In this changing real estate marketplace, it is more essential than ever to know where you’re going. Goals act as your roadmap. They keep you on the path by helping determine where you spend time and money. Without goals, it’s easy to waste time and let opportunities pass you by.
“I always reach for the sky when setting my goals” said Brad Smith, RE/
With clear goals, you can prioritize tasks -- daily, weekly and monthly. You will prioritize your energy on what really matters, what will profit you the most. Your goal might be to increase income, have more effective partnerships, or increased referrals. Goals are different for each individual agent and team, but the need to set them is applicable to all.
Tom Wilser, Broker,
When setting goals, you need to understand what they are and why they benefit you.
- Goals provide a defined direction. To be effective, you should map out a clear, definite path for the next two to three years. For example, you might want to increase new home buyer sales such as the “just married” crowd; develop stronger relationships with new homebuilders; concentrate on a new area of town; or develop open your own brokerage.
- Goals are crucial to an effective time management system. By remembering your specific goals and priorities, you know if a task helps you or not.
- Goals help you develop new approaches and insights. It helps you identify your unique selling talent and areas where you want to improve. For instance, you may want to become more technically savvy by learning new software or improving your website.
- Goals help you think like a professional and seize available opportunities. For example, there is now a slight increase in foreclosures. If you determine that this trend will continue in your area, you might set a goal to educate yourself in foreclosures.
- Goals prepare you to respond to anticipated, and unanticipated, events. You may learn you need to delegate to get more accomplished.
Types of Goals
There are two types of goals: top-line goals and enabling goals. The top-line goal is your ultimate target. For instance, you might have a top-line goal to make an income of $250,000 in 2007 within budget. You can not “make money” by focusing on “making money”.
The enabling goals are the driving forces that you can control and accomplish. Enabling goals
are built on assumptions of marketplace trends, your strengths and weaknesses, and facts.
Goals Change When Assumptions Change
Goals exist to aid you. It is important to reflect periodically and test your assumptions to make sure they are realistic, timely and relevant. Have the forces in the environment changed so much that your goal is no longer realistic? If so you should consider changing them. However, do not change goals in reaction to obstacles such as, fear of cold calling, objections, or other challenges.
“Our market is shifting a little towards the buyer’s side but I don’t foresee changing my goals” says Brad Smith “I don’t want to change my goals based on the market.”
You change your top-line goals when the underlying assumptions change. Such as the average sales price increasing or decreasing significantly in your area, you may take a mid-course correction. Or if you assume that your advertising will generate the same number of leads as last year, but they drop in half, or there is new competition in your farm area, then your income goal will be impacted. You will need to create different plans addressing strong lead generation.
Getting Started
For goals to work effectively, they must be specific, defined, prioritized, in measurable terms, with an associated deadline. Creating a simple chart like figure 2 helps to clarify your goals.
Broker Tom Wilser says “Try to maintain the big picture -- but it’s the steps along the way that get you to that.” Goals should be challenging, support your desired family life, and achievable. If they are too high or too low, it can hurt your motivation. Set your goals based on realistic assumptions. Then you are on the way to finding all the opportunities you need to achieve your desires.
