Measure the Success of your Goals

“If I could only remember that I cannot remember, my life would go much smoother.”

Cris Willis

Too many times in my business life, this has been my motto.  Especially when it came to remembering the details of past events and promotions.  I would always think that I would remember everything that I learned and wanted to do differently.  But then before you know it, another year had gone by, and I would be there scratching my head trying to remember.

When I finally got fed up with myself, I started keeping track of my goals and results.  My life got much smoother when it came to planning my Events and Promotions.  I want this same thing for you.

If you own the Retail Mastery System from WhizBang! Training, you have everything you need at your fingertips.  There is a Promotion Budget Worksheet, a Promotion Checklist, a Promotion Planner, and a Promotion Recap in the Marketing Module.  Click Here if you would like information on how you can access all of this through the Retail Mastery System.

In last week’s blog post on planning your events and promotions, we touched on the importance of setting goals.  You need to know why you are doing the event and what you plan to gain from it.  As retailers, we mostly think about sales and how many dollars we can generate from an event or promotion.  However, you must think deeper than that.

Start with a Plan

First, you must start with a plan.  What are the objectives of the promotion?  How will you evaluate the success of the promotion?  If you do not have the Retail Mastery System, I suggest you create your own Promotion Planning form that you fill out for each event you hold.  This is where you will set your goals.

Here are some examples of goals you might set and the metrics you need to measure after the event to evaluate the performance.

Remember:  If you can measure it, you can manage it, and if you can manage it, you can increase it.

Set a Sales Goal

This goal will most likely be in dollars.  Or, if you are focused on selling a particular item or BOGO deal, you may also determine a quantity to sell.

If you are offering a lost leader item or discounts to drive traffic to your store or website, you will want to set a Profit Goal.  Gross Sales are not useful if there is no PROFIT.  Sometimes, in a dire situation, you may need to generate some fast cash, but for the most part, you want and need your Events and Promotions to be profitable.

Be sure to not only look at Gross Sales.  You must also calculate the Gross Profit.

Gross Profit = (Sales Revenue – Cost of Goods Sold)

New Customer Goals

If your objective is to bring in new customers, you may set a goal for how many customers sign up for your loyalty program.  Be sure to have a system in place to be able to track this.  You may be trying to get a new marketing platform off the ground, and your goal may be to add customers to your texting list.  If you are beginning to do Facebook Live events, you may set a goal to see how many comments you can get.  Don’t judge each event by the sales alone. During the 4^th quarter, everybody and their grandma is shopping!  So, your events are also about grabbing their data.

Adding On Goals

Your goal may be to upsell or cross-sell and add on to each customer’s purchase at your event.  This does require sales training, so your associates do not come across as pushy.  If your sales associates follow the WhizBang! Training 6 Steps Selling System, they will have the skills to help each customer make the Perfect Purchase.

Related: [Video] Sales Training in 6 Easy Steps | Part 1

For more information about the WhizBang! Training 6 Steps to the Perfect Purchase check out the Retail Sales Academy and the Selling Module in the Retail Mastery System.

If your goal is to add on to each sale, set a goal for your Items per Transaction (IPT), also called Units per Transaction (UPT).  This metric tells you how many items the average customer bought in a transaction.

Items per Transaction = (Total Units Sold / Total Number of Transactions)

Also, set a goal and be sure to track your Average Dollar Sale (ADS), also called Average Transaction Value (ATV).  This metric tells you how much each shopper spent on average in your store.

Average Dollar Sale = (Total Revenue / Number of Transactions)

eCommerce & Online Events and Promotions Goals

Your Average Order Value (AVO) is the average value of each purchase (Total Sales / Number of Carts).  To increase your AVO online, you will need to make sure you are using technology to upsell, and offer add-on items to your customers.

Always watch your Conversion Rate on your eCommerce sites, not just during an event or promotion.  This is the percentage of visitors who make a purchase.  You calculate this by dividing the number of people who bought something by the total number of visitors.  You need to know what your Conversion Rate is overall so you can set your goal to be higher during an event or promotion.

Adding customers to your email list from your eCommerce site during a promotion should also be one of your goals.  Be sure to track your opt-in rates of every form on your website.

Remember that setting these goals is only half the battle.  You must schedule time after each event and promotion to gather the data, analyze it, celebrate your successes, and keep good notes on your Promotional Recap form.

This will set you up for success next year.  Your future self with Thank You!

Now that you have planned your events and set your goals, it is time to make sure you have the product to make this all happen.  Next week’s blog will be entitled “Buy Right for the Holidays.”