In these blogs, I’m focusing on business planning, to help you get ready for a great 2012. Look for ready to use checklists, systems, and processes, in the blogs, too.
Everyone knows they need business plans. Yet, most people attempt to write a plan without a system–a guide–a map. If your business plan isn’t really a roadmap, it’s not doing you any favors!
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 30 Days, Cross’s 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!
Click here to see the ‘flow chart’ of an effective business planning system.
FREE Webinar
Join me on Nov. 29, at 1-2 PM, PST, for a ‘meat-packed’ webinar on business planning: Beyond the Basics of Business Planning. I’ll help you find the hidden problem areas of your business, reveal how to put inspiration into your plan, and give you several strategies for next year. Space is limited! Register today.
Click here to register.
