Work with Intentionality-Focusing on Strategic Growth for 2021

When the phone is constantly ringing, emails coming in faster than we can read them, and texts piling in, how are we supposed to do anything but react? The only way we can have a plan and goals and grow our business is to manage our time intentionally. As they say, “No one ever died of real estate (or relocation for that matter)”. Sometimes things just have to wait or be delegated or outsourced or eliminated so we can strategically move forward. If we find our day eaten up with menial tasks, we have to redirect our energy and take control of our day. We have to learn to say NO!

Now is the time to do our business plans for 2021. It’s hard to know what next year will bring considering this year has not followed the usual selling cycles locally or from a relocation perspective. But as we make our plans, try to avoid making generalizations like ‘increase closings by 10%’. We need to list the actions in very specific detail that we need to take to increase closings by 10%. And I’m not talking about something like ‘call on new sources of business’. I am talking about a daily, weekly and monthly plan with accountability measures built in. Because as we all know, the day gets away from us and another day has gone by without initiating growth activities. Specific actions will create specific results.

Don’t focus on the end result, focus on the actions to get you there.

If we don’t intentionally take specific actions, whether we have time or not, we cannot expect the results to change or improve. We will become satisfied with the existing results, which may be fine, but if we aren’t constantly focused on strategic growth, we will find our business stagnant or dependent on one or a few sources of business. We can’t leave our business to fate. We need to ask ourselves daily, ‘was my energy and time spent on what matters most’?

Our relocation department business usually should be a microcosm of our company by reflecting growth patterns. The current status of corporate relocation may derail that premise. BMA’s are down, international relocations are on hold, so the patterns have been disrupted. But broker to broker referrals are up and brokers are busier than ever. What can you do to more aggressively tap into those opportunities as well as others?

You may have had to lay off staff at the beginning of the pandemic. Now may be the time to replace lost staff to prepare for the upcoming year in real estate which promises to be strong. Real estate is booming and office expenses are generally down due to so much working at home and no travel, so now is the time to make your case for staff replacements or additions. 

Turn off your phone, stop looking at email and write your 2021 plan.

But that’s not where it ends. Make time every day to revisit the plan and execute the actions to meet your goals. There is nothing more gratifying than marking something off of a list as long as it is a meaningful action. Use your energy with intentionality. It will become like brushing your teeth, you will do it without thinking about it every single day.  If you can’t do it alone, get yourself an accountability partner or coach like me who will take you to task when you don’t make the time to move yourself and your business forward. I promise, there some things that can wait. Intentional strategic growth is not one of them. Here’s to 2021!

“Your outcomes are the lagging indicators of your habits.” ~ James Clear, Author of Atomic Habits