In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable

Transcription

1 In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable Dwight D. Eisenhower 2013 is almost upon us and it s time to plan for a successful new year. Are you aware that less than five percent (5%) of all agents currently have a formalized Business Plan? Just by completing this initial step you will differentiate yourself from ninety five percent (95%) of all real estate agents in the industry today! Business Plans are very personal and they ONLY work if you follow them. For every agent who follows a Business plan you will likely find five that took the time to write one, then placed it on the shelf and never looked at it again. For this reason, we are not going to write your report for you, rather we will give you the tools to write a report in YOUR own words and style. In fact I am going to encourage you to write two different business plans. The first is designed primarily to get you thinking, not only about the business you want to do in 2013, but also about how you re going to do that business; with whom you re going to do that business; and perhaps most importantly why. Once you understand your underlying motivations, you re far more likely to follow through when the going gets tough. The second, much shorter plan is going to be your day-to-day guide and to help you follow that plan; I ll close with a daily checklist to help you keep on track. At Century 21 Golden Realty, we are committed to your success. With clearly defined goals and strategies you will achieve the success you want in Real Estate! If we can help in any way, please don t hesitate to call or text me at Chris Griffiths Recruiting Manager Century 21 Golden Realty Cell/Text: [email protected]

2 This Business Planning Guide is split into the following sections: 1. Business Planning 2. Your Production Goals 3. Exit Strategy 4. Lead Generation 5. Systems 6. Training 7. Coaching & Accountability 8. Websites for Agents 9. Database Marketing 10. Farming Strategies 11. Productive Open Houses 12. Increase Your Listing Inventory 13. Daily Affirmations 14. Daily Business Plan 15. Daily Checklist 1. BUSINESS PLANNING Business Planning is essential to real success in real estate. It s sad that over ninety five percent (95%) of all Real Estate agents never complete or even attempt the business planning process. Why? Most either are unaware, don t have access to, or not held accountable nor taught by the broker or manager, or have access to a competent business planning program! The Pareto Principle, which is also known as the 80/20 rule, says that twenty percent (20%) of the people produce eighty percent (80%) of the results or, eighty percent (80%) of your results are a product of twenty percent (20%) of your activity. In any case, the rule holds true except in real estate. Statistically, in real estate, the end results are more drastic. Ninety five percent (95%) of the results in real estate are produced by only five percent (5%) of the real estate agents. The rhetorical question is "how do you get into and remain in that five percent?" By taking this critical step in that process, by requesting this Business Planning Guide, you will be asked to think about the numerous decisions and actions you need to take to ensure your success. If you follow the steps in this plan, we are confident you will succeed at any level you choose. Let s discuss the process. The first step is to determine your income "Commitment" for your next year in real estate. There is no figure that is out of the question. It is entirely up to you and your motivation.

3 Whether you think you can, or you think you can t - you re right Henry Ford 2. Your Production Goals Before we look at how you re going to achieve your goal for 1013, we need to know what that goal is. There is no right or wrong answer; this is what you want to do. On the next page you will find some simple questions to get you started: 1. How much do you want to earn in 2013? 2. How many days do you plan on working in 2013? (220 is a normal work year) 3. What is the average home sale price in your area? (In 2012 the median home sales price in Pasadena was $590,000) 4. What is the average commission percentage per side? (National Example = 2.5%) 5. What is your agent commission split? (National Example = 50%) 6. What percent of open sides do you close? (National Example = 90%) 7. What percentage of your total sides closed are buyer sides? (National Example = 51%) 8. What percentage of your listings go to contract? (National Example = 75%) 9. On average, how many contacts do you need to meet to result in one closing? (National Example = 75) At Century 21 we have a nifty little program that takes these numbers and then breaks your goals down to the numbers required to achieve your goal. It shows how many daily contacts, buyer escrows, listings taken, etc. It also shows you the value of a day, an hour of your time and each contact you make. If you d like me to run these numbers for you, either call/text me at or click here to complete an online form. You ll also notice that some of the questions above, require you to know what you have achieved in the past. For example how many contacts do you need to meet to result in a successful closing? If you are

4 new in the business, or if you have not kept track of your numbers, pay particular attention to the daily checklist at the end of this guide. It will be of considerable help going forward. Those with a more analytical mindset will notice that there are many variable not addressed by simply setting down your goals. Century 21 has a much more rigorous checklist for those wanting to address their income and expenses in more depth - The 17 Steps to Success Century 21 Agent Financial Tools, call/text me at for a copy. Now that you have some idea of your goals, let s address some issues that will help you address how and why you are going to achieve them. 3. EXIT STRATEGY How long do you see yourself wanting to sell Real Estate? What do you want to do when you are tired of the real estate business or want to retire? Do you have an exit strategy? If not, you should consider one! Real Estate is an interesting business. Historically, the industry was built mostly on part-time agents who were just trying it or using real estate to supplement the family income. The issue here is that it shouldn t be part time as it s now one of the most complicated and time consuming professions that anyone could be in. Here are the critical pieces to developing a real exit strategy: Decide when you will get out of the real estate business Decide how much income or money you will need each year to live. There are quite a few options and solutions for developing a strategy to stop day to day selling. BUILD A BUSINESS Now, isn t this what we ve been talking about? How to build your business for success in real estate? However, the truthful answer from most agents is NO! Well, you have just taken a critical step to building a successful real estate business just by completing this Business Plan. The next step is to take action on your business plan. Just having THE PLAN is not enough it s the ACTION that produces the RESULTS! Take Action and build a highly successful real estate business and you will have a retirement vehicle that will let you live your dreams. We can help you with every step of turning your career into a business. Call/text me at and I can guide you on your journey. INVEST IN REAL ESTATE Take a chance; have the ability to act on those deals. I am always amazed at the lack of actual real estate investing completed by real estate agents. Here s a suggestion: Get to know your market and the

5 current trend of that market area. Find the area that is undervalued. This may change year to year or even month to month in some areas. Look for the lowest to mid level homes in that area. Start making some offers. You make money when you BUY property, NOT when you SELL that property! Imagine this, if you were to buy one investment property per year for ten years, in that time period you could be a millionaire with positive cash flow and terrific equity! As there are various components to investing in real estate, you are in the BEST position take advantage of it. BEGIN AN INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO Real estate, as an industry, is made up of nearly all Independent Contractors and as such not always with the benefits of other careers or jobs, we are self employed. We are responsible for our taxes, expenses, marketing, advertising, salaries, insurance and our own retirement. As an Independent Contractor we do have options and opportunities over a wide range of investment types. Start the process as quickly as you can and reserve a portion of each fee you earn to this process. Perhaps set a goal of ten percent of each commission check and place it in some type of investment or retirement plan and in 10 years you will have a very nice nest egg! Please do not overlook the benefit of consulting with a tax advisor to determine your best options for your portfolio. Developing your personal retirement or exit strategy is an important part of your business planning and building process. Unfortunately, it is at the top of the order of things overlooked by many who come into the real estate business. Plan for it now and reduce your stress later. Century 21 has many resources available to their agents for investing and retirement planning. Give me a call at and let me help you with some of these choices and other options that other very successful agents have chosen. 4. LEAD GENERATION Lead Generation is the foundation for your success. It is fair to say that if you have no leads you will have no closings! Remember in previous comments we mentioned that FIVE (5%) percent of the agents do NINETY FIVE (95%) percent of the business. NINETY FIVE (95%) percent of the Agents do FIVE (5%) percent of the business. First, what does this mean for you? Simply put, you need to contact as many people as you can and add them and their information to your database continually and consistently! So you need a database management system for all those people. Secondly, what kind of SYSTEMS do you have in place to generate buyer and seller leads and convert them into closings? You have a lot of options in Lead Generation and you will hear a lot of advice. One critical error most agents make is to try to do too much without researching the best system for them. In fact, a lot of managers, Brokers and trainers suggest trying everything and seeing just what works.

6 I believe that is bad advice. Over the years we have trained many top agents and in tracking their business from start to finish we have noted the quantification of their success. The results yielded one consistent strategy they focused on two primary sources of lead generation! Regardless of whether you are a first year agent or an experienced agent, your FOCUS should be on two primary methods/forms of lead generation. Success is the perfect execution of a basic fundamental Vince Lombardi Have you ever tried to do too many things at once? Sure, we all have. The question is, How well have you done what you re doing? Not too well? The same applies to real estate but with more focus. It s just highly important to be aware of areas that will bring you the highest return for your time and investment. Our industry can be very complicated and emotional for your clients, customers and even you! Choose one or two, stick with it, become an expert with it focus on it and you will have ultimate success super income great life! Give me a call and I will counsel you as to which areas you should focus on whether it is your first year or you are an experienced agent. Your only struggle is to find answers! The two major methods of Lead Generation are Prospecting and Marketing. Here are a few tips to generate more buyer and seller leads there is a process to selecting which areas to focus on, call me, and I ll help you with it. PROSPECTING Telemarketing In Person Just Sold Just Listed Past Customers/Clients For Sale By Owners (FSBO s) Expired Listings Geographical Farm Short Sales and Bank Owned properties (REO s) Door knocking Open Houses Networking events - Social

7 Seminars Teaching & Speaking Events Booths at Events Chamber of Commerce Clubs & Organizations MARKETING Advertising DECISION Newspapers Billboards Yellow Pages Radio Television Magazines Grocery Carts Car washes Bus Stop Benches Internet Websites/Marketing Direct Mail Sponsorship Postcard Campaigns Newsletter Campaigns Just Sold/Just Listed Quarterly Market Updates Little League High School Sport Programs Local Charities So far, all of this can be overwhelming, however as you can see, part of the process is your deciding which of the lead generation or conversion options is one in which you will become the expert in. You should analyze each item as to the time commitment, financial impact and more importantly the past success ratios and how it fits your personality. You also need to recognize that in your selection is your willingness to perform and complete to your best ability your commitment! Develop a spreadsheet based on the lead generation items. It should include the time and costs required to start up, implement and complete. Once completed, your decision will be to select the best two for you.

8 You will also need to supplement your Prospecting & Marketing with the following: A Lead Management and Lead Follow-up System An Drip Campaign Excellent Telephone Skills with Scripts A Great Listening Presentation Market Data/Statistics and Neighborhood Information As you can see, it is important to give ample consideration to a plan, a system and have a complete understanding of what your commitment level and direction is. Please let us help you with this very important process. Give me a call and I will be happy to provide you with the right information and assistance so that you can make the best informed decision for your real estate career. 5. SYSTEMS Not enough can be said about Systems Buyer Systems, Seller Systems, Lead Generation Systems, FSBO Systems, Expired Systems, Accounting, Business Sourcing and so on. They re critical to the industry and to agents. We say you should be working ON your business, not IN your business. System-Documentation-Quantification & Accountability is needed in order to operate your business so that it thrives and survives in spite of you, not because of you. Please take note of the following: Buyer Systems Seller Systems Administrative Interview Process Showing System Offer Process Contract to Close Pre-Listing System Seller Interview CMA System Marketing System Offer process Contract to Close Open Houses Contract to Close

9 Inbound Calls Sourcing/Tracking Contract to Close Accounting Advertising Marketing It will take some time to develop these systems from your initial start but EXTREMELY worthwhile. If you would like assistance give me a call or send me an . We can set up a time to go over the process. 6. TRAINING Training should never stop. Training in the real estate industry has become an overused and often over - promised reality basic real estate training should also reflect the current market conditions so that you are able to PRESENT, CLOSE, and HANDLE OBJECTIONS and develop successful BUSINESS SYTEMS! Therefore, in its most basic form training should include contracts, buyer and seller representation, lead generation, business planning and contract management. The course of information should never be presented by people who haven t actively sold real estate in twenty years, if ever! If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you ll achieve the same results. Anthony Robbins Additionally, find and take classes on Internet, Sales & Listing Techniques, Customer Service and Computer Skills. You will be amazed at what you can learn and will transfer into your business and pocket book. Make an effort to find it and implement it. Just one or two ideas will be compelling! 7. COACHING AND ACCOUNTABILITY Professional athletes Michael Jordan, John Elway, David Beckham, Wayne Gretsky and Tiger Woods all had a couple of things in common, a COACH! You could easily say that the best in the world may even have multiple coaches. This is an essential element to YOUR success in real estate. This business is really no different. When you re looking for that perfect coach who is going to guide your career and training, you will probably do an evaluation before making that huge decision. Here is what you might look for. Knowledge Please remember, any perfect coach may not know the answer to ALL of your questions, but can guide you to find the right answer. They should be able to help you develop that interdependence in real estate and at the same time not be dependent upon them for your success that part is up to you.

10 Systems the right coach will have access to the right systems that will help you build your business and sell more real estate. Look for a coach that can guide you and direct your progress as a real estate professional not one that needs to hold your hand or solve all of your issues. BEING ACCOUNTABLE It s fair to say that most of us don t want to be held accountable! And it s also fair to say, most people got into the real estate business because they want to be their own boss! The truth and reality of the situation, is that without accountability the likelihood of you being in the NINETY FIVE (95%) group instead of the FIVE (5%) group is enormous. The easiest way to look at ACCOUNTABILITY is that it s a method to keep you on track with your commitments. Most of the time it s a reality check and your partner would speak from a nonjudgmental point of view. Your partner (who could also be your Coach) will help you make the right decisions and guide you to those decisions thru a self-discovery process. 8. WEBSITES FOR AGENTS Do you currently have a website? Do you currently have an online marketing strategy? If so, what kind of results are you getting? Do you realize that ninety percent (90%) of buyers and sellers are now starting to do research one to five years before they actually make a purchase decision or contact an agent! Most of them have been actively looking on the internet and compiling their research. Here are listed some of the compelling elements of a productive website: Property Information Property Photos Neighborhood/Community Information Financial Calculators Market Statistics Testimonials Interactive Content Free Reports for Buyers and Sellers Benefits to the Visitor Auto Responders Drip Campaigns Have you given any thought as to what you want your website to do for you? What about the following as examples and how to incorporate them into your website: Generate Leads Provide Valuable Information Engage the Consumer Capture Leads

11 Cultivate Leads Convert Leads Today s most common mistake for agents is a website that is all about the agent! Please be on notice that your website should be all about the consumer and providing them with priceless information. To build an online presence to generate leads, call me and I will be happy to help you evaluate your goals or offer ideas concerning your current website. Once again, Century 21 has a FREE custom web site for every agent, one that includes a Blog and IDX search. 9. DATABASE MARKETING For anyone in the service industry from real estate, accounting, legal or investments, your most valuable asset is your book of business. yes, your database! This is all of your customers that have done business with you, will do business or will refer others to do business with you. How are you managing this database? Do you have a system? Having a system in place that manages your database (customers, etc.) allows your business will grow exponentially! Here are some of the elements of a database management and marketing system. Integrated to Contacts Calendaring System to Remind You of Action Steps Daily Action Plans for Each Person Newsletters Integrated Drip Campaign Integrated with Your Public Website Documentation - Conversations, s, Tracking of Deliveries and Newsletters. Century 21 has a FREE database for every agent, if you would like to discuss this system in more detail, please call me today. 10. FARMING STRATEGIES Farming is a system that requires consistency. Are you getting the desired results with direct mail? Do you have a strategy in place for your geographical farm? Farming, like anything else has a system and strategy, and is just as critical in detail as your online marketing, but is only successful when done correctly. Here are the steps to creating a productive farming strategy: Pick a neighborhood with a high turnover; use your MLS statistics. Pick a neighborhood that is not dominated by one agent or company.

12 Mail postcards one time per month. Design your mailer with community information and statistics. Have a call to action on each postcard - something for FREE! Preview all new inventory. Visit every FSBO in the neighborhood. Contact every Expired listing in your farm. Hold Open Houses consistently when you get a listing in your farm. Hold another agent s listing open in your farm if they will allow it and you don t have any listings. Again, farming is an activity that requires consistency and a monthly financial commitment. If you would like to review or get a productive farming system in place, call me and we can talk. 11. PRODUCTIVE OPEN HOUSES Agents can hold an Open House or agents can hold a Productive Open House; most agents don t seem to be that successful is there a reason? An open house is only as productive as you are and it all starts with preparation. A successful Open House begins with a specific plan that starts the Monday before the open house. Why do productive agents hold an Open House? To get appointments. Call or text me today if you d like a copy of our Open House Planning Guide. 12. INCREASE YOUR LISTING INVENTORY Question: What are the differences between working with buyers and working with sellers? When you have a listing, everyone in the area knows you are selling the house because they see the sign. When you re working with buyers, very few people know. When you re working with buyers you are working for all the agents in the area to sell their listings. When you re working with sellers all the agents are working for you to sell your listings. Buyers take more time and sellers take less time. Listings generate sign calls, and we turn them into leads and appointments. You can be out of town and sell a listing. With buyers you have to be there to make the sale! It is a conclusion that to get more listing inventory you have to do more prospecting. So let's assume that you re prospecting on a consistent basis, but need assistance with your presentation. Here are some strategies for you to consider: Be the best marketer with great marketing skills, negotiation skills and home staging skills. Stop doing listing presentations and start doing Listening Presentations.

13 Don t tell the seller how you work, ask them what they expect you to do to get the home sold. Verbalize your value proposition based on the expectations. Don t sell SERVE! Be truthful and committed to what you do to get homes sold and let them know what you don t do and why especially if they feel it is important. Be on the same page! Don t set the price; guide the seller to discover the price to set! Have a complete marketing plan that is inclusive of what you will do and when. Have a scheduled time that you will communicate progress consistently. Don t talk commission until they have agreed to market their property with you. When was the last time you role-played your Listening Presentation? Are there areas in need of improvement? Do you have a pricing strategy that gets your listings priced right? Is it possible I can help you with this process? Call me. A Business Plan is not a destination but a journey; an outline to your success! Start today by committing yourself to excellence through intelligent planning and focused effort! I ve worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down! Mia Hamm Now that you have thought long and hard about how and why you re going to do business in 2013, it s time to create a second, much shorter business plan. However, before we do that, we re going to do one last exercise. 13. Daily Affirmations Many driven and success minded individuals have a nasty tendency to dwell on the things they haven t achieved yet, rather than focusing on their positive accomplishments. Affirmations serve two purposes. First, they allow us to convince ourselves of what is possible, and that we can achieve those things we desire. Second, they replace or squeeze out the old, negative thoughts that are holding us back. They help train the subconscious about the person we want to become or the goal we want to achieve. Here are some examples of affirmations: I exercise every day I plan my work and work my plan every day I always do what I say I will do, sometimes more, NEVER less I accept my divine right to personal power & I express that power in everything I do. I deeply appreciate & accept myself just the way I am. I am celebrating the happy relationships I have with my family, friends and business associates.

14 I am celebrating the success of. I am proud that I am eating fruits, vegetables, carbs and protein in balance. Here are 6 ways to create Valuable Affirmations: 1. Use the present tense. Describe what you want as though you already have it or have accomplished the goal. An affirmation is not a wish. 2. Positive statements. So much self- talk is already negative; the goal of affirmations is to make statements that encourage you, not bring you down more. 3. Have an affirmation that is short enough to remember, and one that is specific to a certain goal. 4. Focus on yourself when it comes to affirmations. That should not be considered selfish, just that your positive thinking is for your needs, not the needs of others. You cannot change anyone else with your affirmations. 5. After becoming clear and specific with affirmations, begin to add on to them. They can be open ended and limitless so you can receive even more than you thought possible. 6. Support your affirmations! Don't just create one to later forget it and not pursue the positive thinking. We will talk more about ways to support affirmations in Thursday's blog so make sure to check back! Write your positive affirmations down, they are going to become a key part of your daily plan! 14. Daily Business Plan Now, we re ready to create your Daily Business Plan. Why? Because if your business plan is ten pages long, you ll likely put it in a drawer and not look at it again until next December! Here are some examples of what you might include: I write and deliver/mail five personal notes every day I blog at least twice a week I hold an Open House at least monthly and plan ahead to maximize the benefit I call 20/50/100 prospects every day I record at least one informational video each week and post it to YouTube, my Blog and Facebook The goal is to make this something that will fit onto a single sheet of paper, possibly even a 3x5 card that you will refer to each and every day. It might live on your desk, or on your night stand. 15. Daily Checklist The final step in our plan is to track our results. The following is a suggested daily checklist. You will also want to set up a database that tracks your contacts and results. The following is an outline; your checklist will almost certainly be based around your Daily Business Plan:

15 1. I exercised today: 2. I followed a specific plan of action today: 3. I set the intention of opening a new escrow today: 4. I organized my day around prospecting today: 5. I met my Daily contact goal: 6. I treated everyone as an equal opportunity to do business today: 7. I looked for opportunity in every situation today: 8. I worked on mastering my scripts and dialogues today: 9. I worked on mastering my listing presentation today: 10. I tracked and reported my numbers today: Today I was out of 10. My effort today was: % Writing your Business Plan takes effort, along with a considerable amount of soul searching. However, it can have an enormous impact on your future success. If I can help in preparing your plan, please call me. Regards, Chris Griffiths Recruiting Manager Century 21 Golden Realty Cell/Text: [email protected]