If Hannibal from the A Team was an Estate Agent
Google has a 1000 year plan.
Apple apparently has the same very long term vision laid out in a secret cave.
A lot of dodgy football managers have five years plans but are usually only around 12-18 months to work on them before getting their P45.
Hannibal from the A Team always had a plan. He loved it when it came together.
Jesus, even my four year old daughter has a plan (well it’s a well thought out, detailed and expensive Christmas list for Santa / Amazon to get his / their teeth into).
Plans are useful. They give direction, clarity and bring focus to our efforts.
I do a lot of work this time of year helping agents plan their marketing and PR efforts for the following year.
In fact my late November / early December are filled helping agents with these planning and strategy days.
I’ve just finished a plan for next year with a very switched on agency that’s more comprehensive than Grange Hill. There’s a reason (actually there’s loads) why they are leading their area in terms of instructions won. Precise planning is one of them.
So what’s your plan?
The thing is I’m often staggered when I have a chat with agents who have NO marketing or PR plan.
Even more staggering is when the answer to my question, ‘What’s your marketing and PR budget for the year?’ Is met with a blank look and ‘we’re not actually sure’ or ‘we haven’t worked out a budget.’ (Most agents I work with say around 10 per cent of their annual turnover is spent on marketing and PR).
Now this isn’t a criticism. I’m great at helping agents with their plans but my own probably need a look at to be fair. But I do have a month by month yearly plan of action.
Why plan for 2017?
From a PR and marketing perspective having a plan helps you make the most of calendar and seasonal opportunities and is one less thing to think about.
Mapping out the coming year gives you a great idea where and when you can get the most punch for your marketing pound.
It allows you to put in place a way of measuring the response you get and as the businesses gurus always tell ya ‘what you can measure you can manage.’
Planning can seem a bit of a bore. Sitting down, in a room, faced with a spreadsheet with the months of the year laid out in front of you. It can even be daunting.
But just like sitting down to sort out your life / home / car insurance is dull planning where your marketing and PR is headed is very, very important. And it’s time and money well invested and with the right people involved is actually fun and interesting.
One of aspect of my 2016 plan was to attend The Negotiator Conference in London at the start of November. Good speakers, great networking and an opportunity to see some old friends and meet new clients.
Let me know if you’re going and fancy a coffee on me (well I say ‘me’ but you get complimentary coffee as part of your ticket price, I’ll pour it though).
Thanks for reading and here’s to your plan for 2017.
Jerry
PS: I was surprised during a chat with a client earlier this week that he didn’t know how to find out who owned properties which were advertised to let. He wanted to come to the attention of landlords in his patch but felt stuck.
I kind of assumed that all agents know the little technique to discover who owns what property. If you don’t know how ping me an email saying ‘I’m in the dark on this one’ and I’ll send you the info.
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