7 Ways Smart Agents are Preparing Now to Make 2023 Their Best Year Ever!

If you’re not doing the seven things I discuss in this blog, you are losing ground to the competition. Because recently I’ve been talking to lots of top-producing agents, team leaders and CEOs, and they’re all gearing up to capitalize on the gigantic opportunities 2023 is likely to bring. But here’s the good news – it’s not too late to catch up. So I assembled this list of seven activities you should be doing now to make 2023 your best year ever!

Activity No. 1: Business Planning & Budgeting

We’ll start with one that should be a no-brainer… Here in early November, we’re in the heart of business planning and budgeting season. It’s essential that you put your plan in place now because this business takes time to get to that end result… The things you’re doing today are more likely to impact your bottom line in Q1 2023 than they are before the end of the year.

Activity No. 2: Get Clear on 2023 Lead Acquisition

It’s always a good idea to know where your business is going to come from. The next big question on the minds right now is how do we generate leads that DON’T have a referral fee attached to them? After all, why give away 25-42% of those hard-earned commission checks when you don’t have to? So now is the time to figure out how you’ll generate business in 2023 AND how you’ll improve your conversion. What’s working in 2022 that you can double down on in 2023? What didn’t work and you should leave behind in 2022? What new avenues will you explore?

To help you decide, I’ll give you the top 10 listing sources used by our coaching members that I revealed last month at Success Summit:

Database

Geographic farming

Direct from watching videos/content

Google My Business page

Open Houses

Expireds

Google Local Services ads

Direct from reading reviews on Zillow or Google

Circle dialing around recent sales

Yikes campaign/Just Sold cards

Activity No. 3: Communicate Your Vision

I’ve been a huge proponent of teams for many years now, so no apologies to those who insist on flying solo. If that’s you, you can probably skip to the next one. Or you can recognize how much more you could accomplish if you delegate tasks and start focusing on your HaBu (highest and best use of your time). The end of the year is a perfect time to take a step back and make sure you have a compelling vision for where your business, team, or organization is headed.

In today’s market, people can make money anywhere. What they really want is to be part of something bigger, and that’s where your vision comes in.

Is your vision crystal clear? Are you “living” it with your actions? Would your team members agree with your answer to that last question? Do you convey your vision publicly so agents at other companies know who you are and what they’re missing?

Recruiting the right talent doesn’t have to be the chore it might seem to be. When you get your vision and culture dialed in and communicate it clearly, you’re going to attract like-minded people your way. The time is now to make it happen.

Activity No. 4: Operationalizing & Hiring for Growth

There’s a lot of opportunity for growth on the horizon, but to capitalize on it, you need the right systems and people in place.

Do you have the salespeople you need to achieve your lofty goals in 2023?

Do you have the marketing support you need?

Do you have your operations nailed down and running seamlessly?

If you answered no to any of those questions, now’s the time to make things happen.

Activity No. 5: Fine Tune Your Personal Brand

You may have heard me talk about the consumer’s “flight to quality” over the last year or two.

Today’s consumer will not settle for just any real estate agent. Want proof? The top 25 percent of agents control 73 percent of the business, and the top 50 percent of agents control a whopping 91 percent of the business!

The people have spoken, and they want a hyperlocal expert with a strong track record of sales and community involvement.

That’s where your personal (or team) brand comes in. A boilerplate page on your company’s website does nothing to differentiate you from the competition. What are you doing to stand out? How many videos are you shooting every week? How are you putting yourself out there in front of the people of your community to be known as the hyperlocal expert?

Find the answers to those questions and amplify the power of your personal brand.

Activity No. 6: Gain Extreme Clarity

If you were with us back at Success Summit, you might remember keynote speaker Seth Godin talking about finding your smallest viable audience.

To achieve that level of specificity, you’ve got to gain total clarity about…

Who you are

What you do

Where you’re headed

Who and what you’re building for

Can you answer all those questions with exacting precision? Or are you still trying to be all things to all people… and ultimately, barely being noticed as a result?

Activity No. 7: Increase Content Creation

Pure and simple, we live in a content-driven world, and no one is creating enough content. The best in the business are doing something about it, though. They realize we’re living in a “video-first” world and they’re staffing up to capitalize on it.

Are you? Do you have a videographer? How about a social media coordinator? Do you have video editors? Have you created your own show yet?

Remember… these don’t have to be full-time positions. They can be freelancers who you only pay when you have a job for them. But make those connections now, because the sooner you go all-in on video, the sooner you’ll establish yourself as your market’s hyperlocal expert.