We all know that the person who knows where they are going is sure to arrive. Yet, I believe less than 5% of all Realtors actually set goals. Sure, they know how much they have to make to pay the bills, but they don't actually set goals so that they can strive for even greater rewards. That was a truly amazing fact for me.
I guess I was lucky, I grew up in a home where my mom set goals and told us about her goals. She had weekly lists and took great pride in crossing off the items she had accomplished. This was such a good example for me that I have done it all my life and I notice that our two sons also do it.
I am so adament about setting goals that for over 20 years now, I have taken two days at the end of the year or beginning of the year and go somewhere all by myself to work on my goals. I have long range as well as for the year. Then I come back and discuss them with my family and start working on them. This process has made such a difference in what I accomplish. Now, I know that not everyone needs to get away to think about what they want out of life, etc., but I do think everyone needs to take stock of where they have been before they can figure out where they are going. And, when setting goals, I think you have to think of your whole life, not just your business life.
If you are satisfied with what you are earning, then you need to look at time and see if you can do the same with less time spent. There are many different ways to look at your business. Not only in how much you are making, but in the amount of time it is taking and how much it is costing you to bring in that much revenue. All of these come into play when you take the time to goal set. And, are you planning on time off? Going to some far off destination that you have always wanted to see?
I have found that the best process for me is to make lists of things that I want to accomplish-both business and personal. I write down everything imaginable. Then I start paring them down. Eventually I get to 5 items I wish to accomplish during the year and how those relate to my 10 year or 5 year goal. It's hard to get to only 5, but if you have too many, you lose focus and become discouraged. It's like going to a really great seminar where you hear many ideas that would be beneficial to your business. You come home and because there are so many you don't know which one to do first so consequently, you do nothing!
After you get your 5 goals, then you write your plan on what actions it will take to accomplish those goals. It's pretty exciting! It becomes very clear to you what you have to do and actually puts you in the frame of mind that you can't wait to get started. When you know exactly what to do, you are more eager to do it. This is where coaching can help. A good coach will help you prioritize and keep you focused. All of us start out with good intentions, but it is too easy to get sidetracked.
Again, when you know where you are going, it's so much easier to get there. The top of any profession all set goals! You can too.
Here's the secret. You have to write them down! I have heard agents and managers tell me so many times that they have goals, but they don't write them down. In my mind, I think, do you really have goals? You do need to be specific and you need to have a time frame. When you write down your goals, your subconscious takes over and works on them as well.
Not only that, but then at the end of the year, you take out those goals and look at them and what you have accomplished. It's very rewarding.
Some people put their goals in their daytimer or in a notebook. I prefer to carry mine in my wallet. I take them out about once a quarter to review how I am doing. When you have a specific month that something must be done by, you put a little extra pressure on yourself and do it. Goals help you compete with yourself. Write it down, test yourself. Beat your goal!
I have often thought that goal setting is also a good self-esteem builder. You do feel good about yourself when you have accomplished something that you really wanted. Writing it down and seeing it as an absolute is very eye-opening. I don't share my goals with people outside my family very much because there are too many naysayers out there who will say that I am shooting for the moon or some such nonsense. It makes one doubt. So, don't share your goals if you think that will happen.
Now that we have our goal, let's put our business plan together.
Every successful business in the world has a plan for how to continue to grow and prosper. Why is it that Realtors who have multi-million dollar companies in terms of revenue, don't plan? You don't have to write a novel, just look at what's been and plan what's to be.
There are many good companies who have worksheets and business systems that will help you with your plans. Here is what I look at with the agents I coach.
First, look at your closed transactions for the year before by property address. You want to know if it was from a buyer side, listing side, what the sales price was, and the amount of commission earned. From this you can determine your average sales price.
Secondly, look at just your listings taken for the year before. Again, you want to note these by property address, date sold or time taken off the market and the reason that a property didn't sell. You need to know what your percentage of listings sold to listings taken is.
Next, look at your sources of business. I think it's good again to determine this by listings taken and also by buyer controlled sales. Note by property address what the source of the business was; e.g., farm, open house, fsbo, referral, etc.
Now that you know where you have been, you can start planning. Did most of your sales come from your listings selling? Did you get your listings from farming? Or, were you equal in listings selling and buyer controlled sales? Were there many referrals? Where did they come from? It's so much easier to plan if you can see right in front of you an analysis of past performance.
You also need to look at your expenses. Do they correlate with where your business comes from; in other words, are you spending the most in the area where you are getting the most business? If not, you need to look at spending more where you get your business and less in other areas. Your revenue will go up and your expenses should stay the same.
Who would have thought?!
You need to look at your market place. Do you think that it is the same "climate" as last year? Do you think that doing the same activities will net you the same result? If you do not add to your activities, you can bet that you will not increase your revenue. I think the wisest advice is to put your marketing dollars where you get the most business-increase your activities there. Don't try to spend more in other areas at this time, when you are obviously getting good results from a specific area.
Planning means thinking. You have to think about your business. Then you have to take your calendar and plan your activities, your spending, and your time. You only have 24 hours in a day, do the activities that bring you the most revenue. Calendar them in. There also might be a season to your year, spend during the peak selling and buying times.
Creating your own business plan doesn't take days-but it does involve some analysis of what you are doing. And, the best performers plan. I have coached top agents that just spend one day on this. Others have spent maybe three. They like brainstorming and getting focused on what will bring them the most rewards-sales and time off. One thing I did notice in all my agents was that they were always surprised by one number of another. They had an idea in their minds of where there business came from, but not definite until they sat down and worked on it. I know that some agents know from month-to-month-I think that is a rare agent. I find that my top performers are too busy making sales. But, imagine how much more they would do if they knew absolutely where to spend their time.
When you have a business plan written down along with your goals for the year. You have all the makings for a tremendously successful year! Especially since you calendared all the activities necessary to make it so.
I wish you all a fantastic start to the new century!
