Archive for Business planning
Why Your New Agents Shouldn’t Make Business Plans
Posted by: | CommentsI once coached a manager who proudly told me that she helped all her new agents plan out 5 years. Unfortunately, though, 90% of those new agents failed in their first 6 months in the business! I started wondering why she was so fixated in helping them do long-term planning, when they couldn’t make it through their first days in the business?
Don’t Take Your New Agents Through the ‘Full-Blown’ Business Planning Process
Your new agents’ problem isn’t that they don’t know where they’ll be in five years. Their problem is that they don’t know where they’ll be–and why they’ll be there–in 5 minutes…….
Instead of spending hours in dreamland with your new agents on that vision and mission, do what needs to be done and help them craft a business start-up plan. In other words, start at the beginning of their career, and help them build a step-by-step action plan to get a sale fast. At the same time, show them how this plan fits into the bigger picture.
Failure Isn’t Predicated on Lack of the ‘Seasoned’ Business Plan
New agents come into the business, excited because they are ‘in business now for themselves’. They don’t have a “boss”. They can organize their time. They look forward to lots of ‘free time’. What a dream world! Worse yet, they don’t know how to start the business! (Who would?) So, they fill the time with what comes easily. Most of us are afraid of rejection, and fear what will happen if we talk to human beings and ask them to buy real estate from us. So, we stay away from those activities that invite rejection. We gravitate toward ‘safe’ activities, such as:
- get organized–all day
- attend classes–all day
- preview properties–all week
- observe others–all week
- do research and follow-up
A friend of mine observes that they seem to be “getting ready to get ready”.
The very dangerous thing about agents creating a daily plan without good business-start-up principles, is that they create habits of failure. In effect, they created their own start-up plan—one that assures low production.
Evaluate Your Plan for your New Agents
Why not rate your plan now to see which path you are putting your new agents on? Simply add up the number of hours you’re having them spend in the activities above. Now, add up the sales producing activities (lead generation, showings, listing presentations, sales, and listings gained). Which of the categories has the larger time block? What does that tell you about the job description you have created? Is it a job description that leads to sales?
Attributes of an Effective Business Start-up System
So, then, what is an effective business start-up plan? And, what else do you need? An effective business start-up plan has these attributes:
1. An organized activity schedule that has certain activities prioritized first, so agents can manage your time effectively—throughout your career
2. A schedule that has certain activities scheduled secondarily—and why—so they don’t teach themselves to be failed agents
3. A road-map for a continuing plan, so you can continue growing your business to the next level. (These are all attributes of Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s business start-up plan).
The plan must be integrated with training and coaching. But, that’s not all you need. You need integrated programs with a skilled coaching professional to help agents implement. You need a cohesive system of development.
When are agents ready to ‘graduate’ to the whole ‘seasoned’ business planning process? Generally, when they have completed 8-12 transactions in a year. Until that time, they don’t have the steady work habits, and the history to review their businesses and make decisions about changes or additions in their careers.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
Managers: How to Build Action Plans into that Business Plan
Posted by: | CommentsIn December, I’m doing business planning in this blog and my blog for agents, Up and Running in 30 Days. Check back for free processes, checklists, and guidance.
Do you have action plans for each of your specific action areas built into your business plan?
So often, our business plans are ‘big picture’. It’s lovely, it’s inspirational–and it’s utterly not useful to our everyday practice! For a business plan to work, it has to have the ‘big picture’ parts (vision, review, mission, objectives) AND the action plan parts–those things you really intend to do each day and week. These are the actions that result in reaching your monthly and yearly goals.
What Action Plans do Leaders Need?
Here’s a graphic from Business Planning for the Owner, Manager, and Team Leader. You can see the specific action areas I think you need in your business plan. I made these divisions so that you actually could create action plans that had relevance to what you do every day. And, accomplishing actions in these areas assures you are taking daily steps to reach your goals.
Action Plans Must Relate to Your Goals
Too often, when we get to the weekly and daily tasks, the actions that effect our bottom line just don’t happen.
For example: You’ll see that recruiting plans are one area of our action plans. But, life gets in the way and we just don’t recruit. So, to assure you do the actions you KNOW will result in greater productivity and profits, use these divisions and make your specific plans. In my business planning systems, I’ve made detailed, fill-in forms that assure you think through and make action plans for each of these areas–action plans you can rely on. Otherwise, my experience shows that brokers just don’t get to the details of action planning.
Click here to get a copy of these action plan areas.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
Your Business Plan: A Checklist for the Systems You Need in 2012
Posted by: | CommentsIn December, I’m doing business planning in this blog and my blog for agents, Up and Running in 30 Days. Check back for free processes, checklists, and guidance.
Do you have systems needs built into your business plan?
I am just finishing the 4th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s business start-up plan. I wanted to update it with the systems and technology I thought the new agent needed. After spending many hours researching and talking to tech ‘gurus’ and thinking through the systems agents need in their first month, my head is spinning! I know you have the same concerns as a broker. So, you need a systems plan in your business plan, just as I put a technology and social media planner in my8 4th edition of Up and Running in 30 Days (4th edition will be out about April).
People Systems are as Important as Software Systems
One of the mistakes we brokers make is to think all our problems will be solved if we just get everything ‘automated’ with technology. Well, let me tell you, it’s hard to automate people! Yet, we need people systems so we can be sure no one falls through the cracks. We need to assess our systems to assure each agent, at each stage of his/her development, is worked with. Otherwise, we fail to meet our segmented agents’ needs.
For example: We may have wonderful seasoned agent training. But, we hire new agents with no orientation and no detailed, high accountability training and coaching. So, we have a huge failure rate with our new agents. Sound familiar?
Click here to get your copy of my systems survey and planner.
Use the planner to access your needs and then create an action plan for those needs in your 2012 business plan. Now, you’re on your way to saving time, money, and having systems you can delegate to free up your time.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
The Rest of those Critical Parts of your Business Plan
Posted by: | CommentsIn December, I’m doing blogs on business planning. Check often for complimentary forms and training.
Do you have a business plan for next year? Is it in a format that I could actually follow if you delegated running the company to me? I doubt over 5% of the brokers could answer that question ‘yes’. Yet, we all talk about the importance of a business plan. In my earlier blog, I discussed points 1-5. Here are next five of ten critical points you must have in your business plan to make it a plan that actually works for you, not just a thesis that looks important on the shelf!
6. Create a robust recruiting plan.
Create a recruiting plan that you can actually follow! I mentioned having a plan for each of the focused areas above, and I mention recruiting again because so few managers have defined, easy to follow recruiting plans. No wonder they put off recruiting because they’re ‘too busy’! Yet, consistent, tenacious recruiting is the basis for profitability.
7. Don’t stop at the goals; get to the activities.
Break down the goals into activities and measure the activities. For example, break down recruiting results to numbers of recruiting calls, appointments, and hires. Then, you can analyze your time management and optimize your time.
Click here for a checklist of what you need in your recruiting strategy.
8. Put deadlines to all your action plans to hold yourself accountable.
Put deadline dates in your activities and put them on your calendar. It’s what you do every day that has a relationship to the results you said you wanted. A mistake brokers make is that their daily schedules have no relationship to their stated goals! They’re too busy in ‘crisis management’ to do the things critical to their success: recruiting, selecting, and training.
9. Assign people to carry out your plan.
Put the names of the people who will carry out the activities, so you know to whom you will delegate. For example, a recruiting postcard campaign can be delegated to a company, a member of your staff, or a mail outsource. Put down who these entities will be, so you can actually use this plan to delegate the activities. It will save you so much time and clarify to your staff exactly what you want.
10. Use a proven system to write your plan.
Use an organized process and system to write your plan. The ‘plans’ I have seen aren’t really ‘plans’—they’re just a small portion of a plan. The most important part of planning is the thinking part. Find a great system that teaches you how to think through your plan. There’s nothing more important to your business than profitability—and thinking through your plan before you launch your actions assures profits.
As Dwight D. Eisenhower said,
Planning is everything. The plan is nothing.
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
Business Planning: Do You Have These 10 Critical Points in your Plan?
Posted by: | CommentsIn December, I’m doing blogs on business planning in both this blog and my blog for agents, Up and Running in 03 Days. Check often for complimentary forms and training.
Do you have a business plan for next year? Is it in a format that I could actually follow if you delegated running the company to me? I doubt over 5% of the brokers could answer that question ‘yes’. Yet, we all talk about the importance of a business plan. Here are five of ten critical points you must have in your business plan to make it a plan that actually works for you, not just a thesis that looks important on the shelf!
1. Spend much more time in review.
Your plan must include an in-depth review of the past year, or, better yet, the trends of the past three years—both inside and outside your company. Your plan must draw conclusions about this review, so you can use what you learned in planning for the next year. Write it out, so you can remember why you’re making the moves in that next year. 
Click here to see the areas you should review.
2. Analyze your budget vs. actual expenses.
Measure your last year’s budget versus your actual expenses—and do an analysis of what happened along the way. How can you set up your budget for the next year without analyzing last year’s budget and consequences?
3. Create separate action plans for each area of responsibility.
Create separate action plans for each of your areas of responsibility: Financial/operations/planning/staff, recruiting/selecting, orientation of agents to assure quick assimilation and retention, training (new and experienced agents), higher production/retention, marketing (internal and external), professional development. That way, you’re actually creating a road map to use every day, not just a broad brush picture. In Business Planning for the Owner, Manager, and Team Builder, I have a road map that allows you to do just that.
4. Use the strategic planning process to think through your business.
Use a strategic, or thought-out approach to each of the planning areas—based on your vision, mission, and positioning of the company. Don’t just copy a particular company because they’re successful. It may not be ‘like you’.
5. Be sure your objectives are measurable.
Write measurable objectives in each of the action plan areas—so you know what you’re shooting for and can celebrate the attainments. For example, in training, decide on measurable production goals that should result from your training– and measure the results of your training frequently.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
53 Business Planning Tips from ‘The Coach’
Posted by: | CommentsDuring this month, I’m focusing both of my blogs on business planning. Look for ready to use checklists, processes and systems. Let’s make awesome 2012 plans!
Have you ever seen anyone follow a process doggedly–and then fail? Of course. Whether we have a bad roadmap, a poor teacher, or a lacking coach–it all leads to less than exceptional performance. I know this intimately, as a musician. I’ve worked with musicians who learned a piece of music wrong. Then, they just keep playing it wrong! They can’t seem to break those bad habits–even when they know they are playing it wrong.
The Power of Models
We blithely follow just about anyone’s directions, because we assume they must be good if they’re published (ha!). Or, we follow them because we like them. However, sometimes the plans we are drawn to are really, really bad! We like them because they ask little of us.
Be very critical of the directions, plans, processes, and systems you get from someone. If they are poor, they will lead you in poor directions.
Watch a Failing Real Estate Agent to See What I Mean
So many times, agents come into the real estate business and make up their own ‘version’ of the business. After all, they come into the business to be ‘independent’. If they only knew what they were doing to themselves…..You see them sit around and wait for something to happen. You see them criticize the ‘leads’ they are given. Left to their own devices, they create a plan for failure. The worst thing is that they don’t even realize they are doing it! They think that any plan of action will work to get them to their goals.
Be sure you are using proven plans–whether you are a new agent, a seasoned one, or a leader. From coaching many managers and owners, too, I know the difficulty for you of finding models and examples you can trust. Sometimes we end up knowing what we don’t want to do–but we can’t figure out what to do! (that’s from the behaviors we see of managers we don’t admire….)
Some Business Planning Tips from the ‘Coach’ (That’s me…)
In an effort to help you evaluate your business plan, I’ve made an extensive checklist for you. Please don’t copy someone else’s plan! Your business is unique. Click here for those 53 tips from the Coach.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
Your 2012 Business Plan: How to Create your Training Calendar
Posted by: | CommentsThrough December, I’m focusing my blogs on business planning. Look for ready to use checklists, processes and systems to help you and your agents plan for a successful next year.
You’re putting together your business plan. How do you know what training to provide your agents? One method is to look at your profit and loss. More about that in my next blog. Here’s the other way to do it. Simply provide your agents an ‘internal review ’of their sales performance mastery (or not) as part of their business planning process.
Click here to see the internal sales performance review, excerpted from The Business Planning System for the Real Estate Professional .
What You’ll Find When They Rate Themselves
Have your agents rate themselves on their performance skills. You will see that they rate themselves lower than you would rate them. Why? Because we’re harder on ourselves than we are on others.
Commonalities
What do you think the agents rate themselves lowest in? You’re right. Prospecting/lead generation. So, you’ll want to create – with them—a dynamic lead generating plan for next year—and coach them to it. See the lead generating plans in The Business Planning System for the Real Estate Professional, and, for new agents, in Up and Running in 30 Days.
Planning your Training Calendar
Your training plan should be a part of your business plan. Your training plan should tackle the challenges you have noted as a part of your own business review—and of the agents’ business review. By the way, be sure those challenges you noted can be handled through training.
For example: You’ve noted an ethics problem in your office. You want your agents to ‘be more ethical’. That’s not a training problem. It is a selection problem. You can’t train your way out of the ethics we grasped when we were 5! But, you certainly can solve a listings sold problem with training. Be careful when you’re creating your training, and tackle the problems that you can solve with training.
Put That Training on a Calendar
You’ve done your own analysis of your profit and loss statement. You’ve done your analysis with your agents. You’ve made your training plan. Now, you’re going to put it on a training calendar–and use it to guide your agents, your staff–and to recruit. Not only that, you have an integrated training system that you can delegate. Good work.
Recruiting tip: Include your training calendar in your recruiting handout, in your faxes, in your emails, and in your social media. Let prospective agents know you are organized, and you are committed to their success.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
Managers: Are You an Effective Business Plan Coach?
Posted by: | CommentsThis month, I’m focusing on business planning. I want every professional to have a great plan for next year. Look for checklists, processes, and systems, too, ready to use.
You’ve decided to coach your agents in creating great business plans. but, if you’ve never coached an agent in business planning, it can be quite daunting. So, what do you look for? In this blog, I’ll show you how to use their statistic
listings taken to listings sold in normal market time.
to coach them to a better year next year. You would think agents know this statistic, but very few do. It’s so important, because it
- Determines whether the agent makes enough money per listing or not
- Determines whether the agent builds a positive reputation or a poor one
- Reflects the agent’s value-proposition strategy
- Reflects on the office’s productivity and profitability
Your success rate with listings sold is, in my opinion, the one most important reflection of agent value propositions out there.
For example: George Smith, a 10-year seasoned agent, has demonstrated a consistent listing strategy. George’s ‘success ratio’ is 40%. That is, he sells 40% of his listings in normal market time. What does that say about George’s values proposition strategy? How is George ‘using’ his listings? Is that the culture you want perpetuated in your office?
Sally Overton has a different value proposition strategy. She has a 90% success ratio in listings taken to listings sold in normal market time. Obviously, she is building her referral system—her raving fans. She is making herself more money in less time. She is drastically reducing the number of complaints (and attacks on her self-esteem, too). She is a role model for best practices in her real estate office. Is that practice more in line with your culture?
Your opportunity: As George’s business planning consultant, you’ll be ‘testing’ George to see if he wants tochange his strategy (some agents love being ‘bait and switchers’ too much to change). You’ll have the opportunity to help Sally leverage her awesome conversion rates to obtain even more raving fans. (Nothing succeeds like success).
Do you know your ‘conversion numbers’ in listings taken to listings sold for your company? When you make your own plan, be sure to do a thorough review, and find this number. A high number means you’ll be able to recruit better, get better retention, have better team spirit, and your agents can build on that reputation. A low number means you have a lot to work on!
Click here for a list of common agent business planning mistakes to help you as you coach agents through the planning process.
Excerpted from my agent business planning system, The Business Planning System for the Real Estate Professional.
New Business Planning Program for Managers
Do you find it difficult to get your agents to plan? Do you put off doing your office plan? Here’s your solution. This all-new program does several things for you:
2 webinars teach your agents how to plan using Carla’s strategic planning system
14 planning documents are included to guide your agents right through the planning process
3 webinars for you:
1. How to Create a Great Office Plan
Included: 22 office planning documents to make it easy for you to stay on track and create a great plan
2. How to Convince your Agents to Plan
3. How to Integrate your Office and Agents’ Plans
Also: Hundreds of dollars of bonuses included. See more at Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. Why not build a great office plan and get every agent a real strategic plan–one that’s inspirational all year?
Three Strategies to Get Your Agents to Create Business Plans
Posted by: | CommentsIn November and December, I’m focusing on business planning, to help you and your agents get a great business plan for next year. Look for checklists, processes, and systems ready to use, too.
I know it’s a lot of work to get your agents to commit to paper on anything. And, from working with thousands of agents on business planning over the years, I know the challenges. But, for us managers, the huge pay-off comes not from what’s on paper, what, what’s in the head. When we use a good business planning process we literally teach agents how to think through their businesses.
Three Huge Stealth Strategies
1. Take Away Commitment Phobia
It’s estimated we are told ‘no’ 148,000 times prior to age eighteen. No wonder we don’t want to commit to try anything! I know from teaching adults to play the piano, that adults are conditioned not to try anything new for fear of not being perfect. To many, writing a business plan means planning to fail—and then getting punished for it.
So, the first time you introduce business planning, take away the old downside of goal setting (not reaching it and getting punished), and help your agents move in incremental steps forward—a step at a time, with lots of positive reinforcement along the way. You have to create a safe haven for first-time planners.
2. Eat the Elephant a Bite at a Time
One of the agents in an office where I just did a small group coaching series told me he put a picture of an elephant on the wall, and then literally divided the elephant into bite-sized pieces, with an action step listed on each bite. What a wonderful visual! For many of your agents, planning is just the most overwhelming process they could envision. So, simply start with one or two areas. Personally, I start with 2-3 areas in the Review. See my next blog for an example of this.
3. Make it Really Easy to Start
Have a great business planning system to provide your agents. (Never just ask them to make a business plan without a system to follow, because you’ll get all kinds of formats). Don’t overwhelm your agents with too many planning pages to start. Customize your package with each agent. If you can get each agent to look at 1-3 areas of his business, and plan change strategies for a better year in that area, you’ll have started the process—a process that will continue, grow, and reap big benefits by year three.
We Do What We See, Not What We are Told
Do you have a business plan? If not, why should your agents be interested ? Making your ‘stealth’ approach work means you must lead by example. Doing so creates a synergy between your plan and all the agents’ plans, and builds a strength that perseveres even in the toughest market.
What should be in an agent’s business planning system? Click here to see a ‘flow chart’.
Complimentary Webinar for Managers
If you’re stumped as to how to get your agents to create business plans, you need to attend this webinar. If you want more teamwork and loyalty, you need to tune in. I’ll show you how I got 100% of my agents to write good business plans, and how I used those plans to coach and consult all year, building my office to #1 in a 19 office company–the strongest company at that time in the Northwest.
Managers: Get Every Agent to Build a Business Plan–and Build a Great office Plan
When: Dec. 1
Time: 1-2 PM, Pacific Standard Time
Space is limited, so register now. Click here to register.
Can You Pass the Business Plan Exam?
Posted by: | CommentsIn these posts, I’m focusing on business planning, so you will have the information to create a great plan for 2012. Watch for ready to use checklists, systems, and processes, too. Check out Up and Running in 30 Days, for your agents, too.
What should a business plan do for you? Appease your owner? (I’ve been there, so I know….) Or, should it actually provide you specific, day-to-day guidance about what to do to make your business thrive? If you’re a practical person like me, you don’t like to do ‘busy work’. You and I believe, then, that a business plan should have a practical application for every day of your business.
Take this quick ‘exam’ to see how your business plan stacks up: (and give it to your agents so they can check their plans, too).
1. By going through your process of business planning, you get the ‘vision’ and mission principles to make the positioning, marketing, hiring, and termination decisions right for your particular business. T F
Got that vision? Few business plans start with vision. This causes huge problems when real estate professionals try to implement—such as implementing a marketing plan. A potential coaching client told me she ‘wasn’t very good at marketing’, and wondered how to get better. You can’t become a great marketer unless you have a very clear vision of who you are and where you expect your journey to take you. It all starts with a crystal clear idea of your vision, mission, and positioning in the market. Your business plan should contain these very important statements. Then, when you design an institutional marketing plan, you’ll be able execute your thoughts and feelings visually.
If your vision and mission aren’t well defined in your business plan, you simply have no solid foundation to make those tough leadership decisions.
2. Your business plan starts with reviewing and researching the past year in all your business areas. T F
Have you really reviewed your situation? If your planning ‘template’ doesn’t lead you through the analysis of key business statistics, you simply don’t know what happened. So, you can’t possibly make decisions for next year, because you don’t know whether to do it, stop doing it, or start doing something differently!
Example: In your office, what percent of your listings sold within normal market time? What was the percent of list price to sale price? Few business planning templates ask you to grab these statistics and analyze them. Yet, these are the statistics that directly point you to your strategies and tactics for the coming year.
3. Does your business plan have an ‘action plan’ area, so you can translate your yearly and monthly goals into daily actions—and actually schedule these actions? T F
No action plan means you just wasted a lot of time: I have seen so many business plans that only played on the ‘results’ playing field. Writing down the results you want are great, but if your plan doesn’t get down to where the rubber meets the road, (what you need to do daily), you simply are doing an exercise. In other words, you have to get past the ‘what’ and get to the ‘how’ and ‘how much’.
For example: You may say you want to increase your ‘sold’ listings by 25% in the coming year. How are you going to do that? Here are some possibilities for your action plan:
Through recruiting: Hire 12 listing agents that have demonstrated they list properties that sell quickly. That’s 1 per month. That’s 5 interviews per month. That’s 100 recruiting calls per month. Now, you can break that into weeks and days.
Through training: After researching each agent’s numbers of listings and listings to sold ratios, you are going to create and implement a high accountability training program to teach your agents the skills of successful listing. You will put your training series, which will be a series of four classes, presented 3 times a year, on a training calendar to hold yourself accountable to do them. (And, a calendar is a great recruiting tool).
4. Does your plan consist of integrated, ready-to-follow systems so you can delegate?
T F
Ever thought your systems WERE your plan? Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth and The E-Myth Revisited, says that a business plan consists of the integration of your systems. Most managers and agents feel they are working too many hours. They want to be able to delegate specific duties. But, without systems and processes in place, delegation is impossible.
Is your Business Salable?
Pretend you wanted to sell me your business. I walk into your office. What systems do I see? What systems can I buy from you, so I don’t have to ‘reinvent the wheel’? What systems do you have that integrate and reflect your values in the overall way you do your business? If you don’t have systems in place that I can readily take over, I might as well start my own company!
How did you do on the ‘exam’? Here’s your opportunity to think through your business at a much deeper, more meaningful level. Doing so will re-motivate you, re-ignite your passion, and provide you some solid answers for next year.
Click here for an overview of what a leadership planning system should contain.
Complimentary Webinar for Managers
If you’re stumped as to how to get your agents to create business plans, you need to attend this webinar. If you want more teamwork and loyalty, you need to tune in. I’ll show you how I got 100% of my agents to write good business plans, and how I used those plans to coach and consult all year, building my office to #1 in a 19 office company–the strongest company at that time in the Northwest.
Managers: Get Every Agent to Build a Business Plan–and Build a Great office Plan
When: Dec. 1
Time: 1-2 PM, Pacific Standard Time
Space is limited, so register now. Click here to register.
Free webinar for your agents: I’ve got a free webinar, too, for your agents: On Nov. 29, I’ll show your agents how to create a great plan, and how to put the three major trends of next year into their plans. Register your agents now. Space is limited.