Real Estate NewsSucceeding in Today"s Market
Not surprisingly, this year so far has featured more negative media coverage of real estate than last year when the financial world was coming to an end. At this point, things are a bit slower than some thought, busier than others thought but in the end all those predictions are just that, predictions. If you are tired of peering into your crystal ball looking for answers, how about this thought: Who cares what the media thinks!
No matter what is reported in the media, I know one thing and it is that you are the only one who can decide if the market is good or bad. Let"s take that approach to our business and set it into high gear for the months ahead. Whether you are happy with the results you achieved so far this year or not, the good news is it"s not too late to make the changes needed. Take control decide it is time to do something different. No matter how bad it is for you, it is never too late. Here is my 15 step approach to improving your business:
1. Make a conscious decision to change and improve. You have to first want to succeed (- Ben Stein).
2. Get a plan! Having a written (yes, written) plan for your business is critical. If you don"t have your plan written, how will you know what to do next? How will you measure your progress? To be effective, it must be well thought out and written. No, in your head does not count. (By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. - Benjamin Franklin).
3. Your plan needs to be centered on your large goals (how much money you want to make, closed volume, etc), and then broken down into smaller sub-goals that gradually work you towards achieving your large goal. You need a systematic approach to achieving your goals, one that clearly sets a plan and a way for you to know when an activity is "done".
4. Break it down further. Figure out how many appointments you need to go on to achieve your goals, then how many leads you need to get those appointments, then what activities you will do to generate those leads.
5. Next, your plan needs activity to generate those leads. I am not talking about spending money. Before you spend a single penny, ask yourself if it is necessary and if you can do without it.
6. You do not need to spend money to be successful. In fact, you can be wildly successful in this business without spending any money, if you talk to enough people. (Lack of money is no obstacle. Lack of an idea is an obstacle. - Ken Hakuta).
7. Your daily/weekly activity plan should include the basic activities of prospecting first, spending money on flashy ads last, if ever at all (Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don"t know which half. - John Wanamaker). Spending money is not a substitute for work, do not waste one of your most critical resources on things that will not generate results. Focusing on your customer service skills and finding new customers will bring you far better results than any ad you could ever place.
8. The basics activities crucial to your plan are talking to people and going on appointments. If you aren"t centering your plan on finding those people to talk to and go on appointments with, you are setting yourself up for failure.
9. Start your plan with the easiest way to meet buyers and sellers ... the open house. There are 4 Sundays a month, why not do 4 open houses? Yes, they really do work, but it takes more than sticking a sign in the yard and waiting for someone to show up.
10. Block out your schedule. Set time for appointments. Set time for prospecting. Set time for family. Block out time for a continuing ed course or education. Above all else, set the time and use it as you have planned. Do not deviate from this plan unless there is an emergency. Time management is the most crucial skill of all (It"s not the hours you put in your work that counts, it"s the work you put in the hours.-Sam Ewing)
11. Next, schedule time to actively prospect. Call to invite people to your open house, call people from your database of past clients, follow up on all of those leads you accumulated and did nothing with, work your SOI for referrals. Call people; knock on doors, anything that makes you physically make an effort to speak to someone. Sending emails, mailers, taking phone duty at the office, having a website, none of these things (or anything like them) is considered to be active prospecting.
12. Now that you have hot prospects, set an appointment with them. Don"t be afraid to ask for the appointment. Many times the reason someone does not do business with you is because you did not ask them to. Make sure though that your appointment with them is during one of the times you blocked out for appointments, not during any other time. See Step 10 for clarification.
13. Set up a support structure/accountability plan to help keep you on track (With a system in place and a support structure behind you, anything is possible - Tricia Fink Andreassen). Each week, take a look at your plan and measure your activities against it. Did you accomplish your goals for the week? If not, analyze why and decide on a course of action to correct your shortfall.
14. After reviewing your plan, adjust as needed to ensure continued success.
15. The most important part of having a plan is to follow it. Make sure you follow it daily, without fail. (Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work.-Peter Drucker)
It really is a simple as that. You can resist it, you can argue, you can say you are different and you don"t do things "that way", but in the end you are the one to succeed or fail based upon your attitude or efforts. Many top producing agents in our industry practice their businesses this way, and they succeed. If you have not done it yet I encourage you to take the time needed to create your plan and develop the discipline necessary to follow through with it and remember "Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden.