Imagine two agents on your team that each achieved $4 million in volume this year, and each has a goal of completing $8 million next year. Now imagine that you ask them how they are going to do that, and you get the following responses:
Agent 1 says, “I have some clients that I’m talking to that want to buy next year, and hopefully the market will open up more and I can do some open houses.”
Agent 2 says, “I need to build my pipeline of potential clients from 50 to 100 people, so I am hiring a part-time marketing assistant by the end of January, then launching a digital marketing campaign using social media, landing pages, and my CRM to attract more leads and referrals and then systematically following up with them. This system will also help me follow up with and convert more of my present database. I am also changing my weekly activities to include 10 timeblocked hours of prospecting calls, no matter what.”
Based on those two replies, which agent do you think has a better chance of doubling their business in 2021?
The point here is that it that many agents set goals based on hope, and others set goals backed by plans. So, in order for your team to be in the second, more effective group, now is the time to finalized both your team’s goals for next year, and how each agent is going to reach them. In summary, here are four points to nail down:
1. Goals: For production goals, choose 1-5 goals that have meaning, rather than listing 10 or more goals that will end up being too detailed and therefore not inspiring. Common goals include sales volume closed, sales units closed, gross commission earned, and net income earned. It may also be helpful to have prospecting goals (e.g. 50 calls per week), as well as professional goals (earn a designation), but goals pertaining to sales activity and achievement should come first.
2. Strategies: Now, how will you reach those goals? Develop specific strategies that will help you accomplish each of the above goals, and have them make sense. Did you notice in the examples above that, in order to double Agent 2’s volume, the agent planned to double their active pipeline of potential clients? Those numbers work, so that’s a good plan. The agent also included details about implementing their strategy. Use that approach to determine the activities needed within each of your strategies to reach your goals.
3. Tools: Make sure that the necessary tools are available to implement your strategies. If an team member wants to grow their pipeline and manage it better, they need to use a CRM properly. If they want to create leads through social media, their accounts should be set up and they should use a content service. Simply put, for any activity that is part of agents’ strategies, ensure that they have the tools to do it efficiently and effectively.
4. Change: This is arguably the most important part of achieving new goals. If agents set higher goals and devise strategies to reach them, but then don’t change their daily activities, odds are that nothing will really change. Every agent with increased goals should be able to specifically point to something different that they will do in 2021 every day or every week to help them reach their goals. If nothing changes from last year, then nothing will change moving forward.
Take the time now to finalize your 2021 goals, and include all four of the above points within your plan. If you are a team leader, follow up with your team members to ensure that they have done it to make next year amazing for sales.
Also, it helps to be accountable, so set appointments at least monthly with a manager, mentor, or coach to keep you on track. Having someone hold you to your plan, encourage you, and offer outside guidance may be just the thing you need to propel you to whatever sales goals you are striving to achieve.
Finish those goals and plans now, make your changes and make sales happen, and you will be incredibly successful in 2021!
For a FREE copy of Sherri’s exclusive Weekly and Monthly Action Plan Worksheet to plan and track sales-producing activity, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. She is also an RISMedia 2020 Real Estate Newsmaker as an industry Influencer. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
