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She’s On It! A Cool Strategy for Touching Base with your Client Base

March 24th, 2020

Boy, has the world changed in a couple of weeks! I know you’re getting inundcated with emails saying ‘we support you’. Instead of a general email, though, I want to offer you some concrete, specific strategies you can do right now that will set up for your greater success when we get back to normal (whatever that will be).

I chose the ‘standing ovation’ because you’re going to see a strategy that deserves one!

I’ve been through several market shifts, and I’ve found that most agents sit and wait for the market to come back to ‘normal’. That strategy doesn’t work too well. I think agents are much more ready to ‘shift’ than they used to be. I’m seeing some great examples, and I want to share them with you.

She Keeps In Touch–Always

About a year ago, I was interviewing potential managers for a real estate company, and one of the references given was Sandee McDuffie. She and I had a delightful conversation, and–oh, my gosh–she has kept me on her contact management system since! So, I was so impressed when I got this video and attachment below. I asked Sandee if she would share it, and she said she would be happy to.

Click here to see Sandee’s video and resource.

What Sandee Did So Well

First, she included a short video (she used BombBomb to record and save). Then, she provided a link to valuable resources. Don’t you think her clients will thank her and keep using this resource? You bet!

Suggestion

Let’s say you want to keep communicating with your clients but you want to stretch it out. Just divide Sandee’s resource into 4 or 5 and deliver them every few days. Either way, you’ve helped your clients in many ways–and they’ll certainly remember you.

High Tech or High Touch?

Right now, high touch is so important. And, you can use tech to get there. Just don’t get them in the wrong priority. We’re in the people business.

Would you share what you’re doing?

Email me at carla@carlacross.com. We’re all in this together, and, the stronger one of us comes out of this, the stronger ALL of us will be. I’m excited to see what’s in my inbox tomorrow, and I’ll of course ask your permission before I share it.

Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as you can. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church

Categories action plan, client referrals, client trust, communication, customer loyalty, customer service, Marketing, Marketing with PR, Raving Fans, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Success, value-added
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How to Create a Great Opening for Effective Presentations

by Carla Cross

January 24th, 2020

Here’s how to create a great opening for effective Presentations

Do you have to get in front of 2 (or 200) and capture their attention immediately? If you’re an agent and you do buyer or seller presentations, you certainly do. And, if you’re in management, you do every time you start a sales meeting. You affiliates certainly have to quickly capture attention when you get in front of a sales meeting.

So, for all of you agents, managers, and affiliates, here are the secrets to getting their attention. This is how you launch ANY presentation any time you’re in front of people.

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Have you thought about how you start your presentations? Most of the time, we just get in front of people and say whatever we think of first. That leads to some big presentation mistakes, and costs us ‘sales’. Instead of stumbling through a presentation, why not organize it to grab their attention, persuade them to your way of thinking, and motivate them to action? You can.

In my resource, Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make Your Best Presentation Ever, I show a simple three-step format to create your persuasive presentation. No matter why you’re in front of people, we need to be

persuasive

Think about it. Real estate salespeople: When you’re doing a listing presentation, what do you want to happen? You want them to sign the listing agreement when you’re done. So, it’s extremely important that you organize your listing presentation using a persuasive format, not just an information-heavy dialogue flow.

In this blog, we’ll discuss great openings–one of the 2 most important parts of any presentation.

Grab Their Attention in the Opening

Have you thought about your opening? Or, are you nervously standing at the sellers’ door, worried about what you’re going to say? Are you hiding in your office because you dread doing that sales meeting? When we haven’t organized our presentation, we come up with some really boring, off-putting openings, like:

I won’t take much of your time, but

We have a lot to cover today (boy, that sounds exciting and motivating, doesn’t it?)

We won’t get through the outline/presentation (then, why do we have that outline?)

I know you don’t want to listen, but

I’m not really prepared (this happens in many presentations in front of 2 or 2000!)

You just open your presentation book, point to the pretty pages, and say, “here’s a keybox” (I’m not kidding. I’ve seen it….)

Great openings, yes? Yet, we’ve heard them dozens of times. You don’t have to settle for whatever comes ‘naturally’. Instead, make your openings

Provocative

Interesting

Different

Engaging

Motivating

The First Two Minutes are Critical

Recently, I attended a Train the Trainer’ session (yes, I still learn great stuff every day!), where the trainer said it was important to engage the audience in a meaningful way in the first two minutes of your presentation. I think that’s a great rule to follow today, because people’s attention spans are the length of a gnat’s eyebrow. So, the next time you attend a presentation, see how much time elapses before the speaker/presenter/trainer gets the audience into meaningful action. I don’t mean to ask a rhetorical question, either!

Want many more presentation tips for your next meeting, listing or buyer presentation, or sales presentation? Check out Knock Their Socks Off: Tips to Make your Best Presentation Ever.

In the next blog, we’ll talk about the other 2 parts of the presentation, and how to make them sizzle, too.

What mistakes have you seen presenters make in their openings? Let me know.

What do you do to grab their attention and interest in the first two minutes?

Let Me Help Your Trainers Refine Their Skills

I help associations and companies help their trainers become masters, try new methods, keep their audiences, awake, and become more creative. Contact me and we’ll talk about how I can help you.

Categories buyer presentation, Experienced agent, listing presentation, Marketing, New Real Estate Agents, presentation skills, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Sales Strategies
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Business Planning: Do You Know Where You Spent Your $$$ Last Year?

by Carla Cross

December 7th, 2019

Do you where you spent your money last year? Knowing is critical to your NOT having empty pockets next year. In my upcoming webinar, I discuss the importance of 3 critical areas you must know to succeed next year. One of these areas is your budget.

Here are the surprising results of a study on how top agents spent their marketing dollars:

As you can see, agents spent their money NOT on the best sources of business, but on other sources.

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Why? Maybe because they thought these other sources were more interesting. Maybe they wanted to try something new. Maybe they didnt know where they had spent their money before, and just kept throwing it at these less-than-stellar sources.

So, be sure YOU know where your money went last year, and how big a bang you got for your buck. Now, youre ready to plan for 2020.

Join Me for a Complimentary Business Planning Webinar!

Whether you’ve been in business 20 years or 20 minutes, you need an awesome blueprint for a great 2020. Join us for this fast-paced webinar, where Carla Cross, who literally ‘wrote the book’ on real estate business planning, will help you do just that.

In this webinar, you’ll:

Get the blueprint the most successful agents and businesses use to create a plan that works. You don’t need a ‘fill in the blanks’ color by the numbers plan–you need a businessperson’s way to think through your business so you’re ready for anything that comes your way in 2020.

Gain the critical step usually left out in business planning–the step that can literally save your money and efforts from going down those dreaded planning ‘cul-de-sacs of frustration and failure

How to predict and project your 2020 results so you know your plan is going to work for you–not someone else!

Your gold mine right in front of you—and few agents are ‘mining’ it. You’ll save thousands in marketing dollars, lower your stress, and enjoy a much better business if you create the right action plan for 2020.

You’ll get some stunning and surprising statistics that will help you create the right actions for 2020, instead of guessing at what to do next.

Managers: You’ll gain tips on helping your agents plan–and how you can be a true support for their planning efforts. Just imagine what your profits would be like if every one of your agents had a workable plan?

Questions: You’ll have a chance to ask Carla your business planning questions, too. You’ll gain handouts from her business planning programs.

Space is limited, so register now! Let’s work together to create an exceptional 2020.

$$$$$$ 2 lucky people will win Carla’s complete business planning systems, too.

When: Dec. 12 (Thursday)

Time: 10-11 am, Pacific Standard Time (west coast)

What: Business planning webinar (join with your computer)

Register here.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Categories accountability, Business Plan, Coaching, customer satisfaction, lead generation, Marketing, New Real Estate Agents, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success
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What Your Title on your Business Card Says about You

by Carla Cross

September 20th, 2019

You probably never thought about it, but your title on your business card tells a lot about you. It tells us what you think of your business.

If you’re a newer agent, you’ve probably struggled about what to put on those business cards. Maybe you have shied away from putting ‘salesperson’. I know.

To some, the word ‘salesperson’ has a negative meaning.

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It did to me as a new agent. I came from the world of music, where there was no ‘sales resistance’ and everyone respected me because I was a college music teacher.

The Value of Being a Salesperson

I learned the value of becoming a salesperson–a really, really good salesperson, because I learned I could help people do what they wanted to do–and just needed someone to facilitate that.

If There Were No Salespeople

Where would we be without sales skills and salespeople? Here are some of the notable people today that you don’t think are in sales–but who have really, really good sales skills (and have to have, to get us to embrace their ideas):

Madonna (she may not be the best singer, but, boy, does she know how to sell herself)

President Obama (he must be able to sell himself and his programs)

Warren Buffet (help people embrace his investment ideas)

Bill Gates (Sell Microsoft and its products)

What Salespeople Do–and Why You Should Be Proud to Call Yourself a ‘Salesperson

As my first ‘boss’ in real estate said, ” If there were no salespeople, few/no goods would be bought” (except those that are absolutely needed). In fact, as my manager pointed out, the economy would come to a grinding halt. When the economy is going great in real estate, salespeople aren’t considered as important. But, wait–when the market slows, salespeople will become fewer–and more valuable to the public.

Sales Skills are Artistic and Not So Easy to Master

Now, there is a movement against using anything with the connotation of ‘sales’. Yet, there is nothing wrong–and everything right–about the art of sales. Using properly, sales helps people see the benefits of buying whatever they are considering.

Poor Sales Hurts the Consumer–Really Hurts!

As a long-time real estate salesperson, I saw buyers and sellers actually stopped from purchasing or selling because their salesperson was so inept. That meant the customer lost hundreds of thousands of dollars down the road! In fact, 99% of the mistakes agents I observed salespeople make were not in forcing, manipulating, or lying their way into getting someone to do something not in their best interest but rather

stopping a buyer or seller from doing what’s best for him/her because the salesperson had such lousy skills

Become a Blazingly Good Salesperson

If you have some reticence at the word ‘salesperson’, tackle that reticence right now. You aren’t just a licensee; you aren’t just an agent; you are a sales professional. You discover prospects (lead generation). You uncover prospects’ needs; you help prospects investigate new possibilities; you help prospects prioritize information and properties; you negotiate on their behalf. Those are all sales not agent skills. Agency is just a license. Sales is a skill and an art. Become an artist of what you do!

Question: What do you see agents putting on their business cards? What does it tell you?

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, Branding, Buyers, Coaching, Marketing, New Real Estate Agents, Personal promotion, pre-license, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Up and Running in 30 Days
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New Agents Speak Out: What Works–What to Avoid

by Carla Cross

September 12th, 2019

Want the ‘real skinny’ on succeeding in real estate? Read what successful newer agents say to do–and what to avoid.

In the latest edition of Up and Running in 30 Days, the new agent’s business start-up plan, I’ve put lots of updates including advice from successful newer agents. Rather than my trying to convince you of these principles myself, here’s what they’ve said:

On Training

Here’s a quote from Kyle Kovats, who was chosen as one of the finalists for the “30 under 30” honors from the National Association of Realtors. These select nominations are agents chosen because they are under 30 and very successful in the business.

Kyle advises: “Find a broker who has a comprehensive training program. Ask if you can speak with agents who have gone through it to get the agents’ perspective on whether it was helpful.”

{Note: Up and Running in 30 Days has tips for you new agents in choosing the right training program—a training program that actually assures you launch a great career).

The Importance of Coaches and Mentors

There’s a lot more to success than just attending even a great training program. Read this from Merrilee Prochaska, “I wish I had understood the importance of a mentor/coach before I began.”

{Up and Running in 30 Days discusses the trend toward coaches, and provides guidance in choosing the right coach for you.}

On What They Wish They’d Done Differently

It’s not all a smooth ride to success! Here are some comments successful agents on what they wish they had done differently

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. From Cerise Paton: “Followed up more and more consistently; understood the time and discipline and numbers needed for lead generation and lead conversion; recognizing the time it took to build trust; going on more appointments, failing more often, and getting better, practicing presentations with friends”.

Gary Richter’s comment on what he would do differently could apply to most new agents: “Contact all of my sphere and ask for business.” Gary admits he was reticent to ask them all for business.

On Prioritizing Your Activities and Lead Generation Sources

Don’t take my word for it that clearly prioritizing your activities as business-producing or business-supporting is key to success. Hear it from Gary Richter, who used Up and Running in 30 Days to start his career. He says his priorities are big reasons he’s succeeding now: “I am cognizant of my daily activities and recognized them as either business producing or business supporting. I spend the majority of my time on business-producing activities.”

And, Diane Honeycutt states, “Take the advice in this plan and be sure you’re not a ‘secret agent’! Develop a work plan and stick to it”.

Here’s what Kyle Kovats, that great ’30 under 30’ nominee, said: “Get out there and just do it. Try different forms of prospecting and see what works. An ounce of action is more powerful than a ton of planning.”

Gary Richter advises: “Get off your computer and go out into the areas. Focus on business-producing activities.”

More great advice from Kyle Kovats: “Be relentless. Follow up with handwritten letters rather than the generic form letters/cards most agents send people. Be unique.”

On the Importance of Client Relationship Management Technology

When I asked those agent and manager contributors the technology new agents should incorporate, here’s what they said:

“CRM and lead management tools”—Diane Honeycutt

“A really good and easy-to-use CRM”—Cerise Paton

“A good CRM”—Chris Cross

So, don’t be like the majority of new agents (and even seasoned agents who put off capturing all those leads in a database and then, even better a CRM!) Start using a database, or better yet, a CRM your first week in the business.

On Spending Money for Leads

Here’s some advice from one of those Top 30 Under 30 finalists, James Pierce: “Don’t pay a dime to sites like Zillow, etc.”

From Cerise Paton: “You will get a lot of calls to sell you leads, google placement, banner ads, shopping carts, you name it. Don’t do it. It either has no value, or you’re not ready for it, or you can’t afford it”

Tip for managers: As you read these comments, ask yourself, “How is my training, coaching, and business start-up plan keeping my new agents on track?” What needs to be changed or refined so I get better results?”

How about YOU?

Are you following these principles? How many have you rejected or violated in your first few months in the business? Why? Success isn’t always easy, but it always has patterns and leaves clues! Don’t try and re-invent the wheel. Follow a proven plan with assured results and you will be wildly successful!

Take a look at what’s in Up and Running in 30 Days: updates in 5th edition. If you’re not reaching your goals as a newer agent (or want to re-start your career), you NEED this detailed start-up plan–chock full of advice that’s up-to-date. only $32.95 plus shipping–and invaluable to your career success. Click here for more information and to order.

I’ve got a bonus, too, for you this month: You’ll also receive my ‘little book of Big Ideas--inspiration and motivation to keep going to success!

Your Goldmine: Are You Cultivating a Database that Rocks?

by Carla Cross

June 28th, 2019

Your goldmine: Are you cultivating a database that rocks? Do you even have one yet? Most new agents are certainly not ‘database freaks’. In fact, I estimate less than 5% of agents under a year in the business even have a ‘purged’ (up to date) database! And, I estimate less than 25% have even any sort of populated database. How are they gathering and managing all those contacts they are getting from their lead generation? They aren’t–or they aren’t lead generating.

Social Networking has Taken the Place of Databases, Carla–You old Fuddy-Duddy…..

I know. You just love social networking. You could spend hours on it (in fact, you do). You go to all those classes on social networking, and, by golly, you know more about it than your manager. Don’t get too cocky yet.

There are two problems you’re creating for yourself by relying on social networking to keep track of your contacts:

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1. You are probably spending too much time at your computer and not enough time meeting real people and forming relationships. Remember, buying a home is not like buying a set of knives. You’ll have to work hard to establish a trusting relationship. Most of us aren’t good enough at writing to do that without finally meeting someone.

2. You are not gathering your future goldmine–your database full of people who are going to love you and what you do.

Who do you ‘Own’?

Here’s the problem with relying on the social networking sites to keep track of your potential clients. You don’t own them. The social networking site could go out of business. It could start charging you. It could sell your contacts. That’s why you need to ‘own’ those contacts in your own database. Now, you can create a marketing plan. You can communicate with those people on a schedule.

Also: You want to be able to put in notes about those you meet: Their birthdays, their anniversaries, their addresses, their kids’ names, their dogs/cats’ names…..those things that signal to them that you care more about them than just a commission!

Start and Populate your Database Intensely

You’re a newer agent. You want to make money fast. You want to establish a solid long-term career. Become a ‘database freak’ so that you can remember all those wonderful people you met. Lead generation is the most important part of the sales business. Doing a lot of it assures high income. That means tracking all those people you meet. It takes more than one communication to create a loyal client.

New Agent Key to Success: Right Priorities

Those of you who have used Up and Running in 30 Days to start your careers know that I have worked hard to prioritize your business for you so that you are successful quickly, and gain business management habits for life. I’ve prioritized types of business, best sources of leads, and all the activities you’ll do to get started quickly. I want you to prioritize your technology activities, too. Remember, you’re a salesperson.

Become that database freak and see your business develop quickly.

The Easy Way to Launch Your Business to Success

**Up and Running in Real Estate** is like Up and Running in 30 Days ‘on steroids’. Get a proven system to follow. Get the training you need in 25 short videos. Why not struggle? Start fast! ***Check it out here.***

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, customer loyalty, customer service, lead generation, Marketing, New Real Estate Agents, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Real estate systems, Sales Strategies
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New Agents: Stop Doing These Five Things and Start Making Money

by Carla Cross

May 15th, 2019

New agents: Stop doing these five things and start making money!

New agents unwittingly act themselves out of the business by doing five things that actually cost them money, instead of making them money. Below are the five things you MUST quit doing.

Are You Starting the Business or Waiting to Start the Business?

Why are you waiting to start your business? What do I mean? After all, you’ve probably been ‘starting your business’–you think. You feel you need to do all kinds of things before you actually start talking to people. I know. You’re scared spitless to start actually selling real estate. So, instead, you do all the other ‘stuff’ that keeps you out of trouble–that is, away from clients! After all, you want to te prepared!

That other stuff includes:

Paperwork

Blogging

Social networking (do some of those people do anything else?!)

Going to classes (you just have to know everything before you talk to a person, don’t you?)

And, the very worst, I think, looking at pretty houses.

Why Are These Activities So Bad?

If you are using Up and Running in 30 Days, or Up and Running in Real Estate, you already know the answer. Those activities actually keep you away from selling real estate. As we say in Up and Running,

the business starts when you start talking to people.

Yes, I know. You want to be educated. You want all that training. You want to be confident. But, here’s the big secret:

Performance increases competence and confidence.

Nothing Wrong with Preparation–in Context

Yes, you want to be prepared. Yes, you want to market yourself. Yes, you want to know the inventory. But, you need to put that in perspective.

False Confidence from Getting Ready to Get Ready

The problem about thinking you are getting confidence from all the Support Activities I listed above is that they don’t really make you confident. You just think you are getting somewhere for a short period of time.

99% of learning comes from doing, not watching, not hearing, and not reading.

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Do it and you will gain confidence and competence. What are you waiting for? When are you going to start talking to people–so you can make money?

Are Your Priorities Making or Costing You Money?

It’s so easy to get off-track. We all have been there. If you’re struggling to make those sales, you need a program that teaches you priorities, gives you a success path, and the prioritized actions to get there. Oh, and there’s that positive motivation built in you need to keep on keeping on!

You need Up and Running in Real Estate. Check it out here–all online, so you can go at your own speed, too. Click here to see more.

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, action plan, Coaching, lead generation, Marketing, new agent business plan, New Real Estate Agents, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Real estate systems, Training, Up and Running in 30 Days, Up and Running in Real Estate
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Taking That Next Step into Management? Get the Skills First

by Carla Cross

February 7th, 2019

Taking that next step into management? Get the skills first.

At the end of this blog, I’ve provided a rating assessment that I use in my Leadership Mastery coaching. You can rate yourself on your management skills, so you’ll know what you need to work on prior to going into management (or if you’re already in management).

Are you thinking of going into management? Few of us knew the skills–or the level of skill attainment–we needed to succeed in the job. I want to help all of you who want to go into management to succeed at a high level. Thus, these blogs.

For the past couple of months, I’ve been interviewing potential managers. I’ve found that almost none had done any ‘prep’ work to go into the position. Yet, successful managers have developed specific, somewhat unique skills to do their jobs. And, what I’ve found is that these skills must be at least partially developed before we launch ourselves into management–or else we get swamped by all these new challenges hitting us in the face!

In an earlier blog, I discussed the skills we need to have honed prior to going into management. In this blog, we’ll tackle getting those skills in certain areas.

At the end of this blog: grab my assessment tool I use in my Leadership Mastery coaching series to help new managers plan for this skill attainment.

The Biggest Skill Area Managers Need Today to Succeed

What do you think it is? It’s recruiting and selecting skill. Why? Because, there’s so much competition for good agents that a manager just can’t sit back and wait for agents to come to them. It isn’t the old days (although I never was able to do that in my ‘old days!’).

These skills are the same skills good agents use to expand their businesses. That’s why we need to hire managers who have been successful recruiters and selectors. Notice I said recruiters and selectors. I know companies brag about how mahy gross recruits they landed that month or year, but, long-term, it’s those who stay, prosper, and grow with the company that add to the profitability of all.

One of the standards you need to create when you’re hiring a manager is

How successful was that agent as a business getter? What’s the number of transactions you would accept?

How to Get Recruiting and Selecting Skills

Your company may have a course focusing on these skills. If so, take it prior to going into management. Overall, the best courses out there for management are the CRB courses, leading to the Certified Real Estate Broker designation. I highly recommend them. Here’s the link.

What’s Your Agent Track Record?

Great agents don’t make great managers. Do you believe that’s true or false? I believe it’s false. Here’s why.

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As I said, the greatest skill managers need are recruiting and selecting skills. If you don’t have a track record of at least 12-20 transactions a year as an agent, in my opinion, you have not developed the skills in recruiting and selecting you will need as a successful agent. It’s my experience that agents who didn’t actively lead generate will carry that habit into management. They will balk at lead generating for agents, and they will fight upper management to the death–and to everyone’s detriment.

Resource (Some are FREE) to Gain those Management Skills

This month, I’m offering some of my management resources free with purchase of other resources. Check it out here.

Grab the leadership skill assessment here.

Managers or general managers: If you’re hiring a new manager, help them evaluate their skill levels and then create a training and coaching program to assure they get those skills before they launch their management career.

Is Your Business Plan Making–or Costing–You Business?

by Carla Cross

January 10th, 2019

Through December and early January, I’m featuring business planning in my blogs.

Everyone knows they need business plans. Yet, most people attempt to write a plan without a system–a guide–a map. Here are some aspects to look for in your planning system.

Is it a System, or is It Just a Piece of Paper?

Be sure your business plan is a comprehensive, proven system, designed to take you through the necessary planning steps. Here are three areas you need to evaluate about a planning system before you start using it for your plan:

1. Customization. Is the plan customized and proven for your business? You need a system that is proven for real estate salespeople. See the end of this blog for a ‘flow chart’ of a complete listing system.

2. Specific analysis of your past selling history. Does your planning system give you direction in analyzing the most critical parts of your business in the past year? This is one area that most planning systems gloss over. Yet, it is the most important area for real estate professionals to assess. Knowing exactly what your business habits were–and the results of those habits–will lead you to make changes in your business, both in business habits and in budgeting.

For example: Do you know the ratio of your listings taken last year–to your listings sold–in normal market time? Most agents don’t. Why? Because they weren’t asked that question in their business planning systems.

3. Separates the “dollar-productive” activity portions of your business from the support portions. Many agents fail because they don’t do enough “dollar productive” activities, those activities that directly lead to sales and listings sold. That’s because the business plan system they’re using doesn’t differentiate between those activities and “support” activities. In her work nationally with real estate companies and agents, Carla Cross has analyzed hundreds’ of agents’ plans. She has found that the planning system itself, if it’s deficient, will lead the agent off-track.

All Activities are NOT Equal. Poor business planning systems are structured in a way that leads the agents to believe that all activities are equal in outcome. Not true. It all needs to start when the agent first starts the business. Up and Running in Real Estate, Cross’s online business start-up plan, has clearly prioritized activities, numbers, strategies, and dialogue. Agents shouldn’t ‘graduate’ to a long-term plan until they’ve mastered short-term planning.

Being critical of your planning system is really the first step in planning a successful year. You’ve made sure the system you’re using is going to lead you through a thought process that automatically creates a good business plan. Now, the only thing left to do is the implement your plan!

Grab My Online Business Planning Program

Thought you’d get it done but it’s still on your ‘to do’ list? I want to help!

Managers: Frustrated because you can’t get your agents to plan? Problems solved! I’ve put my exclusive planning pages online–plus webinars to help you get through that plan fast. Don’t wait another year for business success. See more here.

Managers: I’ll teach your agents how to plan, too! Included in your Manager’s Package!

Ready to order? Click below:

Beyond the Basics of Business planning for Managers — $249

Beyond the Basics of Business Planning for Agents — $99

Categories 5th Edition Up and Running in 30 Days, action plan, Business Plan, Experienced agent, goals, lead generation, Marketing, New Real Estate Agents, objectives, Real estate as a career, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Real estate systems, Sales Strategies, vision
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Take My Business Plan Exam

by Carla Cross

January 3rd, 2019

Through Dec. and early January, my blogs feature business planning.

What should a business plan do for you? Appease your manager? (I’ve been there, so I know that’s why we do it sometimes….) 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.

How Does your Business Plan Stack Up?

Take this quick ‘exam’ to see how your business plan stacks up.

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

Does your plan have an over arch of your 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

Are you ignoring the obvious? 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: 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

Is your business plan so theoretical that no one could follow it daily? 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? You may build into action part of your plan that you are going to take several courses in gaining marketable listings.

4. Does your plan consist of integrated, ready-to-follow systems so you can delegate? T F

Michael Gerber, author of The E-Myth and The E-Myth Revisited, says that a business plan consists of the integration of 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.

Sell me your business. 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?

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 to see each of the parts of a business planning system–and the order in which they should be explored.

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Categories action plan, Business Plan, lead generation, Marketing, mission, New Real Estate Agents, objectives, Real estate as a career, real estate history, Real Estate Sales, Real Estate Success, Real estate systems
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