With over three quarters of the year now behind us, we are now in the last quarter of the year. It begs the question; will you finish in the red or in the black? Are you on track to finish strong or will you miss reaching your goals?

We cannot change what’s behind us, so the only thing that matters now is your ability to finish the year strong. The good news is that there’s still plenty of time and opportunity for you to reach your goals and exceed your home sales targets.

Closing out strong is primarily the result of a consistent quarter, and here are 6 steps to help you move in that direction. 

6 Steps to Finishing the Year Strong

Step 1: Assess where you are right now

Ask yourself:

• How many transactions and listings are on your books right now? 
• How much gross commission income have you earned at this point? 
• Have you been inconsistent with your prospecting and marketing? Have you fallen behind?
• Are you following a schedule?
• What are the things I need to do better?  

Write your answers down. I know this is a little painful, but this is an important part of the process. We learn more from our failures than from our successes. 

You will likely find just one or two small things that, when done better, will make a significant difference to your success.

Step 2: Outline your last quarter goals 

I love this quote: 

‘In the absence of clearly-defined GOALS, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.’  - Robert Heinlein

So, based on your assessment:

• Decide on your reward. Will it be a trip to the Caribbean? A new car? Make it exciting, something you really want. When you do this it will energize you to do what needs to be done. Find a picture of it and place it on the wall where you can see it all the time.
• Make a 30, 60 or 90 day goal depending on how much time you have left between now and the end of the year.
  • How many transactions do you want to have?
  • How much GCI would that represent?
  • How many listing appointments do you need to go on?
  • How many people do you need to engage with? 
• Write all your answers down. 
• Create a countdown vision board with your goals so you see it in front of you every day. You’ll need to stay focused and reminded of your goals so that you don’t fall behind. Download the worksheet we've created to help you keep track of where you are in relation to your goal.

3. Convert your goals into activities

Don’t lose focus and become lethargic and inconsistent with your prospecting and follow up. 

Appointments are the name of the game! How many contacts, appointments, and contracts do you have to get to achieve your last quarter goals? 

Now break this quarterly goal into:

• What you need to accomplish each month
• What you need to accomplish each week
• What you need to accomplish each day

For example, if my quarterly transaction goal is to get 6 transactions before the end of the year; then I will need to do 2 transactions each month or 1 every two weeks. That then prompts me to book at least 2 appointments per week, to achieve that goal. How do I get the 2 appointments per week? I would have to plan to schedule in the time to contact leads and prospects to get those appointments on a daily basis.  

4. Timeblock and execute your activities for each week

Be proactive and schedule all your activities so you don’t leave things up to chance! The whole point is doing the actions to achieve your goal.

• Put everything into your calendar
  • Appointments
  • Follow up
  • Calls
  • Writing notes
  • Networking
  • etc.
• Don’t be reactive - you have a plan, so be committed to sticking to it
• Stay focused
• Move purposely towards your goals

5. Review your listing inventory

Do you still have homes on the market for sale? If so, you need to assess why they have not sold yet and what you need to do to get them sold. Some ideas that may help are to:

• Get a price reduction if applicable
• Organize virtual open houses and post videos
• Re-post listings on social media

6. Follow up your leads

Are there untapped leads that are an opportunity waiting to happen? Dive into your database and see where you can potentially engage people who may be interested in buying or selling their home. 

Who are your hot leads? They are the people you are working with right now. Stay engaged with them since they are your greatest potential for getting transactions and listings.

You must have people who reached out earlier this year but have turned cold. Implement a robust lead follow up system for these cold/warm contacts. Offer something value, like an updated CMA and re-establish the relationship.

I encourage you to get at it and make your dreams and goals come true for this year. It’s all in your hands. How badly do you want it? That will determine your success.

Be sure to download the worksheet we've created to help you keep track of where you are in relation to your goal. 

Make it a profitable year!