Keep Your Business Resolutions with brokerWOLF

When I think about business planning I get a similar feeling to that of making New Year's resolutions...

Just humor me for a moment. I think we can agree no goal is more deserving of your time and effort than a commitment to bettering yourself. But each year less than 10% of New Year's resolutions are actually kept! I'd be willing to guess that the percentage of real estate brokerages that stick to their business plan throughout the year is somewhat similar ;).

So then, how do you set business goals you can actually stick to?

Start with the numbers. Annual planning can be an emotional exercise for any independent business owner. It's important you don't let your wishes for the company overshadow real opportunities for growth and profit.

brokerWOLF was made for this.

Running a business with your gut has some merit, but sustained success requires objective tracking, reporting and analysis. That's where brokerWOLF comes in. Reports produced by the system can help you identify where your business can improve profitability, production and performance. This core set of planning reports will help get you started:

1. Annual Income Statement [F.4.3] – use this report to identify fluctuations in your average income and expenses. The variances can help pinpoint the seasonality of your own brokerage.
2. Breakeven Calculator [F.5.B] – this is more of a tool than a report, but just as critical to planning. Use the calculator to gain insight into what months you came up short of your targets, and discover whether recruiting or performance coaching could have changed the outcome.
3. Commission Cutting Report [2.P.5.6] – this gives you a clear understanding of the commission each agent has left on the table throughout the year. You can use this to determine if there's an opportunity for performance coaching and create a program to help your agents negotiate higher fees. Further, you can look for trends by month to see if there are connections between market conditions and commission rates.
4. Agent Performance Summary [8.F.P] – this report shows the overall health of your salesforce. You can see how your agents performed against minimum expectations and determine where change is needed to improve averages.

brokerWOLF literally provides hundreds of these types of reports that can enhance the process of planning and forecasting for your business. These reports will help you focus your efforts on reasonable goals for your brokerage, so your resolutions don't go by the wayside next year.

To view the original post, visit the Lone Wolf blog.