Top agents look ahead to 2018, focused on setting goals, priorities and strategies.
By Mary Beth Klatt
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For the last two years, Deborah Carson, CRS, has joined four colleagues from her office to review their business plans and set new goals. The first year, the group met at a member’s nearby home. They spent two full days goal setting and business planning and created vision boards to hang in their office so they can see their goals each day.
Last year, the group (they call themselves the Fab Five) went to a Tennessee mountain retreat and repeated their two-day routine, adding a half-day of putting together systems.
This hard work has paid off for Carson, a broker associate with Caroline One Real Estate in Charleston, South Carolina: Her business has soared for the past two years. She’s not alone. She and other agents have found that the end of the year is the perfect time to evaluate the past year and make plans to grow.
Develop a 6-Point Business Plan
Planning the year is a multi-step process for Gigi Trujillo, CRS, REALTOR®-ASSOCIATE with Coldwell Banker in Miami. Trujillo and her team review and analyze the past year for future goals. Here are six points that Trujillo’s team uses.
1. Review and Analysis
As each calendar year comes to an end, the team reviews performance and goals. If our goals were not met, “we begin to discuss the possible reasons why and whether it is within our control,” she says, including market conditions, interest rates and inventory.”
2. Market Conditions
“We need to look at the market conditions in the areas we serve,” she says. “What has affected our goals?” How can they compensate for unfavorable conditions? What adjustments need to be made?
3. Budgeted Funds
“We allocate funds to specific areas, such as listings, marketing, education and networking/community events, etc.,” she says. Allocations need to be periodically reviewed based on new information.
4. Expansion
“It is essential for us to evaluate how our earnings were derived and look for additional sources to grow our future earnings,” she says. “Analyzing our local market, we focus on strategies that will increase our market share.”
5. Education
“It is imperative to our team’s growth that our members continue to expand their knowledge of our industry. This allows us to better serve our clients—one of our primary goals. Designations, such as CRS, allow our team members to remain competitive in the marketplace. We schedule different courses for each member throughout the year to accomplish this goal.”
6. Client Relations
Trust and knowledge are key to developing relationships with each client. “Giving them factual information and providing them with honest opinions makes a difference,” Trujillo says. “Part of our strategy is to get feedback from our clients so that we can improve our business.”
Alyce Dailey, CRS, with the Dailey Group in Baltimore, also sets up a business plan with goals as the year winds down. Her group’s marketing calendar drives all lead-generation activities for the year, she says. The marketing calendar dictates the number of client touches via calls, video, Slybroadcast, face-to-face-meetings, etc. She and her team focus on generating leads from October through March, and cultivating leads from March through September. “Each year, it’s ‘rinse and repeat,’” she says. “We have an overall goal for the year, backed up by three strategies and five priorities for each of the strategies.”
Others focus on reviewing past accomplishments. Kristy Hairston, CRS, a broker with the Village Real Estate in Nashville, Tennessee, simply completes a Y.E.S. (year-end summary) form. “It’s very helpful for managing ROI on leads and other activities so you can decide where to invest more time or money in the coming year,” she says. “I set up a marketing budget based on findings from the report.”
Jeannie Anderson, CRS candidate, a REALTOR® with Pacific Union International Real Estate in San Francisco, blends five different systems to set goals and track progress. She has a marketing plan for each listing and month. She reaches out and mails gifts for her sphere of influence twice a year. She sends out a consumer magazine every month to clients based on their interests and holds one to two parties for clients, friends and family.
She reviews not only the past year, but the last five years to examine where business comes from and how income is generated. She performs monthly, quarterly and semi-annual business reviews to determine what she needs to accomplish. Finally, she reviews her personal budget to see how much income she needs to generate.
This year has been exceptionally tough with no inventory and frustrated buyers. “Losing six transactions to rentals instead of the client buying a home has been a major hit income-wise,” she says.
However, with careful planning, she’ll come up with other income options. Even with this past year’s challenges, she will aim for a certain number of closings and exceed an income goal, which she has normally surpassed.
As for the Fab Five, Carson and her team constantly check in with each other. “Throughout the year, we bounce ideas off each other,” she says. “We are accountable to each other.”
Buoyed by their past successes, the group met this past October in Beaufort, South Carolina. “We enjoyed our trip to Beaufort and look forward to seeing our goals, business plan and vision board work for us in 2018,” Carson says.
