keep your clients on the right track, eventually leading them to achieve bigger and longer-term goals. With a clear direction, they get to focus their priorities on the smaller steps that will ultimately take them to the peak of success.

Let’s be honest, goal setting can get overwhelming for just about anyone, particularly for those who feel that they have so many things to achieve all at once. That’s why as their trusted consultant, you should make a collaborative effort towards goal setting to show them that you genuinely care about their development and future success.

Instead of broad or vague objectives, they should aim for objectives that are structured with milestones. This is where creating SMART goals comes into play:

Specific: Setting specific goals means your clients will have a greater chance of accomplishing them since they know what it is exactly they want to fulfill.

Measurable: Measurable goals provide tangible evidence, which makes it easier for your clients to track their results, as well as things that need improvement.

Achievable: There’s no point in trying to reach a  goal if it’s unattainable. We’re not saying that it should be that easy either. While goals need to be realistic, they should also be able to stretch your clients’ abilities and expand their knowledge.

Relevant: It’s essential to ask your clients about the purpose behind their goals. How appropriate are these goals to their overall journey?

Time-bound: Every goal needs a due date so that your clients can focus on a deadline. However, you don’t want to instill anxiety and stress into them, which is why those dates should be flexible and practical.

2. Goals Keep Your Clients Motivated in Times of Setbacks

As a Florida SEO company with years of working with different clients, we can’t deny that achieving goals consistently can be strenuous and challenging. That’s actually one of the things we often emphasize when discussing goal setting with our clients.

It’s a long and winding road to success. There will always be setbacks along the way - they’re a part of long-term success.

While your clients may see them as failures, it’s these hindrances that lead them to create new goals; specifically, goals that will address the underlying issues involved. In turn, these goals will allow them to make sustainable changes.

With goal setting as a collaborative effort, clarify the problem together and look at ways to resolve it.

Let’s say you’re a health and wellness coach who’s dealing with a discouraged client. Seeing minimal results, they tell you that they’ll never lose weight due to their busy schedule or lack of discipline. Change their mindset by having them remind themselves this every time they feel dispirited: “I’m not where I want to be yet, but I’m constantly working on it.”

3. Goals Provide Clarity to Decision Making

You can also use goal-setting as a way to drive follow-up sessions with your clients. From time to time, ask them how they feel about their progress. They might even realize that assessing their development is more enlightening than their goals.  

For instance, a client of yours is close to achieving their goal. However, upon further exploration, they discover that it’s not that big of an accomplishment. They end up minimizing their efforts, resulting in negative self-perception and self-doubt that can compromise their progress in the long run.

During your follow-up sessions, it would be helpful to ask your clients the following questions:

• How do you feel about your progress?
• Are you getting closer to turning your goals into reality?
• Do you think meeting these goals will give you a sense of purpose and fulfillment?
• What about your future? Do you feel that the goals you have now will help bring you the life you envision years from now?

4. Goals Bring Joy and Personal Satisfaction

Once your clients have listed down their SMART goals, goal setting won’t be as complicated as it used to be anymore. Since they’re now dealing with carefully planned objectives that will surely give them results, they’ll become more confident and enthusiastic in working towards them.

Setting and achieving goals can contribute to happiness in various ways, such as:

• Goals can be a source of engagement or pleasure
• Goals give meaning to our lives
• Goals bring a sense of accomplishment like no other
• Goals help us discover more about ourselves
• Goals allow us to learn and develop new skills
• Goals enable us to take charge of the lives we aspire to have

And, on your part, having happy clients is what’s best for business. The happier you keep them, the higher your chances are of retaining them.

5. Goals Help Clients Prioritize Better

Many people struggle to juggle their tasks as much as they struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance. In fact, many of our past clients came in initially without any idea of what their top priorities truly are.

What was our next move upon learning that from them? Yep, we volunteered to help them set a concrete plan using the SMART strategy.

Goal setting provides a step-by-step action instructing your clients what to do next. Because they can only pay attention to one goal at a time with each action, it’s especially crucial to let them identify where to start and make the most significant impact.

Going back to the example we mentioned earlier regarding a client’s weight loss journey, you can have them write down their objectives in the order of importance. This will help them realize what their heart precisely desires.

Having a Hard Time Setting Your Online Marketing Goals?

If there’s a Florida SEO company that not only specializes in all things SEO but also in putting the needs of their clients first, it certainly has to be Digital Resource.

Whether you’re looking for someone to help you secure the top spot in Google, increase brand awareness, or convert leads into actual revenue, we’ve got your back. We’d love nothing more than to turn your clicks into clients. As soon as you agree to partner with us, we’ll treat your business as if it were ours.

Book a free consultation with us now to learn how we can help you climb your way to the success ladder.