Check … check … check. It can be so satisfying to check off all those best-practices boxes when coming up with goals for your team members and organization. But, if those boxes don’t include the five crucial pieces in a SMART approach to setting goals, reaching your end-goal will be a much tougher climb, if achieved at all.

A SMART approach to goal-setting aligns your team and consists of these five components:

✔️ S Specific

✔️ M Measurable

✔️ A Achievable/Actionable

✔️ R Realistic

✔️ T Time bound

Knowing how to incorporate these components into your goals is one of the essential skills in running a successful car wash and managing the team responsible for helping make that success happen. Using the SMART goals approach for establishing individual and organizational goals will enable you to develop a culture of goal setting and achievement in your car wash.

Setting goals using the SMART approach helps you communicate the goal, track progress and achieve the goal.

For example, instead of phrasing a goal this way: 
❌ Manage consistent water usage each month.

Word it like this: 
✔️ Manage consistent water usage each month by checking for leaks and replacing nozzles as part of regular maintenance.

Another important aspect involves setting SMART goals for individual performance management that align with the organizational site goals. This enables the final outcome to fulfill the goals of both individuals and the company, sets a reasonable timeframe for achievement, and ensures that exactly what needs to occur to reach those goals is clear. It also helps fellow team members become more enthused and interested in reaching those combined goals. Best practices to ensure this alignment is successful include:

1. Involving your team in the development of your team’s goals so that they're invested in achieving them.
2. Engaging in one-on-one meetings, where you can create enthusiasm, review current sales data, motivate them with contests and incentives, and pair them up to work together on the goals.

But, most importantly, make the goals Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time bound for the best results.

Setting achievable goals is essential to the success of every car wash. By making these goals specific, measurable, attainable goals, your team members will feel invigorated and energized as they achieve them and foster a culture of achievement in your wash.

This LEAD lesson is a sampling of the material shared in the LEAD Talent Management domain in the course “Using SMART Goals to Target Success.” This course can be purchased individually or as part of a package at lead.carwash.org.

New Courses!

The final offering of courses in the LEAD training program have been released in spring 2024. The final courses are offered in the Finance/Operations domain and completed the full LEAD management curriculum.  

There are five established domains in LEAD: 
Talent Management: 22 courses 
Communication & Service: 8 courses 
Marketing & Sales: 8 courses 
Leadership: 9 courses 
Finance & Operations: 13 courses (released in Spring 2024)