Build Your Scoreboard
For the longest time, I have unsuccessfully attempted to get all the agents I coach to use the same scoreboard and to focus on the same metrics that generally drive business. You are probably already aware of the terms “lead measures” and “lag measures” from the Four Disciplines of Execution, but what I have found is that different people have different markets, different approaches, and different personalities which means that many businesses have unique lead and lag measures that are critical to their success. Eventually, I had a realization: instead of trying to force everyone to use the same scoreboard and process, why not identify each area that we can measure in a real estate business and then allow each leader to choose what areas are most critical to their own practice?
Below, we’ve linked a worksheet with what I believe to be every category that you could conceivably encounter inside of a real estate business as well as a few empty blanks in case we’ve missed anything unique to your own practice. What I want to encourage you to do is to choose five to fifteen numbers that you intend to truly use as the measurement of success in your business and identify them a lead and lag measures that will truly help to give you the clarity you need to steer your business to success.
Download the Scoreboard Worksheet
Imagine you are driving a car from one side of the continent to the other. You need to know at a glance how much gas you have in the tank, how fast you are driving, whether the engine is overheating, and a number of other critically important data points that frankly the ease and simplicity of that car’s dashboard allow us to take for granted. Now imagine trying to make that trip without that dashboard. You might not finish the trip at all, and certainly not without wasted time, effort and frustration. What are the metrics that you need at your fingertips that will allow you to see how your business is advancing?
What I want you to do is go through the worksheet and choose no less than 5 no more than 15 items that you’re going to pay attention to. Then what I would invite you to do is to enter that into the flash report we’ve linked below. Now, I know there are a number of automatic reporting systems out there, or maybe you’ve built your own, but I want you to have to enter the numbers into this report manually every week because it’s the process of filling out that report that shows that you’re paying attention to it. I can’t tell you the number of people I know that have reporting tools and access to loads of data, but they never look at them because somebody else is inputting the data for them. I’m not saying you should get rid of those systems but with your scoreboard, take the time to create and curate a flash report that reveals to you your business trends.
Like Keith Cunningham says in his amazing book, The Ultimate Blueprint for an Insanely Successful Business, we need to track, trend, and interpret to make the right decisions for our businesses and ultimately lead us to sustainable success. Check it out and try it out. I love this tool not only because I don’t have to coerce leaders into using the same metrics over and over again, but because I get to see the tremendous clarity it gives to my coaching clients who adopt it.
Related Reading
The Four Disciplines of Execution, by Chris McChesney, Jim Huling, and Sean Covey.
Traction: Get A Grip On Your Business, by Gino Wickman.
The Ultimate Blueprint for an Insanely Successful Business, Keith Cunningham.
