Start Over Fresh for the New Year with Team Goal Setting

We’re all ready to leave 2020 in the rearview mirror. And even though we’re looking forward to the new year, it’s not enough to “feel” ready for that fresh start. That’s why it’s important to make setting objectives for your team a part of your 2021 strategy. In fact, team goal setting has a major impact on the success of your brokerage. One article in the Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience Review found that goal setting actually restructures brain cells so that you’re largely more successful. So, how do you bring all that restructuring to your brokerage’s team?  

Start the new year with a fresh goal setting session to set short-term and long-term goals for real estate agents and your brokerage. Take the time out of your next meeting for your team to focus on their own career goals as well as the brokerage’s. Here are a few strategies and ways to achieve team goals in 2021.  

1. Individual goals need to be both specific and measurable 

As Zipi CEO, Jesse Garcia, put it, how do you even know when you’ve succeeded? How do you know when you’ve actually achieved your goals? Everyone has their own idea of success, and when your brokerage relies on so many factors like transaction numbers, revenue and agent performance, it’s difficult to know where the success comes from. When your entire team, from real estate agents to marketers and admin, have specific and measurable goals, you are better able to determine the individual successes. Get this — agents who set goals reported salaries $50,000 more on average than those who did not set goals. Overall, it’s better for your agents and better for the brokerage.

2. The brokerage as a whole needs to set a clear team goal

Team goal setting needs to have an overarching theme. What is the team goal? In order for your individual team members to come up with their own goals, they need to know how they can help achieve it. 

Let’s say you determine that your brokerage needs to decrease costs and be more efficient.  If efficiency is the theme for 2021, your brokerage vision is now straightforward and has a set intention for the year. This theme now impacts your team members and their individual goals leaving your brokerage with one clear vision for 2021. Just remember, team and individual goals need to be both specific and measurable. For example, the goal might be to decrease costs in the first quarter by 3% to 5%. 

3. Aim for an increase in median sale price 

The median sale price for your brokerage is a tell-tale sign of success and failure. All brokerages should include median sale price increases in team goal setting since it is so crucial. It tells brokers a lot about the past year: year-over-year increases or decreases, agent sales and negotiations, marketing strategy, and more. Based on your market and past data, determine what your median sale goal should be as a team. 

4. Make goals buildable with action plan steps  

Goal setting is truly a process, and each piece should build on another. Once you’ve determined your theme or overarching goal, how will you support your ability to achieve them? Just like a New Year’s resolution, that resolution is pointless unless you have a plan to actually achieve it. Here are a few examples of how you can make goals buildable with action plan steps:  

• Generate twice as many weekly leads to increase the number of clients.   
• Research cloud-based back office and accounting platforms weekly to increase brokerae efficiency. 
• Incorporate video technology and virtual showings into each listing. 
  

These are just a few examples, but each of these action plans help you to achieve a larger goal. It’s best to think small when it comes to action plan steps, focusing on daily or weekly ways to put these steps into play. 

Zipi is a cloud-based, back office and accounting platform designed for real estate brokerages to streamline processes and cut costs. Request a demo to get in contact with one of our expert team members.