Do’s and don’ts for writing your 2025 success story

As a real estate broker-owner, now is your time to prepare for a successful 2025. We suggest that you start at the beginning—on January 1st—with a solid Q1 real estate brokerage strategy. To get started, imagine that the business year ahead is a story, and Q1 is your first chapter. The timeframe, January through March, is an opportunity to set a tone, a direction, a pace, and a foundation for all the quarters to follow.

To get your process in play—and to help you write your 2025 success story—Weichert® has some key do’s and don’ts to tap into.

DO

Analyze the current market. Let the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) economists guide you as they weigh in on home sales and mortgage rates—and how the election results, the economy, and changing buyer demographics could impact your real estate business in the year ahead. 

Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR, forecasts the following over the next two years:  

• 2025 sales projection: Existing home sales to rise 9% year-over-year; new home sales to jump by 11%.
• 2026 sales projection: Existing home sales to rise 13% year-over-year; new home sales to increase by 8%.

Read more about Yun’s predictions.

Reflect on the past year. Put the focus on performance and key performance indicators (KPIs) so that you have real, tangible numbers to build from. You can break down your year into different areas, including:

• Marketing. As part of your year-end review, audit your marketing activities to see where your marketing dollars were best spent. What was your return on investment (ROI)? 
• Lead generation. Focus on key metrics like conversion rates, cost per lead, lead quality, customer lifetime value (CLTV), customer acquisition cost (CAC), website traffic, and overall engagement. It’s one thing to look at just the number of new leads; it’s another to fully understand the effort and cost behind acquiring each one.
• Finances. You may have a clear sense of how much money you made this year, but do you know your profit? (The amount earned after expenses have been deducted.) Take a good look at these numbers to understand your finances and where you can make adjustments for next year.
• Operations. This simply means how you operate your business on a day-to-day basis. Understanding your operations can help you to look at your business holistically. Assess key metrics, including agent productivity, sales, closing rates, customer satisfaction, and marketing effectiveness. As you look at all these parts of your overall “story” you can see how everything fits together—or not. That’s where opportunity lies.

Set clear goals. If possible, involve the whole team in the goal-setting process. This can increase the likelihood that individual team members will feel a sense of ownership and commitment toward your brokerage Q1 planning. Consider using collaborative goal-setting frameworks, like S.M.A.R.T. goals, to ensure everyone understands what the team plans to achieve.

Empower your agents. Help your agents be more efficient with the tools and resources they need to succeed. Your CRM can help them streamline assets and manage sales. Is yours where it needs to be? Are your electronic signature services up to date? Do you have a suite of marketing tools that empowers your agents to be proactive and promote on social media platforms? Are your email marketing services set up so that agents can send follow-ups with ease? As you map out your goals, be sure that your tools and resources can support them. 

Set the right tone. Now’s the time to plan for the type of energy you want to see in the year ahead for your business. Everything you do, while strategic, can also be wrapped in positivity. Find ways to generate enthusiasm and motivation for you, your agents, and everyone else on your team. Thinking about Q1 with only a tactical hat on is not enough. Put a focus on the people.

DON’T

Be overly ambitious.  To help make Q1 work in your favor, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Focus on strategic initiatives that you can implement right away—and then begin to crush it in Q1. While the work will surely spill over into the other three quarters of the year, there’s something to be said for seeing progress right out the gate. So, make sure your goals set you up for this kind of success.

Overlook operational givens. Try not to skimp on the tools and resources that will help your business run like a well-oiled machine. Technology, data tracking, or analytics should be top of mind. The same goes for sales and marketing operations. Find the places where tasks can be automated. Making things easier is not skimping; it’s about utilizing your resources in the smartest way.

Forget to delegate. As a broker-owner, it’s natural to want to control every aspect of your business. But as you scale, you need to know how and when to let go. Start planning for this in Q1 so you don’t get caught up in the routine of just doing things yourself for the entire year. Trust the people on your team, especially the more seasoned ones. It’s why you worked so hard to recruit them. Give them the direction and support they need, then step back and let them shine.

Lose sight of your ‘just starting out’ hunger. There’s something to be said about  the mindset you had when you started your real estate brokerage. That determination and drive still lives within you. Tap into it every chance you get. Sometimes all it takes is a reminder, such as hanging a sign in your office that captures your work mantra. This way you see it every day! No matter how successful you are, it’s crucial to remain connected with what got you this far in the first place. At Weichert, we always lean into our story—a 50+-year history that was built on the same values we care about today. 

One more “Do”

So, as you can see, the first quarter of a new business year is vital. It establishes the foundation and direction for the months to follow. It’s also an opportune time to make connections that will help you and your team write your success story in 2025—and see it come to life. Add “contact Weichert” to your “do” list and see how our team can support yours!