The midway point of any game is the perfect time to see if your strategies and implementation are working. This year is now half-way over. Are you half-way (or more) to your goals for the year?

As you begin the second half of this year, if you take the time to know where you are, to assess the effectiveness of the actions you have been taking and to determine what it will take to accomplish the goals you have set for the year, you will increase the odds of becoming a winner!

My coaching clients often complain that staying focused is one of their most difficult tasks. Too much goes on each day to distract us from what is really important. It is, alas, too easy to take our eye off the ball. If I asked you the question, “What did you do last week that brought you closer to your goals for the year?” would you be satisfied with your answer? You can stay busy, but not accomplish what you want because you were doing the wrong things. A break and current assessment can refocus you on the most important actions to take to end 2003 as a winner.

Half-time in any game is the time for the players and coach to see what is working and what isn’t working and to create a strategy for the second half of the game that will lead them to the win. I want you to do this very same thing if you are serious about meeting or exceeding your goals for the year.

Right now, get your schedule out and block an appointment with yourself for a three to four hour period. This check-in at mid-year, when done right, will be almost as extensive as your yearly planning session. For successful agents, their game-plan is a work in progress as they continually revamp their plans and strategies to meet new challenges and to compensate for shifts in market conditions, consumer expectations and business conditions. There are, most likely, new opportunities, media, or technologies that weren’t available to you six months ago. Perhaps there is competition from companies or agents using new business models. As you reassess your strategic market position and shift your implementation, you’ll have the competitive advantage to put you at the head of the pack. Just as the coach looks with the players at half-time about what will win the game, you have the opportunity to take what is working and what is not working. Leverage what is. Drop what isn’t. Add new plays.

What do you need?

Pull out your business plan and goals that you created for 2003. Gather the data from the first half of this year. Don’t stop with your gross numbers. Dig deeper.

The most important question is: Are you 50 percent (or more) of the way there?

If not, where are you? What one thing has been most successful in the first half of the year? What will it take to close the gap from where you are to where you want to be?

Hint: If you keep doing what you have been doing, you are going to keep getting what you’ve got.

Some other questions that will give you good information for your second half strategies:

• What is your gross?
• What is your net?
• What percentage are your business expenses of your gross?
• What percentage of your business was from referrals?
• What percentage from ads?
• What percentage from the internet?
• Have you increased marketshare in your geographical niches?
• Where are you wasting money?

Plan the strategies

Now you have a clear picture of exactly where you are, you can make some informed decisions. Should you shift your strategies to leverage the momentum you have in a particularly hot (or slow) segment of your market? Focus on the segments where you get the best return and payoff and allot more money to these areas. You also will want to shift that away from the areas that are not working or bring a sufficient return vs. investment.

The consistency and repetitiveness for your farming or long-term niche building shouldn’t get cut, though, before they have had a chance to cumulatively make an impact. These activities will require 12-18 months before the payoff comes. Many agents get impatient and throw away an investment that never has time to come to fruition. This is an area to be patient and consistent.

Now, what new strategies could give you the advantage in the second half of the Game of 2003?

• How can you take advantage of shifts in market conditions?
• Do you need to find some new or different strategic partners?
• Are there new media or opportunities?
• Is there a new niche you could add?
• Is there a different level of prospecting that you need to attain?
• Are you using a menu of services?
• Have you really taken every action you could to stimulate referrals?
• Do you have the support structures in place to get you there? A coach or a buddy?

A word of caution: It is still important to stay within your yearly marketing budget as you do this re-strategizing…I am not talking about just spending more money. The goal of this mid-year half-time is to design the plays to will end the year as a winner and be the most impactful.

Your business (game) plan is most powerful as a living document--a work in progress--that you refer to and that helps you set the strategies and goals to take you to the pinnacle of success. Don’t let the distractions pull your attention from the playing field. By scheduling the time to work on your business not just in it with a half-time strategy session, you can take control of the game and be a winner in 2003!