It's Real Estate Business Planning Season
Denise Lones
Helping real estate agents build business with branding and coaching. President of The Lones Group
This time of year, I can hear the rustle of new business planners, the click of gel pens getting ready to jot down long to-do lists, and the mouse clicks of shoppers on Amazon finding new organization systems.
Planning for a new year is exciting! Essentially, we get to wipe the slate clean and begin again - for agents who didn't have a great 2024, this is a welcome thought.
But I have another perspective to consider - the real estate agent who needs to do a minimum of business planning every year. Why? Because they have their systems dialed in. While they may need to tweak their systems and processes as their business goes on, they don't have this need to reinvent the wheel every 12 months because their systems work.
Why don't most agents commit to their systems? There are two big reasons:
Here is the Hard Truth
The truth is, 99% of the real estate agents who are not where they should be in their careers and who are preparing to do a lot of writing in their 2025 business planners can point to the two points above as a strong cause.
When I was a top-producing agent (remember, I was closing more than 100 transactions per year), I didn't do a lot of business planning - I did one-time planning and then employed a set-it-and-forget-it mindset.
Wouldn't that be a relief to have systems that you can rely on like that in your business?
If so, I invite you to do a little business planning exercise that has you focus on your campaigns only.
Campaign Power
Your campaigns are the lifeblood of your business. If you did little else but run your campaigns effectively each month, I could almost guarantee that you would have a steady stream of business for each and every year to come. Of course, I can't make interest rates come down or make sure that the economy stays on track, but remember, my campaigns delivered when interest rates were sky-high and during the tech recession in the 90s. They also delivered when I was no longer even actively selling real estate and was just sending out referrals (these campaigns provided a six-figure referral income for five years).
I have talked about the power of campaigns many times, but for those of you who need a refresher, here are the four campaigns that I recommend every agent run. Get these up and running and these may truly be all you need to do to maintain a healthy business:
Free Campaign Planner Complete this planner with the activities outlined in each type of campaign shown here. Track your progress and stay on target by checking off your activities as you complete them. Download Now
Your Database Campaign
Your database consists of your current, past, and potential clients, sphere, vendors, connections, and everyone who needs to hear from you on a regular basis. You should strive to earn 36 points per year per person in your database using my following 36 Point System formula:
To develop your campaign, just choose the activity you want to do each month and then note the number of points and arrange until you reach 36 points per year.
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I kept this campaign easy, earning my 36 points by sending a newsletter each month. However, this newsletter needs to have content relevant to their area (a general area such as a county or regional area is fine), stats, and your voice. General "what's your home value" cards do not earn 3 points! Those are so general that they only earn one point. These need to provide good and relevant content.
Getting your database campaign up and running is important as it is the core campaign upon which your Past Client and Potential Clients are built.
Planning Your Client Database Outreach: Are you the agent that past and potential clients from your sphere think of first? Take the mystery out of modern client follow-up and know exactly how much outreach is too much or not enough so that you can better reach your income goals in this episode of Denise Live! Watch at Club Zebra
Your Past Client Campaign
Your past clients will already be receiving your Database campaign, but they need something personal and special from you. It could be something like a custom property report, a one-on-one consultation, or a live visit via a client appreciation event of some sort. You can earn as little as 6 additional points per past client or up to 16.
Past Clients, The Most Powerful Lead Generation Source in Your Business: Past clients are the most powerful source of leads in your real estate business and can sustain and grow your business through-out your career. Learn how to pursue, support, nourish, and celebrate these relationships at at this recent episode of Denise Live! Watch at Club Zebra
Your Potential Client Campaign
Your active potential clients will hear from you on a regular basis, but what about those further away from a purchase or list? I recommend simply creating a campaign in which you follow up with custom research based on their particular situation every two months. That earns 36 points plus the 36 points already earned with the Database campaign.
Your Lead Generation Campaign
Not every agent needs a lead generation campaign. After all, if you are getting plenty of business from your database and referrals, you can forgo this. However, most agents prefer to be doing some type of lead generation for extra security.
If you are doing some sort of lead generation, the goal is to earn 36 points per year with the new leads. That may mean you meet someone at an open house that goes into your database or it may mean that you are running a campaign for a geographical farm area and earn 36 points via a specific neighborhood campaign, perhaps mail mixed with live classes or events.
The Perfect Lead Generation Campaign: Putting together campaigns that work takes insight, consistency, and flexibility as they mature. Denise guides you through how to create (or fix) your lead generation efforts in this recent episode of Denise Live! Watch at Club Zebra
Put it to Work!
Campaigns work, but only if you work them consistently - for the rest of your real estate career. They work!
This time next year, if you are working your campaigns as planned, you may find yourself with extra time on your hands! Not having to worry about business planning regarding your follow-up means extra time for friends and family…or even some down time at the spa!
You Don't Have to Do It Alone: Ready to surrender and have a professional run your campaigns? Don't have the time to manage it on your own? Need it to work right from the start? We can help! Let's Talk
By Denise Lones CSP, CMP, M.I.R.M. The founding partner of The Lones Group, Denise Lones has over three decades of experience in the real estate industry. With agent/broker coaching, expertise in branding, lead generation, strategic marketing, business analysis, new home project planning, product development and more, Denise is nationally recognized as the source for all things real estate. With a passion for improvement, Denise has helped thousands of real estate agents, brokers, and managers build their business to unprecedented levels of success, while helping them maintain balance and quality of life.