Real Estate Business Planning Report
July 28, 2008
Real Estate Business Planning Report
By Bob Fitzgerald
Question… what is the difference between knowing what to do and actually doing what you know? The answer is FOCUS. As real estate agents, we lose focus because we do not have a plan…. or we don’t look at the plan we have. Let’s change all that right now!
PART ONE: HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU NEED?
1. What is your cost of living per month? __________
2. How much of that expense is covered by a spouse or any other “outside real estate income?” __________
3. What is the difference between #1 and #2? __________
How much income do you need from real estate to pay the monthly cost of living?
4. How much is your average NET commission check? __________
After you pay expenses, your office and your taxes… what is left for you? It is critical that your plan be based in reality and the reality is… the income you keep, right?
5. Based on your average NET commission check, how many deals do you need to break even each month? __________
The problem is that too many agents simply break even! It is time to break the cycle…
PART TWO: HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU WANT?
1. How much NET income do you really want? __________
What payoff would cause you to pay the price and develop a solid real estate business? Remember, if the payoff isn’t worth the effort we simply give up too soon and never accomplish the goal. Think Big!
2. How many closed transactions are required for you to hit this NET income goal for the year? __________
3. How many of those deals will be listings sold and how many will be buyer- controlled sales? __________
(Hint: 30 deals or less is 50/50; 50 deals is 75% listings sold/25% BCS; 75 deals or more is 90% listings sold/10%BCS)
4. Understand that the listings will automatically bring the buyers. So, the next question is how many listings do you need to take for the year? __________
This number will reflect your market conditions and your ability to price a home.
5. How many listing appointments do you need to go on in order to take those listings? __________
A typical agent should target 70% listing appointments to listings taken. Example: 30 listing appointments will equal 20 listings taken which will cause 15 listings to sell to go with 15 buyer- controlled sales for a total of 30 closed transactions with a NET commission of $5000 per deal yielding $150,000 for the year.
6. Now, divide this number of listing appointments by 10 months. __________
Take two full months or eight full weeks off… vacation time, personal time, sick time. So based on the example above, 30 appointments divided by 10 months is only 3 listing appointments per month. This is very realistic! The key is the word CONSISTANCY! You are assuming a FULL 10 months of prospecting, lead follow up, time management, focus and effort. What has to happen for you work smart for 10 months? For information on my Legacy One- on- One Coaching Program, e-mail me at coachbobfitzgerald@gmail.com.
7. The next question is the most difficult. How many prospecting contacts do you need to make to past clients, centers of influence, expired listings and for sale by owners for you to set these appointments? __________
A strong agent will have a contact to appointment ratio in the 20s and a typical agent will be in the 30s. So, if I need to set 3 appointments per month and I need 30 contacts per appointment, then I need 90 contacts per month.
8. Divide this number by 20 working days if you will prospect 5 days per week or 16 if you plan to prospect 4 days per week. You can see that you don’t need to prospect much if you are simply consistent… day in and day out. __________
PART THREE: ACTION STEPS
The key aspect of part three is the word… ACTION. What do you need to DO?
The simplest way to develop an Action Plan… is to rate yourself in each of the following areas… on a scale of 1 to 10. After rating yourself, ask yourself this question: What do I need to DO differently to become a 10? Limit your action steps to the two or three most important things you need to DO differently in each area of the business.
1. Past Clients/ Centers of Influence: Do you have a list? Is it organized? Is it quality? Are you calling them several times each year? Are you asking for business? Are you getting referrals? Remember, if each person on your list simply knows one person this year that will buy or sell a home you have a gold mine here. Again, for my Referrals Now Report, that will cover the 5 biggest mistakes agents make and why we don’t get more referrals and the 2008 Referrals Now Script… e-mail me at coachbobfitzgerald@gmail.com. It is FREE of charge.
2. Prospecting For New Business: Do you prospecting daily? Do you know the scripts? Do you know your numbers? Do you know how to handle objections? Is your mindset strong? Do you have systems?
3. Lead Follow Up: Do you ask great questions? Do you have all your leads qualified? Do you have a system for follow up? Do you keep them organized? Do you have great timing? Do you know what to say? Do you need a great lead follow up script? e-mail me at coachbobfitzgerald@gmail.com. It is FREE of charge.
4. Closing for Appointments: Are you just talking to people or are you going on appointments. If you are not meeting buyers and sellers we can not make money. Can you close? For my new script called Closing Sequence (2008), again, just e-mail me at coachbobfitzgerald@gmail.com. It is FREE of charge.
5. Pre Qualify Appointments: Are you wasting too much time with people that are not motivated… people that are not reasonable… people without the ability to move or people that don’t want to hire you?
6. The Listing Presentation: Are you getting at least 75% to list with you at the right price? Are you focused and organized on each appointment? Are you in control of the conversation? Do you know how to discuss the market? Do you know how get the right price and a full commission? Can you close?
5. Price Reduction Skill: Do you know what to say? Do you know how to use market stats and media? Are you persistent? Are you communicating weekly with your sellers?
8. Buyers: Are you wasting too much time with buyers who don’t purchase? Do you have buyer minimum standards? Do you have a buyer presentation? Do you have a buyer process and buyer systems?
9. Time Management Skill: Do you have a schedule? Do you follow your schedule? Do you have systems? Do you prioritize? Do you organize? Are you disciplined?
10. Mindset: Are you motivated? Do you have specific goals? Are you making quick decisions or are you putting things off? Are you complacent? Are you lazy? Do you compromise or fight for success? Do you recover quickly from setbacks? Are you steadfast or ready to let fear and failure define you?
So, simply define what you need… get clear on what you want and how the numbers break down… and begin improving in all ten areas by taking action for the next 90 days. Every 90 days, go back and complete step three again.
Good luck!
Let’s build a Legacy Together,
Bob
www.coachbobfitzgerald.wordpress.com
