Now is the time to plan for 2022 and keep your real estate pipeline flowing all through next year.
Here we are, mid Q4, packing away the halloween costumes and making plans for Thanksgiving week. This is when real estate professionals tend to take their foot off the gas, coasting into the winter holidays like 2022 won’t have bills to pay.
What if you flipped that usual script?
Could you put your 22 planning on hyper-drive using the energy that you have leftover from your amazing 2021 before it fizzles or gets totally wiped out by all of your seasonal celebrations?
Here are 10 things that you should do in the next 10 days to make sure that your pipeline is flowing instead of flat as you approach what is sure to be another record-breaking real estate year:
1. Analyze your last 12 months (LTM). Your last 12 months are the best way to forecast the next 12. Whether you closed five homes or 50, now is the perfect time to run the numbers. Where did your business come from, and which deals made you happiest?
2. Calculate your return on investment (ROI). Even if you’ve been buying online ads (or zip codes) for years, or if you’ve depended on mailers or events to bring you clients, dig in and compare your spend to your return. Are those things REALLY still working, or are you running your real estate biz on auto-pilot?
3. Schedule self-care. Don’t cancel those appointments! Get all of your doctor, dental and eye checkups on the calendar and prioritize them. Your business needs to run like a well-maintained machine, and so do you.
4. Make the most of the rest of this year. Host a cookie exchange, wreath-making party or photos with Santa. Go extra with your client gifts and pop-bys. Make an effort to connect with your VIPs, people who referred you, and vendors who helped you out this year. Relationships = real estate pipeline.
5. Review your 2021 business plan or vision board. Take some time to re-connect with early 2021. Did your business and personal life deliver on the promises you made to yourself? Are there boxes you can check off, have your priorities shifted, and are there things that you’ll carry over into next year?
6. Speaking of next year’s goals…what are they? Whether you’re a 10-page business plan sort of person, or someone who prefers to cut photos out of magazines and manifest them, get it done. Post it somewhere you see it every day. Start making it happen, now.
7. Identify your ideal client. (Agin, which deals make you happiest?) Once you realize the slice of the real estate universe that brings you the most joy, focus on multiplying that piece of your business. It might be working with challenging investment deals, with super-grateful first-time homebuyers, with move-up or downsizing sellers. How can you narrow your business to focus on these types of transactions (and increase your happiness)?
8. Map your budget. By now, you have the info you need to project your total 2021 numbers. Take your closed and pendings, calculate your expenses (don’t forget taxes) and pay the profit forward. You know you have to spend money to make money, but let’s be smart about it, shall we?
9. Treat yourself. Whether your career got de-railed by COVID-19 or you’ve helped more people than you ever thought possible — celebrate! Plan a getaway. Hire that trainer or therapist, or splurge on the DIY project you’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on.
10. Level Up. You know what your sales goals look like, now commit to ONE BIG THING that will either help you get there faster and smoother, or will shift your trajectory long-term. It’s all about keeping your real estate pipeline flowing. It might be a coaching program, a designation, or a career step-up, such as becoming a mentor, team leader, or managing broker.
Keep in mind, your goals don’t always have to involve selling more property, or even making more money. Maybe your focus is on achieving a better life-work balance, raising your dollar earned per hour, or creating and elevating your personal brand.
Your 2022 might be all about working toward some big life stuff, aligning your passions with your profession, or even being a little happier. Take a minute to zoom out, look at where you are right now, and at where you want to be this time next year and get after it. No need to wait for January 1 to start making those dreams your new reality and your real estate pipeline full.
