Amy McCann

By: Amy McCann

By now, mid-way through February, most of us have been through the onslaught of motivation brought on by the shine and promise of the new year—and the inevitable crash to reality. That makes this the moment you get to decide what the rest of 2025 will bring. You can either give up and resolve yourself to falling into old patters. You can cycle through the same problems and disappointments, or you can allow this to be the year you finally push through the chaos of change to make a real internal shift. If you make the decision to execute, keep yourself motivated and truly believe in yourself, this can be the year you hit all your goals.

Most people will become too narrow minded and simply focus on the tasks at hand, blocking out the rest of the world. However, usually our world outside of real estate is the reason we’re so dedicated to our success in the first place. Imagine you work 14 hours days, becoming so insulated from the things that bring you real purpose. How long do you believe you can maintain that lifestyle? This is why people abandon their plans and return to the status quo. If you deprive yourself of the things you love, your determination to succeed is also extinguished. This is why to organize yourself for a successful year, I encourage you to focus on balance. The trick is creating a plan that allows you to follow through on all your new year’s plans and prevent burn out that will catch up to you in the spring, summer and fall.

If you break down the process it becomes very easy to find your path and stick to it. Follow the tips below and focus on following through 80% of the time and you will be amazed by the changes you see in three, six and 12 months.

#1 – Evaluate your Business

Look at your business over the last twelve months. Catalogue the following:

1. Where you are getting the most leads
2. How you close those leads
3. What marketing and skills have proven the most effective
4. The time you spent on each customer

Then, track these metrics:

1. Your follow up methods
2. Conversion rates
3. Average listing price
4. Number of sales

Without knowing your metrics it is almost impossible to improve them. Once you have all the information laid out in front of you, you can decide where to focus more time and where you can cut excess expenses.

This provides the basis of your blueprint. You know your numbers, what you need to focus on and where you can reduce spending. Now you can make realistic goals based on this information. For example, do you want to reach your high-level goal of closing more in volume by increasing your average list price, closing more units or a mix of the two?

Focus on two or three incremental goals that will get you to your big picture goal and focus your energy on achieving those.

#2 – Create a Plan

Now that you have clear goals, it is time to build on your plan for how to execute. I have found the simplest version of this is to take your list of small goals and break them down into specific, achievable tasks. This gives you a day-to-day guide so you can measure progress toward your overall goals.

If you found when analyzing your business that you get most of your leads from reaching out to your sphere of influence yet spend $1500 a month on a leads program (that produced minimal closings) then you might decide to double down your efforts to reach out to your sphere and cancel the leads program. In this example, two steps are taken to get closer to the goal of achieving a higher income: you reallocate your budget by canceling the leads program, and you focus your time on your sphere, which actually gives you more time back to pivot to more income-producing tasks.

Once you have the prospecting methods narrowed you can set clear expectations of yourself to easily know if you will hit your goals. How many calls do you need to make a day? How many social media posts? How many mailers sent?

Consistency in following your plan will be the key.

#3 – Rely on a Routine

Now that you have analyzed your business and created a daily list of activities, you can devise a routine that will allow you to hit your daily goals consistently.

Plan to carve out 3-4 hours in the morning per day to focus on your business. No matter what, this will be your time to prospect and achieve your daily goals. Ideally, this block of time would be in the morning when doing our most dreaded tasks feels easier and we have the rest of the day to work on the things we enjoy.

The most important tasks are the ones that keep you in business and allow you to provide the best customer service. This is why prospecting should always be top priority. Plan to take appointments, return phone calls, answer emails and everything else for the afternoon. If you set expectations early—with your family, friends and customers—they come to rely on the fact that they know they’ll hear from you. If willpower isn’t enough to keep you on point, use the focus feature or “do not disturb” on your phone. It helps with the guilt!

#4 – Leverage Technology

Take a look back at the analysis you completed on your business. What are you doing with your time that could either be outsourced to technology or systematized? Again, your time is best spent doing the things that generate business; however, the day-to-day business tasks and operations still need to get done. There are several tools you can use for administrative tasks, but I encourage you above all else to invest your time or money into a customer management system, or CRM. A CRM is an amazing tool to automatically stay in touch with your customers, create task lists, organize your calls for the day, send emails, text and more .

If you are bogged down with paperwork, seek out a transaction coordinator. Many TCs get paid per closing so you won’t have to pay anything up front. If you need help with social media, investigate systems that automatically post for you. Are you struggling with marketing? Many CRMs have built in tools that are easy to use. If your brokerage offers tools or marketing help, leverage those resources.

#5 – Time Block for things that Renew you

After following the steps above, find ways to nourish your passions, family and social life. As part of your, routine block out time to do the things you love. Literally put time on your calendar for these things!

For some people that is a nightly dinner with family, an hour a day to read, turning off the phone at 9pm, horseback riding Saturday mornings, getting to the gym before work or something else. Whatever it is that renews your energy, make time for it and protect that time fiercely. It is time you set aside, like any appointment with a customer, with yourself to keep you in the headspace to stay on track. Allow this time to reinvigorate you and remind you of why you stay focused in your work. This step allows you to maintain true consistency and achieve a balanced life.

A licensed real estate professional and REALTOR® for almost a decade, Amy McCann has helped lead The Keyes Company’s Fort Lauderdale office as an assistant sales manager, established The McCann Team, and is the founder/manages the Keyes M.B.A. corporate training program. Currently, she is the District Sales Manager for The Keyes Company’s Plantation, FL office.