The Top 5 Steps in Setting Goals as a Real Estate Agent<\/h1>\n

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Hello, people. Welcome to the CORE College of Real Estate blog. Do you know what it takes to be a successful real estate agent?<\/span><\/p>\n

First and foremost, CORE Member, the key is goal-setting. Let\u2019s delve into the steps in setting goals as a real estate agent. If you want more of this content, subscribe to the CORE College of Real Estate YouTube channel and hit the notification bell.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a former wide receiver and defensive back for Ole Miss, RE\/MAX Experts agent Quintavius Burdette knows that, in both football and real estate, the touchdown scored last week doesn’t count toward next week’s score.<\/span><\/p>\n

Q, with his friends and colleagues calling him \u201cBurd\u201d or \u201cQ,\u201d says you can\u2019t beat a team from last week\u2019s results.<\/span><\/p>\n

The previous athlete walked away from a successful accounting career to pursue real estate in two years. Six months later, his self-created Four Point system had him on track to generate $20 million in revenue and 106 properties in first year.<\/span><\/p>\n

He uses a quota system to set goals for himself where he’s rewarded for completing listings, buyers and meeting up with those prospects in the next 90 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

Q\u2019s day is never done until he has 4 points on the board. He says that even when a large contract doesn\u2019t close, or a buyer backs out of a showing, it becomes a positive because he has taken one more step to reaching his goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

It totally changes the mindset of selling real estate, according to him. “It also keeps me from burning out. Every day is different; some days, I am working until 7 p.m., and others, I’m out of the office by 10 a.m., once I’ve scored four points.” There is nothing like that feeling when you’ve hit your goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, Q has reached his daily goal every day for the past two years, even during the height of the pandemic’s shutdowns. In fact, more than 90 days after implementing the new method, Q has eight customers looking to do business with him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Top agents\u2019 who triple or quadruple their income say that it takes a plan, monthly and weekly goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are many hypothetical goals and systems for real estate agents, teams and brokers, with different factors such as audience type and local market conditions. Most of these involve intentionality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of uncertainty in the markets, will agents be able to set their goals high enough? How other can agents effectively communicate with clients? One common element that has kept many agents motivated is knowing how they can achieve their goals throughout the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most successful real estate coaches share their theories on how to achieve success so that you can make your own success a given.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Ask \u2018What is Your Why?\u2019<\/span><\/h2>\n

Real estate pros who inquire about why before they start a project and what the end goal are will return with both a plan and success. The first thought that should emerge is asking, \u201cWhy\u201d and \u201cWhat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The ultimate goal is to find your ‘big why,’ says Jan O’Brien, Trainer, Speaker and Podcast co-founder of WBNB Coaching and Business. “Picture yourself when you’re dying and imagine what it will be.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Agents often fail to write out a comprehensive plan, with only about 10-15% setting goals for the upcoming year and achieving those goals. O\u2019Brien suggests that agents need to understand and focus on what their business can do for them rather than adding additional tasks onto their plate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Justin Letheby, a broker and founder of a real estate training company, John Maxwell Team, agrees that lack of goals is the major reason why real estate businesses fail.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTop agents who double or triple their business year over year put together a plan and break it down by monthly and weekly goals\u201d adds coach Sherri Johnson, \u201cof Sherri Johnson Coaching.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Jeff Cohn, host of the Team Building Podcast and owner of kwELITE Keller Williams, shares that for goal-setting to work, everyone must be willing to ask themselves \u201cWhy am I doing this?\u201d and make sure they know when to commit their time. If you want to live a specific lifestyle that requires a certain level of commitment from your time, you\u2019ll want to commit 10 hours or 40 hours every week.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Set a Target<\/span><\/h2>\n

Johnson recommends breaking down your goal into a three year, five year and ten year time frame. Then list the monthly actionable goals that you need to complete each day in order to move towards those objectives.<\/span><\/p>\n

“What action steps and commitments are you going to make on a daily, monthly and quarterly basis?” her boss said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Johnson suggests setting three annual goals: the bare minimum goal, the great goal, and the stretch goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Agent Cohn is using data to identify the best practices that will allow agents to seek out more clients and receive more income, including cold-calling, getting social media followers, or nurturing new leads.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Cohn, \u201cIt\u2019s a constant game of trading time for money. You need to figure out the best way to make the maximum amount for the least amount of time and energy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As an experienced agency in the industry, Cohn advises that agents be able to constantly evaluate the revenue from their activity. She says that 70% of their revenue comes from 20% of their total client base.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohn, a first-time real estate broker, sold 50 doors and made $96,000 in the first year while spending $30,000 to hire a Transaction Coordinator. He saved some of his time by hiring another person who would do the admin work at $20 hourly. By doing away with offices and focusing on building closer customer relationships with the agent he hires Cohn was able to free up more time for higher-producing deals.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Reach \u201cWeekly Goals\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n

Agents often lack a clear understanding of how to set achievable goals for their career; this makes it harder for them to reach in their desired amount of time.<\/span><\/p>\n

While agents from experienced sales backgrounds might be able to immediately set a price for their services, newer agents may struggle with determining amounts. Letheby often recommends that new agents set goals for the number of units they’ll sell rather than focus on an exact dollar amount.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tell your brokerage broker about the achievements of new real estate agents, asking them what prices and commissions the new agents made. Then use those averages to determine how much each agent would make and remember that offices are split by total commission.<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, Letheby says, agents can adjust for the side(s) they represent and the number of units they need to earn in order to reach their goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most property agents can determine how many conversations equal to the year. This means that they need a formula in order to pinpoint the close goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

If they work at a slower rate, they waste potential opportunities that could lead to more commissions. Working with less than five customers takes away from the agent’s work load and limits the amount of time available for leads.<\/span><\/p>\n

When they design a Goldmine Pipeline, companies can have a continuous flow of free content for long periods of time – weeks and months or even years.<\/span><\/p>\n

A new approach to listing real estate can provide agents and their managers with predictable, consistent monthly income. Although this system will likely use time inefficient traditional strategies, agents who can fill the pipeline rapidly can create business for as long as two years in order to generate profit.<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien agrees that it makes sense to narrow your market focus when you try to sell and work a niche. Do just three markets, and you should be able to generate the effort necessary to make some sales.<\/span><\/p>\n

Find a specialty such as serving veterans, millennials, the 55 and over set or those looking to buy and sell horse properties. Salena likes these types of niche ways to make money online.<\/span><\/p>\n

With an understanding of the business, Tom O’Brien says “don’t try to be all things to all people” and find what you like.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Keep Yourself Accountable<\/span><\/h2>\n

Accountability is an important factor with those exercising the SMART Goal approach; it depends on whether you are setting goals, meeting them or exceeding them. All real estate professionals, whether they\u2019re individual investors, team members or brokerages, must be held accountable to reach their goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cohn advises managers to establish weekly meetings, in which agents sit down with a success manager to log key metrics, as well as strategic goals to achieve their potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt may be, \u2018I want to spend 20 hours a week making prospective calls to neighborhoods\u2019 or \u2018I want to post five times a day on my social media pages.\u2019 It’s about finding where you maximalize your opportunity,\u201d says he says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Johnson believes agents should be told the truth when it comes to their start-off rate in their promises of making $1 million in the first year. Johnson wants to create a success scenario and invest in other agents who can do 10 times the work. The managers should actively help new agents reach their goals and get momentum in the business.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the technology in place to track and improve performance, it is expected that the success rate of the program will dramatically grow.<\/span><\/p>\n

For an agent to be accountable to their goals, they must keep track of the year\u2019s leads and transaction data. This provides valuable insight into what is working and what needs to change. Know exactly where your business is going and adjust when necessary by seeing the gains or losses with each decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

Often, agents lose focus on getting results and make their goals too small without proper tracking.<\/span><\/p>\n

KvCORE and BoomTown, two market leading CRM\u2019s, allow lead tracking integrated with dotloop which helps you close your leads more efficiently. Follow up with tagged email content based on your lead source so you can save tons of time while also tracking ROI to make sure your decision was beneficial over all.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Cohn Research team tracks new opportunities that have been referred to them, letting them know if they are \u201chot\u201d, as a lead with potential for a sale. They follow up with relevant marketing strategies to encourage consumers to take action on their leads.<\/span><\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien manages all of her reps through the KV platform to target leads that interest and engage them on Instagram. She also appreciates dotloop\u2019s self-service transaction platform that allows admins to manage their agents\u2019 workflows.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Admins can see everything that happens within the system and the team leads be able to access reports to measure results and develop a successful plan,” she says. “This makes it easy for admins and team leaders to track their success.”<\/span><\/p>\n

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Visualize a Long-Term Goal<\/span><\/h2>\n

To set career goals, think about where you want to be in the next five years with your career. You can visualize a long-term goal that can help you come up with tasks and milestones. To choose an insightful career goal, consider what excites you and what doesn’t appeal to you.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Distinguish Your Short-Term Goals<\/span><\/h2>\n

After determining on a long-term goal, break it down into smaller, more achievable tasks. Consider what steps you’ll need to take during that timeframe and then work backward appropriately. For example, if you want to own your own real estate business, you can find ways to fund your business, improve your sales practices and grow the value of your inventory. During this time, attend marketing courses so that you know how to advertise your company successfully when the opportunity becomes available.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Research and Record Your Goals<\/span><\/h2>\n

To come up with relevant ideas for your blog post, start by researching your goals. For example, you might research how to start a business in your area. Knowing this information can help determine what key details are needed to reach your goals, and how they could be achieved.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you are preparing, it is helpful to keep track of your research. You can use a variety of visualization tools to help with this, but consider using one that motivates you. Consider making a vision board or creating a timeline to show yourself when you will achieve your goals. Recording your research in this way can help motivate and encourage you as well as remind you of what you’ve already accomplished.<\/span><\/p>\n

As long as you make reasonable accommodations in the first step, and commit to taking actionable career actions, you can gradually advance your career through realistic short-term goals. You might consider what will happen if your circumstances or ambitions change. If your goal changes, update it so that you have a long-term and short-term goal.<\/span><\/p>\n