Earlier this week we initiated our 5-part series on Making 2017 Your Best CRE Year Yet. I shared with you how, in our now 9th year of working with over 1,000 commercial real estate professionals in our coaching programs, we have honed a process for preparing for the New Year. The process can be defined as having 5 specific steps. These steps include:
- Review
- Reflection
- Restriction
- Reposition
- Reaffirmation
In the first part of this series, we outlined Step 1- The Review. There are 3 reviews you need to complete before you can set a path for growth in 2017. As I noted, this is the biggest step. The three reviews include your transaction history, your prospecting efforts, and your personal marketing efforts.
In the second part of this series, we provided 4 keys questions to assist you in reflecting on your review. Step 3 addresses one of those key questions — “What did not meet your expectations?”
Today you need to look back on Step 2, the reflection exercise. Look at those 5 items that did not meet your expectations, and we’ll address why not. What was it? If it was important to you, as an expectation you set, or a goal you set, why didn’t it happen? Now, here’s the thing. There are no excuses in commercial real estate. None.
Let’s say, for example, you had an expectation of listing 10 new sales assets, instead you only listed 5. Your excuse was, “Oh, well the marketing department really didn’t produce the kind of materials that it takes for me to win those listings.” That’s an excuse. It really is, because if that’s the reason it held you back, then really it was you that needed to change, and not the marketing department. What could you have done about it? Could you have outsourced to a different marketing department. Could you have created your own proposals? You may (should) be thinking “I’m not going to do the marketing stuff, it’s not worth my time”, which I agree, some things you should not be doing. However, if it’s holding you back, what are you doing about it?
This is an important step for you. This is a day where you need to not only reflect, but really investigate you. Understand why things didn’t happen the way you expected. Recognize what you did, internally, to make it not happen. Once we do that, you recognize, “Heck, I can resolve that. I can fix that. I can change that.” Right? You have the power to change anything you want. You have the power to become the person you want to become. That’s what we’re talking about here. Look at Steps 1 and 2, review and analyze what held you back.
Here are a few questions that may assist you in identifying the “why”. Again, be honest – no excuses allowed.
- Why didn’t you earn the amount of income you had targeted?
- Why didn’t you meet the key targets you planned on?
- Why didn’t you get asked for more competitive presentations/pitches?
- Why didn’t you work more than 40 hours a week?
- Why didn’t you allocate the time to make the prospect calls, create marketing campaigns, find a new CRM, build your team, read more books, etc.?
This concludes the third step of the 5-step process towards Making 2017 Your Best CRE Year Yet. You now have reviewed what you did in 2016, reflected on what it meant, and identified the restrictions to obtaining your goals.
You are in position to take the 4th step, and that is one of Reposition. Here you will take all the lessons that you have acquired in steps 1, 2 and 3 and identify realistic, yet growth oriented goals for 2017.
Get the step-by-step proven methodology, workbook, and success plan template to make 2017 your best CRE year yet now!
