By: Kathy Pinkus, Chairman of NSBAR
One component of business that’s often overlooked by in-coming real estate professionals is that they neglect to establish career goals. The key to a personal strategic plan is writing a clear and concise mission statement you can get behind. It is not enough to write “My mission is to sell houses.” No – anyone can do that. Your mission statement should be more detailed since the rest of your plan depends completely on this statement. A good example is “my mission is to acquire 20 listings over the course of a year.” See the difference? The second statement is much more detailed, and it actually will help keep its writer accountable to it.
You can begin to outline your strategic plan from the mission statement. Plans need to be kept SMART (Strategic, Measurable, Achievable, Results-oriented, and Time-based).
Strategic
Goals need to be strategic, meaning they must serve the mission statement. Look again at the second example above – what will you do to make those 20 new listings a reality? Will you contact FSBOs? Or, do you think you might do some cold-calling? Are you going to do a mailing to your particular farm area?
Measurable
The goals you set must be measurable. Let’s say you’re going to contact FSBOs in order to meet your mission of 20 listings. Super – but what is that going to look like? How many FSBOs will you contact on a daily basis? Are you just going to call them or will you actually knock on their door? How often will you follow-up with FSBOs? How much time each day will you dedicate to pitching to the FSBO? Measurable goals give substance to the strategic plan.
Achievable/Aligned
Your strategic plan won’t have a chance if the goals you set are not achievable, or if the goals don’t serve the mission statement. Imagine that you set a goal of picking up 100 listings in your first year. Now, while I’m not saying that it’s impossible, it may be a bit much to be achievable. Be realistic and know where your limitations are. Likewise, make certain your goals are aligned with the mission statement. Look carefully at your plan – if the milestone you’ve set has little or nothing to do with your mission, then you need to rewrite the goal.
Results-Oriented
You must measure how effective your goals are. Set milestones – perhaps once a month you will look at your journal. You see that in soliciting 5 FSBOs a day (that’s 150 each month) via the phone, you were invited in to look at only one home and you were not able to convince them to list with you. Don’t get mad at yourself – just realize that something in the strategic plan has to change or your mission is jeopardized. Perhaps you’ll start knocking on the doors of the FSBOs, or increasing your calls to 10 a day. Remember that a lot of this is trial and error, and that’s why it is important to have results-oriented goals.
Time-Based
As mentioned earlier, set milestones and deadlines for your goals. This will help to keep you accountable to the mission statement, and will probably enhance your business. But remember to be reasonable and to set deadlines within your limits. And again, a lot of this is trial and error, so it is important to note when there was not enough time allotted to complete a task successfully. Make the adjustment and move on.
