No matter what you are looking to bag this year—a deer, a bear, maybe some turkey—hunting season is right around the corner.
In real estate, there are some parallels as we have our own hunting season, and it, too, is right around the corner. This is the active period that runs from the end of Labor Day through Thanksgiving. So just like every hunter, in the calm before the hunt, make sure you take some time over the next week while things are quiet to prepare for the hunt.
Here’s a plan of attack:
- Make a list of targeted clients that you want to speak with over the next two months. Having this list prepared in advance will focus you on your primary objectives: speaking with clients and having meaningful meetings.
- Create a business plan in writing for the next 90 days. Write out what activity levels you want to maintain, calls, meetings, listings, etc. Stick to the plan, and hold yourself accountable—no excuses. It’s important that it’s in writing. Share it with others, and have someone hold you accountable to it.
- Maintain an exercise schedule. When things get hectic, the first thing that usually goes is your health, because we get consumed by our business. Carve out your exercise schedule, and stick to it.
- Have a snail-mail marketing piece. Send something out to your entire database in writing—a postcard, a letter—it doesn’t much matter. Just have something that says, “I’m here, I’m active, and I can help you.”
- Plan an email campaign for the season. Email can be obnoxious if misused. However, it can be effective if executed appropriately. It’s certainly the most cost-effective way of communicating with your clients. Don’t just do one email. Come up with a campaign for the next 90 days, say, three to four emails, some product, some research and some financing. Mix up your message, and don’t just do the same thing repeatedly.
- Go meet your top 10 clients for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The name of our game is relationships, and, if you neglect your best ones, someone else can take your business. Continue to invest resources where you already make money.
- Network. The fall is the busiest time for networking in NYC. There are so many events and shows. Pick two per month, and get out there—don’t be a wallflower. Lay out your event schedule in advance, and incorporate it into your business plan for the season.
- Pick a business project that you have been procrastinating on, and focus on accomplishing it. This should be focused around improving your business process to make it more efficient.
- Change something. Anything. Just mix it up.
- Live by the old adage “aim small, miss small.”
