It has come to the time of year where I ask each agent to tell me their goals for the upcoming year. For example, what sales volume are you striving for? How many units would you like to sell? What would you like your take-home salary to be this year?
This year I asked a question to each of the agents that I am blessed to manage that I had never asked before. There is nothing special about this question at all. As a matter of fact, from one perspective it is rather just a mundane, boring question, but from a different perspective, it can completely change their business and income in 2020.
Want to know what I asked? Here it is….
What are you going to different in 2020 that you did in 2019?
That’s it! Simple right? You may be thinking that this is a stupid question on a business plan. You may be thinking it is not specific enough for a business plan, or that it cannot be measured so therefore why even ask it?
Nothing can be further from the truth. Do you realize that if you just change one thing in the way you do business that your business can see exponential gains that you never imagined?
Anyone that has me as a Broker In Charge has heard me say this statement, “I hate the word Goal.” I do, I hate it. WHY? Because I DO NOT have 100% Control over the goals I set for my OWN SELF!! Oh don’t look at me in that tone of voice….read on….
We set goals every year that we strive to do and without fail something comes along that makes us totally forget about our goals. It could be a sickness, an accident, a child being born, a divorce, etc…You get the picture.
Listen, I am not saying that it is not a good thing to plan your business. That is not it at all. As a matter of fact, I am all for having something in front of us that we can wake up to everyday to propel us to push for the things we desire. As a matter of fact, I have this on the agent’s 1 page business plan that I sent out a few weeks ago: SMART!
S (Are My Business Plan Goals Specific)
M (Are My Business Plan Goals Measurable)
A (Are My Business Plan Goals Attainable)
R (Are My Business Plan Goals Realistic)
T (Have I set a TIME TABLE for my Business Goals)
I believe we should have a plan to keep us on track. I believe it should be written down, BUT, I do not believe nor do I promote going after a plan so hard that you lose track of the ultimate goal that should be pursued…and that is CREATING VALUE. Creating more value for your customers, clients, and sphere of influence than you take in payment. Creating value by serving others better than anyone else. Create value by placing other people’s interests first. Create value by being authentic. Create value by being open to receiving.
If you concentrate on creating more value rather than your sales volume…your sales volume will exponentially increase because others around will want to use your services.
If you concentrate on creating value rather than the number of homes you sell (or whatever you sell)…you will see the initial goal number you set by passed by the score.
If you concentrate on creating value, your income in 2020 will increase exponentially.
CREATE VALUE; This is exactly what you should be doing different in 2020 than what you did in 2019…and it starts by being a GIVER.
Let me end this blog with an excerpt from the book Go Givers Sell More. This hit me this week like a ton of bricks on top of my head. I hope it hits you the same way.
“There is a wonderful Yiddish expression: Mensch tracht, un Gott lacht. It means “Man plans, and God laughs.”
As powerful as it is, goal setting is often overrated, because the targets you set are only half the story. Half, at most. It’s good to have goals, but know this: no matter how big a goal you have, the universe—God, universal law, life itself, however your personal beliefs understand it—has a bigger goal for you. And the universe (God, universal law, life) is wiser than you are.
Wiser than all of us put together, actually.
Focus on creating value in the world around you and for the people around you, and the greatest opportunities will come to you in moments and from places you never expected.”
Excerpt From: Bob Burg & John David Mann. “Go-Givers Sell More.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/go-givers-sell-more/id357923799
Until next time ~ MLT
