Greg Swann of Bloodhoundblog.com recently wrote a post about goals and offered a suggestion on how to help yourself reach your goals.  Greg’s comment on setting vs. achieving your goals was excellent food for thought.

The Motivational Speaker Circuit, both inside and outside of the real estate world, is always all over the idea of goal-setting. But real changes in you life can only come from goal-achieving.

What goals have you set and plan on achieving in 2009?   You should give careful consideration to the goals you are setting.  Common goals real estate agents set each year include listing more homes or selling more houses.  Are those really goals or are they the end result of achieving real goals?  Selling and listing homes is what we do, it is our career choice.  Each time we list a home or sell a house, we are enjoying the fruits of achieving a goal we set for our self. 

This being the case, this year when you set your goals, be specific.  If the end result is that you desire is to list more homes then you need to set very specific goals on how to reach that result.  What specifically will you  do to list more houses? 

Will your specific goal involve analyzing your phone skills, closing skills and listing presentation?  Will you make it a goal to ask for contructive critisism of your communication skills from your manager or a top producing agent in your office?  Will you make it a goal to practice your communication skills daily?  Great verbal communication skills will result in a higher listing success rate when you meet with home sellers throughout the year.

Another specific goal for achieving more listings this year might be for you to do more prospecting and less marketing for listings.  Marketing is a very passive tool and counts on your marketing material being seen by a potential listing at the right time and place.  Even the very best marketing leaves the decision to engage up to the customer and out of your control.  Prospecting is a more aggressive approach that when done consistently puts you in the right time and place more often.  Having increased listings as your goal means you need to have a more specific goal of increased prospecting. 

Speaking of prospecting, can’t we drill down being more specific than just saying we are going to prospect more as our goal?  Sure we can.  What specifically will be our goal for increased prospecting to achieve more listings?  Will we call a specific number of expired listings daily?  We will develop a better follow up system for our past customers that asks for listing referrals?  Maybe our goal will be to improve our direct mail or farming efforts.

 This year challenge yourself to set and achieve goals that can only equal success.  Set specific and detailed goals that will help you reach the success you desire and deserve.  Stick to your plan during the year and you too will see that real change comes from achieving your goals.