They are:
Planning - You need a simple way to set goals and manage their completion. What is your system? We call our method “Goals and Measurable Results.” What do you track and measure weekly and monthly? Our client’s annual goals are broken into weekly initial appointments and production in three categories recorded monthly. Does your system make what you need to accomplish each week and each month so simple and obvious that it keeps you motivated all year long? Does the data indicate what other systems of your business are working best and which systems have the greatest potential if you improve them? In addition to keeping you motivated and ensuring the accomplishment of your goals, an effective system of planning and measuring results gives you the maximum peace of mind and opportunity for a quality life outside of your business. We offer an inexpensive easy to use online planning tool that might be of interest to you. Setting goals that motivate you and measuring against those goals all year is a necessary part of a successful 2008 business plan.
Lead Management – Your success with leads takes more than prospecting. In addition to generating enough leads to reach your goals you need the habit of contacting the leads that you generate. Then do you have the skills to convert the leads into appointments? Do you need to plan to improve your skills converting Internet leads, open house guests, people calling in and other sources? Successfully managing the lead information, what I call lead retention, alone, often doubles an Agent’s production. Whether you use contact management software or three by five cards and a paper calendar, a successful business plan requires a lead follow-up system that relieves the pressure and keeps track of all those loose leads in your life.
Marketing - Most agents miss the boat on Marketing, even those spending thousands of dollars on it. There are very few good sources of information on marketing available to Real Estate Agents. Most of what Agents learn comes from vendors selling them their product. It is just not objective and dependable. You want to look at what are your markets? What message do you wish to convey to those markets? And, what is your best method and media to convey that message to those markets? How do you measure the effectiveness of your marketing and do you get a minimum of 400% return on your investment? Web marketing is popular and it may have a place in your 2008 marketing plan. We coach a lot of that but it is not the first marketing priority for most Agents. For most Agents direct mail needs to be a substantial part of your marketing plan. Smartly designed direct mail still brings the greatest return. But you have to send the right message to the right markets.
Service – In every market as Agents increase their production they realize that great Service is tremendous source of business. Year after year our clients prove that to be true. What are the service systems that make you the most money? Do you maintain consistent, scheduled communication with every listed seller and pending client? Do you use a checklist or whiteboard for your pending actions and actively manage it daily? Most importantly, do you keep your word? Service systems are not complicated. They do take constant attention. Under promise and over deliver is what I teach my coaching clients. What service systems do you need to build, improve or perfect in 2008?
Presentations - A Real Estate career in which you have complete confidence requires mastering your, Seller Presentation, Price Reduction Presentation, Buyer Presentation, Offer Writing, Negotiating, and Property Showings. I call these the six presentations of you’re a successful Real Estate business. Each of these has a structure, scripts, and a mindset for you to learn. Learning them takes time. The reward is confidence, skill, and results that make you a highly successful, confident professional. Which of these presentations are your strengths? Are there weaknesses? We measure the success rate of these presentations for our clients so that as you work on them you can recognize improvement. Which of these presentations would most help you achieve your 2008 goals? Plan to strengthen the materials, your system and your skills in those presentations. Plan to accomplish this before the increased activity of the spring market.
Technology - Every Agent faces technology challenges; choosing a mobile phone or new computer hardware, choosing your level of web presence and web vendors, plus a myriad of hardware and software choices. Every one of the above systems includes and is impacted by your technology choices.
We are constantly challenged, as you are, to seek the technology tools and services that preserve your time and increase your profitability. We are constantly discussing these tools and services with our clients. The web coach on our staff, Rebecca, keeps our knowledge up to date so we can offer you the best possible recommendations. What hardware or software do you want to plan to purchase and/or learn in 2008? Do you want to improve your web presence or get more active with your web marketing? Do you simply want to learn more so that you can make better technology decisions as part of your business plan?
Assistants and Teams - Between thirty and sixty transactions you reach a limit to your ability to grow your business by yourself. To get past that point you either need to add assistance or your business and/or your quality of life decline. To grow past your transaction limit you are challenged to learn and master hiring, training, delegating, and supervision. These are the early skills of leadership. Do you hire part or full time, for how many hours? How much should you pay? How do you structure compensation? When do you consider a buyer specialist? Have you hired Assistants that didn’t work out? There is knowledge, skills and many decisions for finding, hiring, managing, motivating, compensating and supervising that leads you to the next level and beyond. If hiring or adding to your team is part of your 2008 business plan then hiring a coach who has a wealth of experience with this can make the difference between your having tremendous success or your experiencing a lot of frustration.
Quality of Life - I say that “Your business should serve your life not your life serve your business.” Days off don’t happen without planning. They occur when you schedule them. Making a priority of your pleasures, your interests, your health and your loved ones occurs out of your planning and choosing how your schedule your life. One of our top producing Clients says that once you are licensed everything is an appointment. You build your choices into your life by putting your health, happiness, and loved ones into your calendar, then keeping your word to yourself and others by honoring those appointments. Are building time management habits and spending time on your personal priorities important to you to build into your 2008 business plan?
Financial Freedom - We discovered that people in the habit of being broke stay broke regardless of large increases in their income. For those with this affliction, what I call debt addiction, you have to work directly to challenge and break that mindset and habits of financial struggle. Then as your production and income increase; your financial stability and freedom follow. Do you need to make better financial habits and decisions a part of your 2008 business plan?
Do you want to increase your net worth, fund children’s education or retirement as part of your 2008 business plan? Are there other personal financial or material goals that you want to achieve in 2008? This relates back to the first system of setting your goals and measuring results. Keeping your focus on these Financial Freedom choices adds to the passion and motivation to work your plan.
Self-Esteem - In our “Rich Levin’s Hierarchy of Success” model Self Esteem is displayed as the foundation. Success in your business and in each of the individual systems rests on the strength of your self-esteem. You can plan to work directly on how you think and feel about yourself personally and professionally. Does your self-talk empower you or demean you? We teach two basic affirmations. Try these in the privacy of your own mind. “I like myself, unconditionally.” And, “I completely trust my own judgment.” Most recently I have benefited from Anthony Robbins, Landmark Education, Louise L. Hay, and over the years many others. Is self-improvement an important choice for you to build into your 2008 planning?
Each time you improve a skill in one of these ten systems that comprise your business, your career improves. Your life is like a pool of water. As skills improve in one area, the quality and satisfaction of every area of your life rises. As you work continuously on one system after another, one skill after another you watch your business results improve and your confidence reach new heights.
