It’s the beginning of a new year and that means it’s time to set your strategic direction for building your business over the next 12 months. Knowing what is really important from the start will help you stay on track with whatever happens in 2015.
A great place to start planning is with the Big Three Concept. Identify your top 3 business priorities for the year and outline your strategy for accomplishing those goals. It’s easy to think of simple things like growing and managing your sales team for greater productivity, but you really should be setting your expectations higher. You could consider buying out some of your competitors, or focusing more on property management as a source of renewable income. So let’s talk about some of the ways that other successful principals are preparing for the year ahead.
Begin by knowing your marketing trends and project on what kind of growth is possible. What are you doing to grow your primary and secondary markets? Think about prospecting in your core areas more at an agency level and assigning fewer farm areas to individual agents. Then build your marketing calendar for consistency throughout the year.
That level of consistent marketing is based on momentum generated by always having a reason for clients to go to market quickly. You can promote action through marketing themes that speak to the personal dreams and desires of your clients. Also be prepared to address their objections by redirecting them back to what they have told you they are looking for.
Review your approach to performance management and make sure you are investing time and providing guidance for your sales team. Spend some time with each of them regularly to help them increase their numbers, increase their fees, improve profit margins and take their next steps towards growth. Always be recruiting for new agents, but also cultivate solid relationships with your current agents so they will stay on and contribute their expertise to your agency.
Look at your annual targets, understand what you need to be doing at a strategic level, and decide where to focus your energy this year to continue to drive growth and maintain momentum.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s Growth, Leadership and Management Tip, and I look forward to seeing you here again next month.