Welcome to 2024 and what we hope will be a stronger year for the luxury housing market.
As reviewed in our December Luxury Market Report, both October and November saw an increase in the number of sales compared to the same period in 2022, an increase in new listings, as well as a slight decline in mortgage rates.
In recent blogs we focused on why “changing your mindset will change your success in 2024” and so we ask – have you completed your business plan for this upcoming year and are you ready to take advantage if the market continues to strengthen?
Many agents set unrealistic goals each year and are disappointed when they don’t achieve them. January is often a quieter month for many agents, so it’s the perfect time to take stock of how you performed last year to help you understand if your targets for 2024 are achievable, and if your plan will keep you on point.
Step One – Research
One of the fastest ways to grow your business is to dig deeper into the areas where you are already doing well and capitalize on your strengths. Ask yourself the following questions:
- What are my key sources of business?
- How many transactions come from each of these sources?
- How can I extract more business from these existing sources?
Step Two – Analyze
Once you answer these questions, analyze your sources to determine how to extract more business from them. The easiest way to do this is to identify your sources of business and list them in order of priority, in accordance with the steps below:
- The number of deals from each source
- The money you spent on each source
- The potential number of transactions in the upcoming year from each source
- Changes you need to make in how you work them
- Additional funds you will need to spend on them in the new year
As you begin to unfold your strengths and capitalize on them, you may find ways to expand your business and discover new opportunities available to you.
Step Three – Set Your Goals
There are many ways to expand your business and your range, reach, and influence. For instance, you can expand your geographic market, your prospecting contacts, your sources of business, or move up to a higher price point.
Take a moment to ask yourself, “Which actions make the most sense for me to grow my business and profits in the new year?” As you determine these actions, take into consideration your personal life and responsibilities and ensure the actions are realistic and doable.
When setting your goals, ask yourself the following questions:
- What caused me to choose this number of transactions?
- What price am I willing to pay to achieve it?
- What changes do I need to make to my schedule to support it?
- What budget will I need to set aside?
- What skills do I need to improve to achieve my goal?
- Should I invest in a technology system, app, or personal assistant to offset my lack of skill or improve my weakness in an area?
- Should I invest in a coach to help me create a realistic and doable plan and hold me accountable to it, so I achieve my goal?
- What will I do with the profit I earn?
One of the most important items on this list is whether or not you need to make changes to your schedule to support your goals. If your schedule doesn’t support it, you will never achieve it.
Step Four – Test Your Plan
A great exercise to do is to test your plan by implementing a daily, weekly, and monthly routine, and measuring its effectiveness over a four-week period to see if its achievable.
Here are some tips to help your progress.
- Share your schedule and goals with someone who will hold you accountable to it.
- Tackle the hardest tasks first thing in the morning – get them over with and it will free up your mind and day!
- Block out time on your calendar for all your key activities.
- Your goal: 80% of your workday should focus on income-producing activities.
- Keep a time log for four weeks to identify anything that is a time waster.
- Before committing to new activities in your personal life, think it over for 24 hours.
Step Five – Measure
Finally, as you work your business, make sure you track your money and profits because you need to determine exactly what it costs you to run your business and your personal life. Even if you are a top producing agent, it’s important to stay on top of this.
Some Additional Advice:
- Track the effectiveness of any campaign or expense.
- Look for ways to trim the fat, but don’t cut corners on items that are important, such as investing in yourself and your own growth.
- Make sure you have a good financial planner and CPA.
If you want more guidance on how to grow your luxury real estate practice, you can learn more about the Institute’s training options here.