Want to finish the year strong and carry momentum into next year? A well-executed business plan is key. A profit-producing business plan needs to be in place and activated by November 1.
It takes 30 to 45 days for the activities to result in contracts, so your associates will finish the year strong and carry their momentum (pending contracts) into next year. A great business plan has five elements.
Learn from Last Year. What worked? What didn’t work? Where did business come from? How many listings and sales did I have? How can I improve? Unfortunately, many sales associates never take the time to evaluate their business and progress. They drift from year to year as on-accident real estate professionals. They don’t have 10 years in the business; they have one year 10 times.
Set Goals for Next year. Set goals in four areas:
- Your Why; Your Life List; Your reasons for living. What is the rocket fuel that motivates you to get up and go to work?
- Your Financial Goals. Your Why has to be funded!
- Your Net Worth Goals. Do you want financial freedom someday? Real wealth comes from income-producing net worth, not ordinary income.
- Your Database. Do you have enough relationships to achieve your financial goals? A good measure is one household for every $1,000 of Gross Commission Income.
Set Activity Goals. Unfortunately, a lot of sales associates skip this step. They are good at setting goals, but the key to achieving those goals is the productive activities called flow. There are two types of flow: Live-flow (face-to-face and voice-to-voice) and auto-flow (mailings and electronic communication).
Set specific flow goals — number of calls, mailings, lunches, etc. Research shows that 50 live-flow contacts result in one contract. Want to increase your income? Increase your flow and measure it. As we say, “Flow Fixes Everything.”
Schedule Your Activities. Schedule time for your flow activities. We tend to do what we schedule. The system used by nearly every top producer I’ve studied is time blocking. They control their agenda rather than drifting through the day. They make appointments with themselves to accomplish their flow activities.
Take Action! A great business plan is only useful if you execute it. Sales associates who schedule their activities through time-blocking (Step 4) are much more likely to take action. Consistency is the key. What we do every day is more important than what we do once in a while.
I recently moderated a panel of four very high performers. All had taken the Ninja Installation training. I asked them, “What is the one thing you took from the training that helped you the most?” To my surprise, all four of them said the same thing—The Ninja Five Daily Habits. This is a morning routine consisting of:
- Gratitude, affirmations, and positive reading to get your positive energy going.
- Showing up for work and time-blocking your day and week, so you stay on your agenda.
- Writing two personal notes
- Focusing on your Hot List (people who want to buy or sell in the next 90 days.)
- Concentrate on your Warm List (people who may want to buy or sell in the next year.)
As one of the $60 million producers said to me, “When I start my day with these five activities, I have a great day. When I do it consistently, I string great days together, and I have a great week. Great weeks lead to great months and great months lead to my best year yet!”
What would your company or office be like if everyone had their best year yet? If you’re a sales associate, what would it be like if you had your best year ever?
When I go over these five pillars with sales associates, owners, and managers, they seem to get a stroke of insight and clarity. They stop being confused and afraid of the disruptors and the new technologies. They start focusing on their relationship-building skills, empathy, and finding ways to create a WOW! experience for their clients.
Most clients are not looking for an app or algorithm to help them. They want an empathetic, trusted advisor. Provide this level of service, and our future is very bright!
