Survey Your Team’s Business Landscape to Identify Opportunities and Priorities
A SWOT analysis is an exercise that businesses use to evaluate their current situations. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats—doing an analysis to identify real elements within those four categories will help you focus on where you are now in your business and what your future will look like.
To focus your team for 2021, take a look at these important areas with the following ideas in mind:
1. Strengths: What differentiates your team and its individual members? What unique or positive aspects to you possess—skills, relationships, etc.—that give you an advantage in your market and with potential clients? Write these down and ensure that you are highlighting these as part of your marketing, sales presentations and team communications.
2. Weaknesses: On the flipside, make an honest assessment of where your team might be falling short. Maybe you aren’t generating as many leads as you would like or maybe your client communication has been haphazard. Whatever you are doing—or more likely, not doing—that is hindering optimal performance and client experience, identifying it is the first step in fixing it as soon as possible.
3. Opportunities: These can either be game-changing situations that you want to seize or smaller areas of focus that will create more listings, sales and income for you and your team. Are there new development that would fit your business plan? A change in the market? New guidelines or population dynamics that are underserved? Being able to spot and go after opportunities in real estate can make a huge difference in your team’s market leadership and success.
4. Threats: These include anything that can negatively affect your business from the outside. They could be competition from specific agents, a new brokerage entering your market, a negative change in market conditions or anything else that could threaten your production and profitability. Being alert to what is happening around you—and having a game plan for adjusting and/or competing accordingly—is necessary for protecting your business success.
As you determine what opportunities to pursue in 2021, and what threats to combat, your SWOT analysis will help ensure that your strengths and weaknesses are addressed within solutions. You will proceed purposefully and direct your business efforts toward areas that are both promising and well-suited to your team’s capabilities.
You will make 2021 your best year yet by driving your team’s activities in the right direction, with the right training and tools. A SWOT analysis will help you get there, so use it in your business today!
For a FREE copy of Sherri’s SWOT Analysis Worksheet for Real Estate Agents, click here.
Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. With 20 years of experience in real estate, Johnson offers coaching, consulting and keynotes, and is a national speaker for the Homes.com Secrets of Top Selling Agents tour and the Official Real Estate Coach for McKissock Learning and Real Estate Express. She is also an RISMedia 2020 Real Estate Newsmaker as an industry Influencer. Sign up for a free 30-minute coaching strategy session or visit www.sherrijohnson.com for more information.
