Setting Realistic Objectives, Part 1

Editor's Note: This article is part one of a two part series. In it, Bruce W. Marcus explains how to develop objectives for your firm and why they must relate to the firm's marketing objectives. In part two, he explains marketing objectives and how to create a marketing program.

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If you don't know where you're going, how do you know how to get there?

Absent clear goals, firm growth and marketing efforts become random, diverse, and expensive. With clearly delineated objectives, they become relevant and focused. They offer a test against which all activities are measured. If a marketing activity doesn't clearly serve to meet a specific objective, it's usually wasteful, inept, and not cost-effective.

Two things about planning that are immutable:

• The objectives for the firm and the objectives for the marketing program must closely relate to one another simply because no serious firm plan can be viable without the marketing thrust to make it so, nor can any marketing program be effective if it's not relevant to the firm plan.
• Both plans begin with a realistic assessment of the market to be served and include an understanding of the skills necessary to reach and serve the market, not just wishful thinking.

Firm Objectives

A firm's plan should be in two parts: near-term and long-term. Near-term should be no longer than two or three years. Beyond that, there are too many variables in the economy, laws, regulations, etc. to be valid. The short-term goal should be action-oriented, with an action plan for each goal, including who does it.