Do You Know Where Your Business Comes From? It May Be Time to Find Out
Today, I sat down to write out my goals for 2013. I did this for the first time at the end of 2011 and as a result have had my best year to date in real estate. How does one sit down to write out their goals for the upcoming year? No one ever really taught me how to do this, so I take a very logical approach to the process.
First, I calculate where the previous year's business came from. This part is easy for me. I have a background in financial planning, therefore, I track my numbers very carefully.
Here's what my numbers revealed:
- 40% sellers, 60% buyers
- 37% sphere of influence
- 28% sign calls
- 27% expired listings.
- 8% internet (ActiveRain)
Clearly, I can see that the biggest percentage of my business in coming from my sphere. It looks like I'm doing a pretty good job of cultivating these relationships. I need to continue to stay on top of this group through regular communication; including emails, phone calls and face-to-face meet and greets.
The next largest percentage is through sign calls. Buyers are finding my listings desirable and calling me. I need to work harder to increase the number of listings I carry. I can do this through a variety of sources; direct mail, expired listing campaign and for sale by owners.
With 27% of my overall business coming from expired listings, I need to ramp this up a bit. I currently pursue a small geographic area for expired listings. I may need to expand that area to gain more listings. Expired listings are low-hanging fruit--there for the picking. I use an expired letter series that gets sellers to call me. However, I may have to consider cold-calling to grab a larger portion of those listings.
I was disappointed to see that only 8% of my business was a direct result of my blogging efforts. My goal is to improve this number by writing more neighborhood posts with a call to action in every post.
Second, now that I know where my business this year came from, the next step is to see where it didn't come from. I think where I'm not getting business is equally as revealing. Where I didn't see any business this year:
- Direct mail - Although, I did do some direct mail through Just Listed and SOLD postcards, I was not consistent on a monthly basis. I have to do one of two things: one, give up on direct mail or two, commit myself to sending postcards and mailers every month.
- Open houses - I only worked about 4 open houses the entire year. Two of these events were very well-attended but no business has come from them. Primarily, because I am not using my CRM to the best of my ability. I need to increase the number of open houses, as well as, landing on a CRM that will produce results.
- Website - I did get leads from my website but none that actually lead to a closed sale. I use a template site with limited capabilities. The IDX is indexable so I've continued to use it. I had hoped to develop my own Wordpress site. Unfortunately, I don't believe I have enough knowledge to do this on my own and have hired a company to develop a site for me. That should be implemented sometime after the first of the year.
- Social media sites - This is an area I haven't actively pursued. Time to stop dilly-dallying around and getting serious about using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
- Referrals - I know an agent who has a standing agreement with everyone she does business with--she will send business to them, if they send business to her. This even applies to her hairstylist and manicurist. If they don't send her business, she severs the relationship and moves on to a person who will. I know that sounds harsh but, in theory, I find it appealing. I have closed several deals with one particular lender this year and not received any referrals. It may be time to look for another lender.
Using this information, it is easy for me to see where I have been successful and where I need to improve.
My goals are to continue to do the things that are working and either improve or remove those areas that are not.
With a little bit of hard work while everyone else is vacationing for the holidays, I hope to hit the ground running after the first of the year.
Do you know where your business comes from? It may be time to find out.
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