As a broker or an agent, selling real estate is your profession, and therefore, you need to treat it as a real business. Towards the end of the year, you should reflect on your production for the past year: What you did right and what you did wrong, then plan for next year. Remember it's a marathon, not a sprint. To ensure a successful and thriving business for the long term, you should set a realistic goal every year that takes into consideration your current capacity.
No matter what you earn per year, you should focus on what your capacity allows you to grow into. Maybe you have more time to spare on work. Or perhaps you value family time more or you want to take it easy. No matter what, your goal setting should start with your WHY first. Below are the steps to help you set achievable goals:
Step 1: WHY am I doing real estate? What is your big "WHY"? Is it for the money only? If your answer is money, then you are in it for the wrong reason, and you will never be able to succeed. Real estate sales can be a lucrative business, but many fail because of the false notion of being able to make quick money.
Step 2: Identify your personal and professional objectives.
Example:
Personal Objective - Be a working parent who can dedicate time to my children, spouse and personal well-being.
Professional Objective - Be a real estate broker who provides quality real estate service to my clients by making sure their needs are being attended quickly and efficiently.
Step 3: Write down your personal and professional goals.
Example:
Personal goals
1. Family:
2. Relationship:
3. Self well-being:
4. Vacation:
Professional goals
1. GCI (gross commission income) - $_______; NCI (net commission income) - $_______
2. Then use your average commission per transaction last year to calculate number of transactions needed to achieve your GCI.
3. Complete ### transactions a year / 12 = ## transactions a month
4. Leads per month that need to be generated:
a. Where do you want your leads to come from? Referral, online, farming...etc.
b. What do you need to do to get those leads? drip email, postcards, networking, lunch, phone calls...etc.
c. Frequency of these activities?
5. Number of hours worked per week?
Step 4: Once you have completed Step 3, you are now ready to share it with your agents. Understand that you are sharing this not to tell them this is how much YOU want to make, but how much you would like to help them generate next year. In order to achieve a certain dollar amount for your agents, let them know how much you will dedicate to help them generate leads to achieve a certain amount, and the remaining will also rely on their own efforts as well.
After you complete this worksheet, you can now strategize my marketing, sales and operation plans. I write down the numbers on my board in my office where I can see it every day. It is important to visualize your goals, so you can be reminded as there will be days you feel tired or discouraged, and these goals will keep you motivated. Lastly, why not write yourself a post-dated check and keep it in your wallet. You will sure be wanting to cash that when you achieve your goal! Happy selling!
