“What gets measured gets managed.”
Too often, we dive into fixing aspects of our business without taking the time to reflect on and evaluate what we did before. When we do this, we’re going in somewhat blind by not using the insights around what did (or didn’t) work previously! By understanding what actually happened, you gain the power to shape what will happen and steer your future efforts with intention and clarity.
As 2024 winds down and we prepare to step into a new year and a fresh chapter of real estate, here are five key focus areas I revisit annually to set myself up for a strong start.
Spend some time to do these five things before the end of the year for a STRONG start to 2025!
Task #1: Review your last year in business
Reflecting on your last year is so important if you want to understand what worked, what didn’t, and where you need to adjust to hit your 2025 goals. If you don’t do this, you’re essentially starting from ground zero each time, which will undoubtedly slow your progress each year.
When reviewing the past 12 months of your business, here are a few questions and metrics that will give you a good baseline of what you want (and need) to adjust for the next year:
- How many deals did I close?
- What was my total sales volume?
- What percentage of deals were buyers vs. sellers?
- What were the sources for these deals? (e.g., referrals, social media, open houses)
- On a scale of 1-10, how well did I manage my time?
- On a scale of 1-10, how would I rate my prospecting efforts?
- How consistent was I with social media posting? Did I have a strategy or just “wing it”?
- How many referrals did I receive from my network?
- What could I have done better?
- What did I do exceptionally well that contributed to my success?
- What area did I struggle with the most? (Hint: this may be an area to either get help with or improve in 2025.)
After answering these questions, you can more effectively map out your goals for next year. Set realistic, data-driven targets that challenge you, but are also within reach. This is also a great time to identify if you might want to make so key hires in the next year to help you reach your next set of goals – it doesn’t always have to be a massive hire; it could just mean bringing on a virtual assistant for 5-10 hours per week to manage some of the administrative tasks, or handle some social media engagements!
As you go through this, I also suggest using a commission calculator to plan your income goal for 2025, and watch this video for a quick tutorial on how to use it to give you a clear roadmap of what you need to reach the goals you’ve set.
NEWBIE NOTE: If you’re just starting out and don’t have a full 12 months of data, use a commission calculator to plan what you’ll need to earn to meet your income targets. Try to make educated assumptions about some areas where you might need to spend the most time in your business.
Task #2: Start a Daily “Power 5” List for Productivity
The “Power 5” method is a game-changer for improving time management and productivity. Now, I’ll be honest: I’m like 93% sure I created this strategy! Though I am sure there are similar approaches, this is just what has worked best for me and our team over the years.
I especially love this strategy because we often get swallowed alive by our days. When you use an approach like this, you’ll realize you could actually spend 1-3 hours doing really intentional business growth tasks each day and make more progress than you do when you feel like you’re “working” 17 hours a day but remain in the same place.
This technique helps you focus on five high-impact tasks daily, creating momentum without overwhelming yourself and ensuring that you’re always moving the needle—even if it’s just a small 1% change each day.
Here’s how it works:
- Each morning, complete your regular morning routine. Right after that, write down your top five priorities for the day. Ideally, these are work-related but feel free to add high-priority personal tasks if they’re essential. Make sure it is ONLY 5 tasks (I know it’s easy to feel like everything is “high priority,” but trust me, it isn’t).
- When you list your “Top 5,” think about what would make your day feel like a win. I like to think of it like this: If I could complete ONLY these five tasks today, I would feel like I made good progress in my business.
- Example Power 5 List:
- 30 Minutes of Prospecting
- 30 Minutes of Follow-Up
- 1 Social Media Post
- 10-20 Minutes of Learning (market study, course module, training session)
- 30 Minutes in Your Database (adding notes, organizing, tracking tasks)
During the busier seasons of your business, your Power 5 may shift a bit. But try your best to make prospecting a non-negotiable part of every day—even if it’s just 30 minutes.
Consistency compounds and will pay off in the long run.
Set a daily “Power 5” list and start implementing it now so it becomes habitual by the new year.
Task #3: Create a Content Calendar and Map Out Your Marketing
Planning and scheduling your content might single-handedly be one of the best things you can do for your business—and sanity!
When we do this proactively, it helps to ensure that we don’t have another year of the rollercoaster posting approach… where you post consistently for a week and then fall off and go silent for a few weeks, only to repeat the cycle over and over.
By now, I’m sure you know that posting consistently to social media is a great way to stay visible and top-of-mind with your audience.
By mapping out your marketing efforts in advance, you can free up mental bandwidth and maintain consistency in your social media and marketing presence.
And remember, start from where you are with what you have! If you currently aren’t posting at all, start with a goal of three weekly posts. Once you’ve achieved that consistently, you can add more. Most agents get all fired up and attempt to over-commit to social too quickly, which usually leads to that rollercoaster posting approach we want to avoid at all costs!
Steps to Create a Content Calendar:
- Choose a scheduling tool or a simple spreadsheet to organize content ideas by date and platform. Even a simple Google doc will work!
- Break down content pillars you want tocreate: market updates, client testimonials, industry insights, and tips for buyers and sellers.
- Batch-create content by dedicating one or two days to produce a month’s worth of content. This could mean recording multiple videos in one session or creating graphics for upcoming listings.
I recently shared how to create 30 pieces of content in 90 minutes without burning out, and we talk a lot about mapping out your pillars. Read it here if you need extra help with this!
At the very least, shoot to outline your content and marketing efforts 1 month in advance so that your online presence can build month over month.
Using the slower months at the end of a year is the perfect time to get ahead for the next year.
Task #4: Clean out your database and pre-schedule quarterly calls with your network
Now, some of you may be database wizards, in which case you can skip this step. But in my experience, after coaching nearly 3,500 agents one-on-one, I’ve found that the vast majority of real estate agents have a messy, unorganized database, and this typically makes your follow-up and overall tracking much harder than it needs to be!
An organized database is essential for efficient follow-up and targeted outreach. If your CRM has become a little messy or outdated, now is the perfect time to clean it up!
Pro Tip: If you’ve been contemplating consolidating different platforms or switching CRMs, this time of year is usually a great time to do so!
As you spend time optimizing your database, here are a few things that you can do to set yourself up for success:
- Remove incomplete or faulty contacts (like the person who entered their email as effoff@gmail.com).
- Add notes to valid contacts and complete more of their profile if possible. Do you know their birthday? Have you learned more about them this year? Did you talk recently? Have their goals changed? Did they experience any critical life events this year?
- Merge duplicate contacts
- Make sure automated follow-up is active for contacts who need it
- Check the last time contacts have read or opened an email you sent
Once you’ve cleaned up your database, go ahead and pre-schedule times in your 2025 calendar to sit down and work through follow-ups for everyone. At the very least, this should be a quarterly touchpoint where you call them, send them a video, or schedule a 1:1 sit down over coffee to remain top of mind and ask for referrals!
Task #5: Build Your “Perfect Storm” Lead Generation Strategy
Creating a consistent stream of leads is very important if you want to build a sustainable and scalable business! The “perfect storm” for lead generation is built around three lead generation pillars: ideally, one passive source and two active ones.
This balanced approach ensures a steady flow of leads from different avenues, keeping your pipeline full throughout the year.
Here are just a few examples to help you understand the difference:
Active Sources:
- Dialing (expired, FSBO, sphere, online leads)
- Open Houses
- Door Knocking
- Paid Online Lead Generation
Passive Sources:
- Social Media
- Referrals
- Mailers
Each lead source should have a system around it that allows you to automate as much as possible and track the results of each one (like the number of leads generated and conversion rates). This allows you to build a more predictable business.
For Example: If I can track that I get one active buyer client for every five open houses I do, that would most likely tell me I should increase the volume of open houses if I want to work with more ready-to-go buyers!
If open houses are one of your pillars, create a checklist for every open house, ensuring you have sign-in sheets, follow-up emails prepared, and a strategy to keep attendees engaged after they leave.
The key to successful lead generation is consistency and follow-through.
PRO TIP: I also recommend scheduling at least 1 day BEFORE the end of the year to clear out your never-ending to-do list. It’s not uncommon that we create these running to-do lists and never fully clear them off. This leads to overwhelm and makes it harder to prioritize what’s really important in your business. I like to schedule a day each quarter where I completely block my schedule to clear everything (that I can) off of my to-do list so that each day, I can focus on the most important tasks at hand.
Taking time to review, organize, and prepare before the end of the year will set you miles ahead of the competition (even if that competition is who you were 12 months ago!)
I don’t know about you guys, but I plan on 2025 being my best year yet—by far! These are some of the steps I’ll be taking to make that my reality. Remember, by evaluating your progress, clearing out distractions, streamlining your processes, and getting more organized, you’ll enter the new year focused, prepared, and ready to win!
This Simple Instagram Post Generated 97 Comments (and a Month of Content Ideas)