I sent a short survey to our members yesterday to help in putting together the plan for 2012. Though I may still get some responses, most are already in and I thought I’d update you on the results.
92.5% of respondents believe business will be better in 2012.
They ranked the biggest challenges facing them this year as follows:
- Marketing: 45%
- Staffing/Recruiting: 42.5%
- Lead Incubation: 37.5%
- Finding qualified & motivated buyers: 27.5%
- Controlling expenses: 25%
- Pricing listings properly: 15%
- Financing and lenders: 12.5%
Write-in responses to the question were:
- Keeping ahead of new technology & its cost
- Selling homes that are NOT in a foreclosure or shortsale status
- finding equity sellers who are willing to price at today’s values
- Managing and following up on leads
- Implementing everything I have learned
- The number of sellers
- Finding sellers. Really need listings
- Focus on Highest and Best use of my Time
- Getting my company back to where I was 2 years ago
As I look at these responses I can see that everyone is gearing up to do MORE in 2012. We want to explore new ways of marketing because we believe marketing will drive leads – that hasn’t always been the case in the last few years. We interested in staffing and recruiting because we know we’re going to need help as the market heats up. We want to learn how to better incubate leads because, heck! we’re expecting to have leads to incubate! And so on.
When asked where we should hold the next Help-U-Sell Success Summit, respondents said:
- A California Beach location: 40%
- Las Vegas: 34.3%
- Orlando, inconjunction with NAR: 25.7%
Write-in responses were:
- San Diego
- Somewhere in the Mid-West
- Milwaukee
- East Coast or Mid-Country location with inexpensive airfare
- Santa Barbara
- Driving Distance (!)
- Anywhere
When asked about the time of day to hold the Wednesday Broker Roundtable call, the majority said 9am Pacific time – which is when we currently hold them! 8am came in second and 11am, third.
I was encouraged that when asked how we at Home Office could better support them, respondents gave us pretty good marks, saying things like ‘nothing,’ ‘support is adequate,’ and ‘you’re doing fine.’ There were also some meaningful comments relating to how we can better partner with our members to achieve greater penetration in local markets. All comments are appreciated and we will consider everything you told us. Thank you!