This often can be the step in planning that sends many S.M.A.R.T. business leaders back to the drawing board. If your strengths and goals weren't originally well-defined and measurable, it is in determining their actionability that you will uncover those weaknesses.

Solid research on your market and your customer base becomes critical here as you recognize what you need to achieve your goal.

Reasonable

Perhaps the biggest mistake people can make in sales is to reach for the stars when they know they can't even touch their toes. There are few absolutes in this business. But one of them is this: Never overpromise.

If you overpromise, when you fail -- and you will -- you will lose not only your customers but also every referral they may have ever sent your way. The surest and straightest road to a happy, referral-rich customer base is to underpromise and overdeliver.

Consider whether your goal is realistic. Can you get to 10 new homebuyers in a month if you've only been in business for six months and have only ever spoken with three new homebuyers in a month? Be honest with yourself and with anyone else you might have in your business network -- from Realtors to insurance agents -- and set realistic expectations.

Timely

There are two aspects to timeliness: relevance and deadlines. When considering relevance, ask yourself if your goals make sense for current market conditions, your current customer base and your current business health.

If your city's office space is saturated, for example, it might not be the right time to develop a niche in commercial-property lending. If the largest employer in the region just laid off the bulk of its work force, it might not be the right time to focus your attention on high-end homes. If you are managing debt from a recent technology purchase or other business investment, it might not be the right time to take on a new employee.

Risk is a necessary part of success, but proper, relevant timing can reduce unnecessary risk.

You also should set aggressive but realistic deadlines. Make sure you have enough time to achieve your goal. Just as setting realistic expectations about defining your goal is critical, so too is the need to perfect your timing. If you have too little time, you may get frustrated and frazzled; with too much time, you can find yourself procrastinating.

S.M.A.R.T. success

The most-successful people in any field or industry are innately strategic in their business approach. You can work 14-hour days and get six-hour-day results. Or you can work six-hour days and get eight-hour-day results.

That's not to say that working S.M.A.R.T. is easy. It's a discipline that requires constant diligence and, if you are fortunate enough to have a good team on your side, the right accountability and motivation.

In markets like today's, you can't just show up and expect to succeed. The 10-percent close ratio you had in 2005 won't work in 2007 because your pool of potential loans is shrinking. You must harness more closures by better qualifying your leads and by refining your sales process. And the only way to do that effectively and consistently is to be S.M.A.R.T. about it.

Peter Phelps serves as CFO and COO of Next Online Mortgage Technologies Inc. (www.nextomt.com), the developer of Credex (www.credex.net), a business-solution-tool suite for mortgage professionals. He has more than 20 years' experience in the financial-services industry. Phelps can be reached at pphelps@nextomt.com.

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