A real estate career can be lucrative and boom or bust.
To avoid the feast and famine cycles that are part of most agents' experiences in real estate, you need to put in place systems that will regularly grow your business and generate your income.
If you are still trying to achieve your real estate goals, you may need to reevaluate your goal-setting strategy.
The real estate industry can be incredibly competitive, and achieving success requires more than just hard work. You need a clear vision and a plan that sets you on the path to success. Unfortunately, many agents fall short in this area and fail to reach their full potential.
Effective goal-setting is crucial in the real estate industry, and the key to achieving your goals is to make sure they are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
To achieve more business growth and generate more GCI year after year, you must set SMART real estate goals that provide you with a proven method for achieving success.
Whether you're a new agent or a seasoned professional, these tips will help you take your career to the next level and achieve your real estate goals.
What Are SMART Goals?
SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.
This framework is used to set and achieve goals in a structured and effective way.
SPECIFIC: Specificity ensures that the goal is well-defined and clear.
MEASURABLE: Measurability allows progress to be tracked and evaluated.
ACHIEVABLE: Achievability ensures the goal is realistic and can be accomplished within the given parameters.
RELEVANT: Relevance ensures that the goal is meaningful and aligned with broader objectives.
TIME-BOUND: Time-bound means that your real estate goals have a deadline and are time-sensitive.
SMART goals are essential because they provide a framework for setting achievable targets and measuring progress toward success.
It’s true, you know, as a real estate agent, you face a lot of competition in today's market, and it takes more than hard work and dedication to set oneself apart from the crowd.
Successful real estate agents know that systems and SMART goals can lead to benchmarks for their careers.
When starting out or rethinking your business and how to optimize it for success, you need to start by deciding what results you want to get as early as possible.
Include your SMART goals in your business plan. Once this vital step is out of the way, they should create a timeline for each goal and identify weekly or monthly milestones that will be used to track progress toward achieving the ultimate goal.
These SMART goals include obtaining continuing education credits on time or increasing sales to a target number each month.
In addition, setting realistic timelines and creating week-to-week objectives makes it easier to measure progress and make necessary course adjustments if needed along the way.
Following SMART principles is an effective way to ensure success in any real estate endeavor now and in the future.
Now that you understand what SMART goals are and their impact on your career and business, it’s time to discuss how implementing these SMART goals and systems into your business can supercharge you for success.
Marketing Your Services: Post On Social Media
As a real estate agent working on commission, you are, in effect, your own boss and business. So you need to treat it as such and have a marketing plan in place that helps you achieve your real estate goals by prospecting, generating leads, and building brand exposure.
And one way you can do that, especially if you’re operating on a budget, is to pay attention to the immense potential of social media in your business.
According to a study by the National Association of REALTORS®, an impressive 77% of real estate agents are somehow taking advantage of social media platforms.
Whether you are embarking on a career in real estate or have years of experience, it is high time you leverage the benefits of creating a solid presence on social media.
The key to getting a good response is by posting consistently.
Posting regularly is vital for any successful social media strategy for real estate agents. However, targeting at least one post per day should be your minimum standard if you want to get better results and foster a great connection with your audience.
Additionally, if your goal is to stay ahead of competitors, consistently submitting fresh content that engages and entertains followers in equal measure is the best.
One outside-the-box idea I have used with tremendous success is to send daily video texts to people in my sphere. I don’t send texts about real estate or my business; I send 10 personalized text videos to people congratulating them on a significant life event or just to say hello.
Fortunately, you don't have to take on this task all by yourself.
Much like with other aspects of your real estate business, fantastic digital marketing professionals and tools like a CRM can help you stay in touch and come up with brilliant ideas skillfully designed with your particular target market in mind.
Schedule At Least Two Listing Appointments A Week
When you’re thinking about your goals and SMART goals in particular, you need to be in front of as many potential buyers and sellers as possible.
In order to achieve your real estate goals and become a successful real estate agent, you need to schedule at least two listing appointments per week.
To do this, you need to build a list of contacts and potential clients to stay on top of their minds and cultivate leads.
One strategy to consider when trying to secure listings is to take advantage of online tactics such as hosting virtual meetings or video chats, networking via social media platforms, advertising your services on websites like Craigslist, and setting up informational webinars.
My personal system is called “win the listing before you arrive” and is all about providing value to prospects and getting them to call me rather than the other way around.
Apart from online methods, try to get out in the community and talk with people.
Go attend events where you may find prospective buyers and sellers, and make connections at local cafes or other public spaces by having casual conversations about real estate.
Networking should also include friends, family members, and acquaintances who might know someone looking for a new place for their home or business.
Be sure to let people know that you are a professional in the industry so they understand your capabilities and what benefits you can provide them.
Plan Out Your Real Estate Goals
Creating a real estate business plan is essential to setting and achieving your real estate goals and setting up your SMART objectives.
While this framework can vary in detail, most plans should include your mission statement, marketing strategy, company hierarchy, portfolio, and more.
For example, suppose you’re looking to work with investors. In that case, part of your plan may include creating a guide to help investors make informed decisions around their investments and create content that promotes this information.
Make it a PDF, e-book, or video they can access by signing up with their contact information.
When brainstorming goals for the year ahead after establishing your business plan, refer back to each section and consider how the different components might align with or contribute towards your overarching goals.
Establish Your Short-Term And Long-Term Goals
Most real estate agents bounce around from task to task and prospect to prospect, surviving on the day-to-day plan without any clear long-term goals. However, success in real estate requires a plan for short- and long-term goals.
Short-term real estate goals are typically achievable within a few weeks or several months, while long-term goals may require up to several years to complete.
When constructing your plan, starting big and working your way down is best.
Begin by identifying objectives that support an annual plan, then break them down into smaller, attainable tasks with concrete steps.
For example, a goal of securing 5–10 properties each week would likely support an agent’s annual objective of maintaining a successful business practice.
To make this happen, you need to set specific tasks for the week, such as reaching out to prospects, hosting viewings, and negotiating purchase agreements.
Doing so can help you stay on track with weekly milestones that further their larger objectives over the next few years.
Ultimately, having clear short and long-term goals can help real estate agents remain focused to continue driving success within their business for years to come.
Hold Yourself Accountable
If you are setting up SMART goals and systems for success, the next step is to hold yourself accountable.
Holding yourself accountable is vital to advancing in your career and achieving your long-term goals and will require making reasonable commitments to take actionable steps toward achieving those goals.
This could mean setting milestones and benchmark dates to check in with your progress or breaking down large goals into smaller steps that are easier to manage.
You will need someone you trust to whom you can communicate your goals and whom you’re willing to listen to that can help keep you disciplined and on track any time you’re falling short or losing motivation.
At the same time, remaining flexible regarding these plans is essential.
Life circumstances can change, as can one’s ambitions, so if necessary, you should update these career goals and objectives over time.
This way, the plan will reflect where you are currently in life, and you'll be able to work towards realistic goals mapped out for you that adjust as life happens.
Additionally, rewards should be taken along the way so that hard work feels appreciated. Taking joy in achievements is a great way to keep motivated while checking off smaller goals on the path toward bigger ones!
Find A Professional Coach
It’s easy to get lost in all your tasks and goals, making each one seem further and further away from achieving them.
As a real estate agent, having an accountability partner that can help you stay disciplined and motivated and help you organize your systems to achieve your real estate goals, working with a professional real estate coach, can be invaluable.
Not only will a good real estate coach offers guidance, support, and accountability. They will help you navigate the competitive and ever-changing real estate industry.
They can also help you set SMART goals, provide insight and feedback on your strategies, and help you develop the skills and mindset necessary for success.
Some of the systems in place that you need and that a good real estate coach will help you develop are productivity hacks that can boost your output without taxing your energy, allowing you to be more effective in achieving your SMART goals.
Time Blocking Skills
Time blocking is an effective productivity strategy that involves scheduling specific blocks of time for certain tasks or activities.
For example, you may structure your day into 2-hour sections, each dedicated to a specific task. So, from 9-11 am, you may be prospecting, 11-1 pm, meeting with clients, marketing, or whatever. A later block of time, like 4-6 pm, may be set aside for appointments with new clients, viewings, etc.
This can help you stay focused, minimize distractions, and increase efficiency. Since you have a lot on your plate, it’s important to prioritize tasks and allocate the appropriate amount of time to complete each task.
Time blocking can also help manage workload and ensure you have enough time for work and personal activities.
By implementing time-blocking strategies, you can better manage your time and achieve your goals more effectively.
Time Management Technique Like The Pomodoro Method
Time management is crucial in today's fast-paced world, where multitasking and distractions are the norms. It can be the difference between you getting more done or simply running in circles.
One effective technique I use is the Pomodoro Method, which involves setting a timer for 20 minutes of focused work followed by a five-minute break.
After four Pomodoros, a more extended break of 15-20 minutes is taken.
This method helps me maintain focus and improves my productivity, as it encourages me to complete tasks within a given time frame.
UsingThe Pomodoro Method with Time Blocking is a simple yet effective way to manage time and boost your overall efficiency.
