If you’re unsure whether you will reach your goals, (or even make enough money to stay in the business), ask yourself these 10 questions: 

1.  Do I have a ‘start-up’ plan—a plan that tells me what to do, when to do it, how to do it, and why to do it? (Or, do I just come to the office and ‘go with the flow’)

2. Am I waiting for someone to tell me what to do each day, or do I have focus and purpose with my plan? (it doesn’t work to ask your manager what to do each day, and, as a newer agent just told me, your manager answers, “Mail some postcards.” You wouldn’t expect a Starbucks franchise to ‘guide’ the new franchisee that way, and you’re not going to get a business start with that kind of  piecemeal ‘advice’!)

3. Do I have a daily schedule that is prioritized with the business actions most important to me to assure I make money? (If you’re just relying on your office for its floor time and meeting schedule, you aren’t in the business!)

4. Do I know the best methods of lead generation—and how to implement them? (You can’t wait for ‘training’ that starts in 3 months to start your business!)

5. Do I know the numbers? (how many contacts does it take to get a lead, how many leads to get an appointment, how many appointments to get a listing, showing, how many showings to get a sale, how many marketable listings will sell) (If you don’t, you are destined to be an ‘on accident’ agent—only selling someone something when the stars are aligned).

6. Do I know how long it will take to get a sale? To get a listing? To get a listing sold? (so you can project your income) (New agents tend to wait, and wait, and wait, to get into the business ‘stream’, thinking that there is no time frame to buyers’ decisions—wrong!)

7. Do I have a method of setting goals and tracking accomplishments in the areas above—so I can analyze my specific strengths and challenges in this business? (Most agents never track what they do, so they don’t know what worked—or why what they’re doing isn’t working).

8. Do I have a budget so I know how much money I should be spending in marketing myself/marketing my listings?

9. Do I have someone to talk to regularly, to coach me, to keep me on track, and to help me if I fall off my start-up plan (to keep me from failing)?

10. Do I have a method to keep myself motivated and inspired to keep on keeping on (like a coach or your manager)? 

If you can’t answer the questions above with authority and confidence, you need much more business direction than you’re getting now. It’s time for you to get serious about real estate as a business, and grasp a start-up plan and the support you need to assure your success.

 Resource: See Up and Running in 30 Days, www.carlacross.com. It’s a comprehensive new agent start-up plan with enough training to get you into the field, and focused, starting with your first week in the business. It answers all the questions above. Most people would call it a ‘business plan’, but it’s not. It’s specially created as the appropriate ‘start-up plan’ for the new agent, just as all successful franchises provide their start-up plans for their new franchisees.

Managers: My survey of hundreds of agents under 3 months in the business showed that the majority expected a sale their first month in the business. Guess in what month they are mentally and emotionally out of the business? Month two.

Especially in a challenging market, it’s your job to provide them a comprehensive start-up plan and coach them to it, to assure your investment in them pays off—and their investments in themselves pay off, too.

Most agents tell me they did not receive a job description when they started in the business (or in the interview). If not, why not? In my last blog, I discussed the fallacy that agents should start out as ‘independent’ business people. Now, I don’t mean they shouldn’t take responsibility for their actions and success. I mean that we shouldn’t abdicate our responsibility to teach, train, and coach them so they become great salespeople (so they can become independnet).  Besides not having skills they need to succeed, they usually don’t even know what the job is!

Poor Job Descriptions Abound

As I teach management courses nationally, and speak nationally, I see many examples of poorly thought-out job descriptions and activity plans. What do you think is a poor job description? Take a look here.  ( a preview is to the right).

Why do you think I regard it as a poor job description? It’s not:

Prioritized

Some of the activities don’t result in success

My conclusion: This job description was written by an academic who had never been successful in real estate!

Abdicating  Leadership Responsibilities

Part of that abdication of management responsibility, I believe, is managers not providing a prioritized job description to agents. Notice I said ‘prioritized’.  Which activities should the agent start with? Which are important to be successful? Which are less important?

Before I share my job description with you, please write the job description you believe is the one you follow. Is it helping your hurting you prioritize your most important activities?

My Prioritized Job Description

Now, take a look at the prioritized job description I developed as a foundation for the new agent’s start-up plan,  Up and Running in 30 Days. How does yours differ? What does your job description say about what you think is important? Are you gaining as much success as you should? What does your job description and business plan have to do with those results?

For a printable copy, click here. 

Get that job description refined. Talk to other agents to assure it’s the job description that reflects how you want to work. Compare that job description to what you actually do every day. How close can you come to your job description in your everyday execution? Now, you’re getting much more effective and efficient.

Getting the guidance you need to succeed: If you’re a new agent (under 1 year), you need Up and Running in 30 Days. If you’re a seasoned agent, you need The On Track to Success in 30 Days System. Why not assure you have a better year in 2012?

1. You don’t have a sales history to review (a large part of the business planning process). You don’t have a frame of reference.

2. You don’t have a need to think out 3-5 years.

3. You don’t have a need to make complex marketing plans.

What you do need: A prioritized business start-up plan. If you don’t have that, you will do meaningless activities like:

• 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 agents who fall into this action plan 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.

Dump that Long-Term Plan and Look at your Start-Up Plan–If You Have One Why not rate your plan now to see which path you are on? Simply add up the number of hours you spent last week 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 you can manage your time effectively—throughout your career

2. A schedule that has certain activities scheduled secondarily—and why—so you don’t teach yourself to be a failed agent

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).

Plan must be integrated with training and coaching. But, that’s not all you need. You need integrated programs with a skilled coaching professional (it can be your manager, or an outside coach), to help you implement successfully.

When to Switch to a Bigger Business Planning Process

1. When you’ve completed 8-12 transactions in a year (now you know how to organize and implement your prioritized day-to-day activities)

2. When you have a track record so you can review your previous year to see patterns and make changes

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.

A recent study showed that shrinking commissions was the largest problem perceived by top producers.

I was asked to do a presentation on real estate trends and their impact on real estate professionals for the National Association of Realtors’ Mid-Year Convention. So, I did lots of research. The presentation is called “The Drumbeat of Emerging Trends”. In it, I explore the five most important trends affecting real estate right now.

In this blog, I want to share with you how to assure your commissions don’t shrink.

After all, if you’re a committed agent who invests monetarily and emotionally in a long-term career, you deserve the commissions you want to charge.

What it Takes to Preserve the Commission Levels you Want 

There are two things you can provide that more than earn your ‘generous’ commissions (and that a computer search can’t do for a buyer or seller):

Expert consulting

Expert negotiating

Becoming that ‘Value-Added’ Consultant and Negotiator

There are some specific steps you can take to provide truly deliver immeasurable value to your clients. Here they are:

1. If you haven’t taken interactive, tough, to-the-point consulting and negotiating workshops, do so now. Unfortunately, most agents aren’t trained consultants or negotiators, so they’re missing the opportunity to differentiate themselves from other agents—and impersonal web-based services
2. If you don’t use a written questionnaire to interview prospective buyers and sellers, get and starting using them now.  (see The Complete Buyer’s Agent Toolkit and Your Client-Based Marketing System for comprehensive consulting tools)
3. Regularly survey your clients, at least at closing, to find out how you did—and keep refining your buyer and seller systems based on client feedback

Surveys Now on the Web for the World to See 

A huge trend: websites have been created that feature surveys from real estate clients. The client has been feeling let down by agents, and now can either vent or brag! Take a look at

www.incredibleagents.com

www.realestateratingz.com

www.zillow.com

Ask yourself: If I were a client, what kind of feedback about an agent would cause me to want to work with her? What would cause me to avoid this agent? Some of the client surveys you’ll see on the site are awe-inspiring—and some are exceptional for entirely different reasons! 

Down to the Wire 

I believe that, very soon, companies will be either full service, generous commission companies, with dedicated, career-focused agents, or limited service, “less generous” commission companies. Which level of service (and fee structure) will you offer?

What education, training, and skills are you going to build into that business plan to assure you are the professional of choice–and worth every penny of what you want to charge?

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.

Today, real estate agents capture much more of the gross commission dollar than ever before. At the same time, they must become real businesspeople, because they must allocate some of these dollars to marketing—to increase their business. But, how do you know how to spend those marketing dollars?

Here are two basic principles of marketing dollar allocation

Principle One. Spend a proportional amount on your best source (s) of business—it will beget more business (your best source of business is from your past clients and people who know and trust you).

Most Agents are Not Spending Their Marketing Dollars Right

A recent study showed that agents spent the largest amount of their marketing dollars on direct mail, advertising, and the Internet. Yet, the majority of their business came from traditional ‘people to people’ sources 

Do you know how much you spent on your best source of business last year?

Only one percent of the agents do. That means they aren’t treating that group of people as a ‘target market’. You must segregate your best sources and allocate funds directly to marketing to them. You must make a marketing plan directly to these people, and attach a budget to this best source.

How much Money Should You Spend?

Principle Two. Spend between 5 and 10% of your projected income on marketing to your best source of business.

Example: If you were to project for next year that you will get 20 sales from your past clients, and that income would be $4000 per ‘revenue unit’ or $80,000, you would allocate $4000 to $8000 to marketing to that source.

Simply reviewing how you spent your 2011 and allocating adequate marketing dollars for 2012 will, in the end, save you money. Also, you’ll have something to measure and adjust.

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.

Do you have a business plan for next year? Is it in a format that I could actually follow if you delegated running your business o me? I doubt over 5% of the agents could answer that question ‘yes’. Yet, we all talk about the importance of a business plan. In my earlier blog, I discussed what needs to be in your plan–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 lead generating plan.

Create a lead generating plan that you can actually follow! Too often, our big goals don’t translate into what we’ll do every day and eery week to get us closer to our goals. So, be sure your lead generating plan is in place, and that it coordinates with your goals.

7. Prioritize your action plan as either business-producing or business supporting.

In Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s start-up plan, I introduced the concept of dividing all activites into these two categories. Be sure you have your priorities right on your business plan! Otherwise, you will be drawn to support activities–safe, but not productive.

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 agents make is that their daily schedules have no relationship to their stated goals! They’re too busy in taking care of the immediate and demanding that they don’t do the important things.

9. Assign people to carry out your plan.

You will get to the point where you know you need help. To prepare for that, put the names of the people who will carry out the activities, so you know to whom you will delegate.  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.

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.

Do you have a business plan for next year? Is it in a format that I could actually follow if you delegated running your business  to me? I doubt over 5% of the real estate professionals 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 business. 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/technology, lead generation, marketing (inc. social media). That way, you’re actually creating a road map to use every day, not just a broad brush picture.

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 lead generation, decide on measurable production goals that should result from your lead generating efforts. 

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.

Have you ever seen anyone follow a process doggedly–and then fail? Of course. Whether we have a bad road map, 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 or a seasoned one. As a seasoned agent, too, you need some latitude in the planning process. Yet, you’ll want to use a process that leads you in the right direction.

Some Business Planning Tips from the ‘Coach’ (That’s me…)

Click here for those 53 business planning tips from the Coach.

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.

Today, real estate agents capture much more of the gross commission dollar than ever before. At the same time, they must become real businesspeople, because they must allocate some of these dollars to marketing—to increase their business. But, how do you know how to spend those marketing dollars?

Here are two basic principles of marketing dollar allocation

Principle One. Spend a proportional amount on your best source (s) of business—it will beget more business (your best source of business is from your past clients and people who know and trust you).

Most Agents are Not Spending Their Marketing Dollars Right

A recent study showed that agents spent the largest amount of their marketing dollars on direct mail, advertising, and the Internet. Yet, the majority of their business came from traditional ‘people to people’ sources

Do you know how much you spent on your best source of business last year?

Only one percent of the agents do. That means they aren’t treating that group of people as a ‘target market’. You must segregate your best sources and allocate funds directly to marketing to them. You must make a marketing plan directly to these people, and attach a budget to these best sources.

How much Money Should You Spend?

Principle Two. Spend between 5 and 10% of your projected income on marketing to your best source of business.

Example: If you were to project for next year that you will get 20 sales from your past clients, and that income would be $4000 per ‘revenue unit’ or $80,000, you would allocate $4000 to $8000 to marketing to that source.

Be sure to make a budget for 2012 with a targeted, segmented marketing plan and allocations for your best sources. Now, you’re in business!

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.

At the end of this year, I’m focusing on business planning in both of my blogs. Look for ready to use checklists, processes, and systems. Let’s all get great plans for 2012!

What’s your lead generating plan for 2012? We all love it when some seminar guru tells us we just have to take care of our present and past clients and we’ll get rich. The first part of that statement is true. We DO have to take care of our present and past clients, and that’s an important part of re-creating our business. And, the sad truth is, many real estate agents do a very poor job of that. So, we do start there.

When You Don’t Have Enough

But, what if you don’t have enough ‘potentials’ from those sources? You must look further.

Your Business Success Greatly Depends on Your Having Enough Lead Generating Sources

Here’s where the difficulty comes in. In many instances today, a real estate agent, even a seasoned one, does not have enough past clients to provide the necessary leads to grow his business in a challenging market. My experience, having been a top salesperson, and directly managing hundreds of salespeople, has taught me that reaching your monetary goals starts with

enough lead generating sources.

You must have at least 100 active, identifiable past clients, in your up-to-date database, to drive your business upward. And, in some markets, that may not be enough.

Other Exceptional Sources of Leads for the Experienced Agent 

In my resource for the experienced agent, On Track to Success in 30 Days System for Experienced Agents,  I’ve worked really hard to help experienced agents see where they’re ‘missing the boat’. Too many get stuck in a career rut. Or, they may put barriers in front of themselves that keep them from reaching that next career level.

Besides helping them put their careers under a microscope to find solutions, I’ve also provided solutions that work in this challenging market–including a lead generating plan.  I have identified 5 sources of leads for you that most agents never think of.  They are especially good for experienced agents, because you have been in the business and you have a wealth of knowledge and experience.  Putting these sources of leads into your lead generation and marketing plans will dramatically increase your business.

Have You Orphaned your Clients?

In this blog, let’s talk about the first source, the ‘client orphans’.  What are client ‘orphans’? These are buyers and sellers who closed transactions with an agent in your office. The agent has left the business. Now, the client has no one to turn to. You can step into this breach. If you need business, and are willing to create and implement a marketing plan to reach out and communicate or time with these ignored people, you can ‘adopt’ them.  Who is keeping in touch with those ‘orphaned’ buyers and sellers?  No one.

Orphans May be Unhappy with the Company 

Be aware, though, they may not be too accommodating when you first talk with them.  They are disappointed that someone has not cared enough about their interests to keep in touch. (This is a great lesson to all of us. Never, ever, love ‘em and leave ‘em!).

Note: A recent survey showed that less than 1/3 of agents who closed transactions went back to the buyers and sellers they worked with AFTER the transaction closed. No wonder clients think we love them and leave them. We do!

How to ‘Adopt’ Those Orphans

When someone leaves your office, go to your manager and get a list of their ‘orphaned’ buyers and sellers.  Call those people, and explain that the manager has asked you to keep in touch.  They will be thankful and appreciative.  You will gain another source of business, and the industry’s image (and the company’s image) will be maintained–or raised.

Manager’s tip: Create a system to re-assign those orphaned buyers and sellers to an agent willing to form a relationship with them.  If you do this regularly, you will save lots of marketing dollars (remember, it costs 6-9 times more to get a new customer), and you will increase your company’s reputation as a company who cares.  Also, you will provide lead sources regularly for your agents.

Building your Business AND the Reputation of the Company and Industry 

You and I both hate it when a client says the agent didn’t get back to them or keep in touch. Many times, that’s because the agent was either an uncommitted part-timer or out of the business. By adopting client orphans, you can prove that real estate agents care more than just a commission. This not only raises your image, but the image of your company and of the industry. Plus, it provides you another source of ‘leads’ who learn to love you.

New Business Planning Series

If you’re unsure how to start your plan, if you don’t see the benefit of planning, I’ve got some answers for you.  I’ve been working on business planning for years……and I’ve just come up with a series that I think answers questions like, “How do I get started? How do I know what numbers to put in? How can I make my plan useful?  How will I know that it works?”

I call this big program Come See 2012: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. In it, I’ve created 2 webinars to walk you right through the planning process. I’ve made it simple and straightforward–but not so simple it won’t work!  Along with that, I’ve provided the most updated versions of my planning documents–15 of them!

In addition, I’ve added several bonuses:

• From the Coach: 53 Pointers for your Business Plan
• Biggest Marketing Dos and Don’ts
• Especially for teams: How to use the planning process to teamify and inspire

All for a VERY affordable price of $79. Why not let me walk you through the process, provide inspiration, and confidence that your plan will work to give you a great 2012? Click here for more information and purchase.