How to Set Your Goals Now for More Commissions in 2017

It's a safe bet that most agents would like to earn more money in the year ahead, but do you have a plan for how you can step up your game in 2017?

We're not talking about simply having vague goals in mind, but instead formulating a tangible plan that includes hard numbers for how many transactions you need to close to hit your income target, as well as how many leads you need to engage to generate those transactions in the first place. Or, as we say in the RE Technology offices, you need to plan your work and work your plan!

Fortunately, with a little guidance, this is simple to do—and, it's a great time of year to start planning ahead. Here are a few things you need to keep in mind when formulating a plan for 2017:

1. Establish your baseline

Before you figure out where you want to go next year, first you need to figure out where you've been. How much commission did you earn last year? From how many closed transactions did you earn this commission? How many buyer transactions closed? How many listings? Once you've figured this out, you can begin to visualize how many more transactions you need to close in 2017 to hit your income goals.

2. Calculate how many leads you need

Closing more transactions means engaging with more leads. If you closed 10 transactions this year, and you want to close 15 in 2017, you need to generate and engage with 50 percent more leads.

That's still a little too vague to establish concrete goals, so let's dive into specific numbers. Realtor.com® estimates that agents need to engage 30 leads for every one transaction. That means to close 15 transactions you need to engage 450 prospects per year, or just over 37 per month. With roughly 21 working days per month, that means you should have meaningful contact with just under two leads per day.

3. Understand where your leads come from

So where are those two leads a day (or more, depending on your goals) coming from? Before you engage in any expensive lead generation activities, first look to your contact database. Your sphere is an excellent source of leads because these are people who already know and trust you. Whatever your daily lead outreach goal is, consider focusing half of those outreach efforts on your sphere.

Reach out when database contacts have a birthday, or when they reach their annual home purchase/sale anniversary. You can also send a monthly newsletter, or reach out to homeowners with an estimate of their current home value, especially when there has been a major shift in your local market. If your CRM lets you designate hot, warm, and cold leads, it will make it much easier to target people to reach out to!

Beyond your existing database, you also need to formulate a plan for acquiring new prospects. This can be done in a multitude of ways—Facebook ads, retargeted ads, postcards, and offering homeowners free home valuations. The possibilities are multitude, and you likely already have a good grasp on what works for you and your market.

Goal setting made easy

If all of this seems a little intimidating to you, the realtor.com® free goal setting tool can do all the calculations for you! Just answer a few easy questions about your current income, number of transactions closed this year, and your income goals for 2017 and the tool will generate a plan of action for you. Try it here today!