THOUGHTS TO CONSIDER BEFORE DOING YOUR BUSINESS PLAN

BUSINESS PLANNING TO BE PROFITABLE NOW AND IN THE NEXT PHASE

Much is spoken of the apparent coming changes to the real estate environment with regard to proposed regulatory changes. Justification for this is given by various politicians, and those excluded from participation by law, on the basis that it will lead to a needed reduction in fees. It won’t happen some of you are still saying. Solicitors won’t have an impact you say. If its not them, it will someone else and right now it could be one of you current competition who are making changes to how they operate. Changes that will see them take a position to avoid the coming risks that lower fees would bring. There is no doubt that some agencies and their salespeople will suffer the reality of lower fees when the time comes. Imagine it being like last year again. How many of your salespeople would stay if that was a permanent income level.

But it need not be the case.

Not if you adopt a position of absolute QUALITY.

Over recent years we’ve been bombarded with information on Systems, Technology, the Internet, legislative issues and salespersons training. Enough to keep us busy but not necessarily focussed on the key issues of Quality Production through sales revenue.
Now is the time for business owners and managers to take a position of leadership and set new standards of performance and endeavour based on quality. Some operators have already taken that stance and placed new standards as minimum criteria to be part of their teams. Their growing presence in the market place is abundant evidence that new standards are at work now. These are the operators whose fees will be sustainable and perhaps could even increase in time.

WHERE DO YOU START?

One would hope that you have a clear vision of where your business will take you and what it will look like, be described as, and be like to work in when you achieve your goals. I call this the fuel to fill your tank each day with the energy, drive and enthusiasm to build and lead a great team. So have you a Business Plan the specifies the key strategies that will take you to that success picture.?
Have you really got a handle on current reality for your business and do you understand why that is so. I suggest we have a look at your real levels of productivity in your current business.
How many controlled listings do you list per person per month?
How many auctions do you list per person per month?
How many of them sell?
What’s it costing you to hold this stock. I disagree with those pundits who say one of the beauties of real estate is there’s no stock to carry. If you are a traditional full service operator, funding the advertising you’ve got stock costs all right.
How much per listing do you spend?
How much per sale do you spend?
What are your conversion rates of these listings into sales?

Why is there a gap between where you want to be and current reality?
What are the specific strategies that will make the biggest difference?
Next Question
Can I do that? Do I want to do that? Do I need help to obtain the extra skills and resources? Do I need people with different skills and attitudes?

If the answer is yes then its time to be a leader and set new standards. Its time to do the things that leaders do. Set clear and obtainable goals, have clear and enforced standards, and let your team see you enforcing them! Manage your people, train, coach and counsel your people-lead them to new levels of productivity. Remember those that don’t want to change, wont ever, so take a stand.

Just briefly I’d like to outline some of the key areas that need to be covered.

PERSONNEL
Have I enough/too many people?
Have I the right people?
What new skills do they need?
How’s my recruitment plan? Where will I find the new people?
What Induction and training do they need?
How is my training programme?

SALES AND MARKETING
Where are my clients and how to I keep in touch with them?
How is my Auction programme
Vendor marketing contributions
Special promotions?
How do we use our database?
Branding and its use
Customer relations and surveys?
Publications?
Service Quality?

FINANCIAL
Productivity levels?
Listings taken, held and sold?
Waste ?
Profitability?

OPERATIONS
Do we have the right technology and support to achieve new levels of Quality?
Are we in the right premises?
Do we need more branches?
The physical environment?

Of course there’s more to it than this. Like how do you get buy in from your existing team to setting new standards and creating accountability so that this isn’t just a good idea but ultimately becomes the “way we do it around here”?

The most motivating point is this.
No matter how much we might resist such thoughts or believe we are on track already, if it isn’t yet a reality in your mind or business, a version of it is somewhere else already and one of your competitors is making it their reality and a competitive advantage.

Where will that leave you in our changing marketplace? As I said earlier there are operators who have already embarked on strategic plans to lift their game, to have all their team telling the same story, to take a place of preference in the consumers mind at the exclusion of their competitors.

Those operators who take up the challenges of active and energetic leadership, coupled with a strong self-discipline to do the hard yards are/and will prosper no matter who else jumps on the real estate scene.

IAN KEIGHTLEY