Your Vision, Your Playbook

Dec 13, 2021

As a real estate salesperson, you are essentially running your own business.  You may be working for a firm, but in most cases you are an independent contractor working under a 1099. Therefore, you are running your own business. Yet professions fail to realize that and fall into the belief that their firm is creating business for them to serve.

It’s true that the firm needs to have their own business plan and implement sales strategies in order for their agents successful. However, real estate companies are in business to provide a  brand for those services, not to develop their business.

Know What Success Looks Like To You

For any salesperson to be successful, they first have to have a vision of what success looks like to them.  This could include a monetary goal, a performance goal, and a long-term vision of where you want to take your sales career over the next 5-10 years. Establishing your vision is not the same as a business plan. A business plan is how you are going to execute to achieve your vision. And in between your vision and your business plan, you need a playbook.

Create a Playbook That Will Lead to High, Consistent, Sales Results

A playbook provides the background and tools to create, manage, and execute all facets of your business. A good playbook includes how a company organizes their daily activities and manages the daily to-do list. It creates operating procedures for handling your business and looks at your cultural values that create the ability to deliver consistent results.

As a salesperson, one may ask “But that is what my firm needs to do, not me.” All salespeople need to hold themselves accountable. They need to be in charge of organizing their priorities, hold themselves accountable for achieving results, and create their own methods to delivering those results. Holding  yourself accountable reflects on your work ethic and drive, and changes how your peers, clients, and competition may see you.

Create a Business Plan To Execute

A business plan is meant to provide a structure for your ideas to creating a successful business, whereas a playbook looks at prioritizing resources and setting aside time to grow your sales revenue against your return on your investment–   i.e. your time.

The great salespeople understand that they stand out amongst their peers– they don’t blend into them.  To stand out, you need a vision for yourself and a playbook to win.

Written by: Hans Hansson

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Hans Hansson is President of Starboard Commercial Real Estate. Hans has been an active broker for over 35 years in the San Francisco Bay Area and specializes in office leasing and investments. If you have any questions or comments please email [email protected] or call him at (415) 765-6897. You may also check out his website, https://www.hanshansson.com