January offers a fresh start, so set your business up for success in 2022 with a bit of planning now. Whether your aim is to grow your client base or secure more listings, knowing your objective will help you formulate the best path to achieving your goals. If you’re unsure of where to start, consider the following to unlock new levels of success in the coming year.
Goal: Secure More Listings
If you’re aiming to lock down more listings, there are a few strategies you can leverage to achieve this goal over the next year. You may want to try:
- Generating more content. Create market snapshots, flex your expertise with blog posts or start a newsletter to demonstrate your market knowledge. Another avenue to consider is investing in your social media presence, and work on building your engagement and following. Focusing on your brand identity will provide potential clients insight into who you are and what you can offer.
- Increasing your visibility. Networking gets your name out there, so explore ways to gain facetime, both in-person and virtually, with people in your area. Try partnering with a local team or organization to sponsor events, or attend networking events to get your business the visibility it deserves. And don’t overlook the power of personal connections within your own neighborhood; remember that clients work with a person, not a company.
Goal: Work Smarter
With a bit of technology and support, you can find new ways to work smarter in 2022. If you’re ready to focus on what matters most and streamline your business so you don’t get bogged down by day-to-day tasks, consider:
- Streamlining tasks with the right tech. Whether you’re searching for the best accounting or marketing solutions or a quick way to edit videos on the go, there’s an app for that. Focus on selecting the right tool for your business, choosing apps that can automate and streamline time-consuming tasks to help you focus on what matters most. If tracking expenses or scheduling emails is slowing you down and costing you valuable time and money, the investment in new tech and tools will pay off in the long run.
- Increasing efficiency with CRM. A well-managed CRM will maximize your business and growth potential. It’s more than just an organized contact log—leveraging the tool to efficiently manage sphere relationships, like schedule reminders for client anniversaries, will make it easier to build and maintain connections.
Goal: Build Referrals
One of the quickest ways to build your referral business is to tap into one of your greatest resources as an agent—your sphere of influence. Growing your sphere is critical to your business, but it’s also key to utilize it. To get started, try:
- Implementing ways to incentivize your sphere. You may have current or former clients that have already sent a few referrals your way, and acknowledging the power of a personalized gesture of thanks, like a handwritten card or a small gift, goes a long way towards keeping you top of mind. It may also help to create a process to solicit reviews post-transaction, furthering your business’ local standing.
- Thinking outside the box or your sphere, in this case. You already know the power of word-of-mouth marketing, but your sphere of influence shouldn’t be where that stops for your business. Tap into your personal network—friends, family, colleagues and peers—to help you expand your marketing reach. This network is likely to be your most devoted brand ambassador base, lean into it.
No matter what you hope to accomplish this year, setting your sights on a goal now will ultimately benefit your business in the future. So, take some time this month to figure out what you want out of your career, then make it happen!
Adam Bauer is the senior vice president of marketing operations for HomeSmart.
