On this 238th episode of my Monday Morning Pep Talk, I'll take you further into the planning process for the quarter that, in my opinion, is most important to the overall growth of your business - that's Q3.
On last week's call, I challenged you to set aside some time in a place that inspires you (and your team) to review your current situation, decide the tough conversations that are needed within your client base (inventory management) and start the process of planning Q3. Today, I'll take that conversation further, giving you the 5 most important areas that you'll need to be proficient in to win in your hyper-local market.
Before I give you that list, I want to remind you of my professional purpose and that is to help you, the broker/advisor, optimize your productivity and help you become the best version of yourself. Why? "Because Happy Brokers Sell More Real Estate". I do that by teaching you how to handle the challenges and opportunities that you face every day. If you can effectively manage those certain situations that arise on a daily basis in your business, you'll be more productive and live a life that is the best version of you. My ask is that you listen as if you are in a one-on-one coaching session with me in my office or on a phone call. If you'd like a transcript and full recording of today's MMPT, send me an email at [email protected] and I will add you to my private email list.
I know that you love lists and the one I am bringing you today should be bookmarked so that you can reference again easily. When you coach, teach and train over 1,000 hours a year, you start to see trends. You see trends in seasonality both how markets react and the capability of an agent to understand seasonality and make a real impact on their business.
Let me review seasonality quickly: Q1 requires a primary focus to be put on transitioning and preparing for "the harvest.” Q2 is "the harvest.” Q3 is when the harvest is over and you need to plan the next planting and next year's harvest. Q4 requires you to be focused on "planting.” Your hyper-local market may be different, but you get the idea. For the vast majority of you that are listening, this flow is fairly close to what you experience each year. If you are in a summer resort market, you very well may be moving into "harvest season" as we approach Q3.
At some point in the year, you must put aside time for "deep work." As I just mentioned, this includes a review of the previous season, the status of your current "hot list,” current "warm list" and the state of your business. As you look at your business, note that the following 5 areas, in my experience, have the biggest impact on your ability to build a predictable and enjoyable business that is "rightsized" for you, the broker/advisor. Here's the list:
- An Organized Plan: You need clarity around a goal and a plan to go with it. This is straight out of Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich.” How committed are you to your north star? I have identified a quarterly business planning approach to be the best anchored by a 3-Year Vision inspired by the books The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran and Traction by Gino Wickman. Progress towards this plan must be tracked weekly.
- Daily Rhythm: Do you have a daily rhythm to support the execution of your goals and the plan you created to hit those goals? Notice that I did not say morning ritual? There is more than one way to create a daily rhythm. I don't care how your day rolls out as long as you have the proper habits and routines to support your ability to play on offense (not defense) throughout the day.
- You have to have a mechanism, whether it is a spreadsheet or a sophisticated CRM, that organizes your 5 lists. Those lists contain your Top 100, your Top 100 referral partners, your Warm list, your Hot List and your list of collaborative brokers in your marketplace. To succeed in this business, you must build a philosophy around "trust". You have to perform at a high level during the transaction and you must have a plan to stay "useful" to your clients over the life cycle of their time in your market. Not every one of your clients wants to be your friend but there is no downside in providing helpful and insightful information about their most important asset - their home. Do you have a follow up plan - a touch plan - built to maintain that trust? If not, you'll be on "the treadmill" of lead generation the rest of your career.
- In the digital world we are currently living in, your personal brand is key. The use of social media is vital to building trust with your future clients including those on your warm list and hot list. To maintain trust with your Top 100 and Top 100 referral partners, they must see that you're active in your hyper local market. If you don't have a social media content calendar that is built around the "know you, like you, trust you" strategy, it needs to be added. Every day that goes by without a strategy around your personal brand is a day that you fall farther and farther behind. I covered this strategy last year when I taught my entire Take Flight course. You can reference the strategy on MMPT episodes #212, #213 and #214. Think of social media as a big cocktail party. Your clients are attending. Your competition is attending. You must have a presence at this cocktail party.
- A self-development growth plan is imperative. You will only be able to operate at the level of your self -development. Read, listen to podcasts, join a mastermind, attend a training course or hire a coach. There is no better ROI than improving your knowledge and skills.
If you are proficient in these 5 areas, you're 85% of the way there. Most of the rest of what I teach is how to make your life and business more efficient. I love Dan Martell's quote in his book Buy Back Your Time where he states that "85% is 100% awesome". It is! But it takes commitment to yourself, your business and your future. Many of you come out of this harvest season completely distracted because of things that don't matter. It really is a decision. So I ask you, are you...
Committed or Distracted? You Decide.
We are coming into an extremely important era for our industry. There will be winners and there will be losers. The hobbyists will be under tremendous pressure to show their value and will most likely be the losers. If you are committed, this time will be one of extreme growth both personally and professionally. Your talents will be in demand, giving you the opportunity to make better decisions about which clients you want to engage on their real estate transactions.
Can you commit to improving in these 5 areas during Q3 2024?
Next week, I'll continue this journey through the transitional month of June by giving you my top takeaways from the best book I’ve read so far in 2024: The Full Fee Agent written by Chris Voss and Steve Shull. Much of the book's content validates a lot of what I believe. It plays right into what I've discussed today. You have to build trust and maintain it if you want to thrive in this business.
With that being said, go get to work. I'm here for it.
