Are you getting ready for next year in Real Estate? We're prepping for the new year by putting plans in place for success. ERA Grizzard is helping our agents cultivate plans for their individual careers as we wrap up the year.
Get an inside look at ERA Grizzard's Strategic Business Planning as the team prepares to finish this year strong and make the next one the best year yet. Ready to get started? So are we - let's get to it!
STEP ONE: FOCUS
What Do YOU Bring to the Table?
What you know now and what you are doing today will not get you to the next level.
We are about to make some big assumptions that you are here today…
- …because you see your real estate practice as a business.
- …to learn the skills to take your business to the next level of success.
- …to get where you want to be through attitudes, systems, and tools.
So, who are you and what value do you bring to your customers?
“Hi, my name is ______________ and I _______________.”
“You read a book from beginning to end. You run a business the opposite way. You start with the end, and then you do everything you must to reach it.”
– JESSAMYN WEST, American Author
Check out this article on writing a killer real estate bio in 5 easy steps to get you started.
Building Your Business, Building Your Life
You got into real estate because you saw an opportunity, and you are here today to learn more about how to grow your real estate career into a business that thrives. Take the first step right now and agree that what you are doing is more than selling houses, it is building a business.
“I am an entrepreneur. I work in real estate and my business affords me an abundant, full, and balanced life.”
Let's Talk About It!
Business Owners vs. Salespeople
- What does it mean to be an entrepreneur?
- How does an entrepreneur who runs a business think and act differently from a salesperson?
- Think of someone you know who is a leader in real estate. What sets them apart?
The Difference Maker
One of the most important things an agent can do to grow their business is to have a plan. A business plan.
In its simplest definition, a business plan sets out future goals and the strategies to achieve them.
Most agents in real estate have goals, like financial freedom and being their own boss. Yet, startling statistics from just four years ago show that 87 percent of agents fail out of real estate in their first five years. *The key to success in real estate goes deeper than the goals – it’s the strategies. And in Team Blue – Business Planning, we take it even further – down to the specific suggested activities you can choose to do on a daily basis to ensure you have longevity.
* National Association of Realtors, 2014
Why Business Planning Matters
As a real estate business owner, business planning plays a crucial role in helping you focus on the goals and necessary activities to:
- Stabilize your business and income
- Build that stable business to whatever level you want to achieve
Question: Which curve best represents the current state of your business?
Interested in making a real estate marketing plan? Check out this article on 5 Steps to Creating A Dynamite Real Estate Marketing Plan to get started!
Turning Your Financial Plan into an Action Plan
As we discussed, there are peaks and valleys in many agents’ annual sales cycles. Top agents we researched avoid this by front-loading their pipeline with new leads and doing the daily work of making contacts. By doing so, you have a better chance of converting those leads into sales sooner in the year, and more consistently throughout the rest of the year.
Let’s Get Focused
In the “worst” seasons of the year – typically the winter months – houses still sell. Between the years of 2008-2011 – also known as the worst real estate market in history – millions of homes still sold. In fact, even in the “worst” seasons of the worst real estate market in history, homes still sold. Source: US Housing Wire
WHY? Even at those times when there aren’t as many, there are always sellers who need to sell, and buyers who need to buy.
YOU CAN ASK YOURSELF: “Do I win enough of the available sellers and buyers in the ‘worst’ months? Why or why not?”
ANSWER:………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Imagine a factory owner who says, "I don't have time to order stock for my winter inventory right now, I'm too busy delivering my products to retailers this summer." What happens to that factory in three months? No stock = no product. It's the 100+ Days Effect! |
The 100+ Days Effect
Who gets the buyers and sellers in the “worst” months? The agents who win them are the ones with a pipeline of business that flows throughout the year… and that doesn’t just happen. It takes planning and preparation. This is the 100+ Days Effect.
The specific length of time on the pathway to productivity is dependent on markets and quality of leads. However, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) tells us that the real estate average lead time is approximately 100+ days.
If an agent stops putting leads into their real estate factory, 100 days later, they can expect to have no closings and no commissions.
Building Your Business, Designing Your Plan
Before planning for growth or scaling your business, stop for a moment of self-awareness and bring some clarity to the most fundamental elements of your business – why you are an entrepreneur in real estate.
Your Mission
In its essence, a mission statement answers these 3 questions:
1. What do you do?
2. How do you do it?
3. What value do you bring to your customer?
Your Vision
A mission statement gets things done, but a vision statement creates the narrative. Vision statements should be inspiring. Heck! This is the reason you get up in the morning – why do you do what you do? Here are some common attributes of vision statements to help you get started on yours:
- Short
- Succinct
- Future-focused
- Values-based
- Memorable
- Inspiring
Your Values
What we believe in.
Values are what we believe in- personally, and professionally. These all weave together to become your value proposition.
- Trust
- Reliability
- Transparency
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Commitment
- Connection
Check out this article on 4 Simple Steps to Personal Branding in Real Estate to help you get started on what makes you different!
EXAMPLE MISSION STATEMENTS
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Transforming lives through real estate as a collaborative, industry-leading team who’s driven by innovation grounded by values, and elevated by passion. |
SONY’S MISSION STATEMENT
At Sony, our mission is to be a company that inspires and fulfills your curiosity. Ground-breaking new excitement and entertainment in ways that only Sony can. Everything we do is to move you emotionally.
PATAGONIA’S MISSION STATEMENT
Build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire, and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
SPOTIFY’S MISSION STATEMENT
Give people access to all the music they want all the time - in a completely legal and accessible way.
SPACEX’S MISSION STATEMENT
SpaceX was founded under the belief that a future where humanity is out exploring the stars is fundamentally more exciting than one where we are not. Today, SpaceX is actively developing the technologies to make this possible, with the ultimate goal of enabling human life on Mars.
PREZI’S MISSION STATEMENT
To reinvent how people share knowledge, tell stories, and inspire their audiences to act.
AMAZON’S VISION STATEMENT
Our vision is to be Earth's most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online.
DOCU-SIGN’S VISION STATEMENT
Docu-Sign's vision is to empower companies to keep business digital.
LYFT’S VISION STATEMENT
Ride by ride, we're changing the way our world works. We imagine a world where cities feel small again. Where transportation and tech bring people together, instead of apart. We see the future as community driven and it starts with you.
Let’s Do This!
SHARE YOUR VALUE
Sketch out the beginnings of your mission and vision statements. Then, when you include your values, these three will help you write a value statement.
“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be. But what will happen in all the other days that ever come can depend on what you do today.”
— ERNEST HEMINGWAY, American Literary Giant
We have went through the first step in successful business planning for real estate agents, which was "get focused". By focusing on the first step and knowing what you need to get focused on this will lead you into the last two steps, which are:
- Step Two: Tactics & Tools
- Step Three: Look Forward
Parts 2 and 3 coming soon - Stay tuned for our next blog going over the final two steps you need in order to start 2023 out with the biggest bang for your business!
Ready to get started now? Schedule a FREE business consultation and see what ERA Grizzard has to offer you.
ERA Grizzard's 'Real Coaching' Creating Business Growth for Agents
