As a real estate entrepreneur, you find yourself pulled in SO MANY directions—you’ve got to keep up with lead generation, lead nurturing, showing homes, going on appointments, and so much more–not to mention real estate number tracking!
Too often, real estate agents like you and I let those daily responsibilities run our entire business and we get into the habit of ONLY reacting. We see a problem or realize we’re getting behind and jump into action…but we don’t take the time to step back and wonder “Wait—is what I’m doing actually working?”
Now, finding out whether your efforts are working is a somewhat complex process; however, it’s NOT impossible. The easiest way to know if your efforts are working is to TRACK YOUR NUMBERS!
Here are the steps you should take for real estate number tracking if you want to start measuring your daily practices and tactics to determine if they are ACTUALLY working for you.
Step 1: Decide on Numbers To Track
Deciding on the numbers or metrics that you will track is the step that will make or break the entire business practice of real estate number tracking. So, be mindful of what you track!
If you choose numbers that don’t serve a purpose, you’re wasting your time. Why?! Well, because the whole point of tracking your numbers is to make changes, adapt, and pivot your practices after analyzing your numbers. Here’s what tracking offers:
- Clarity on what’s working (and what’s not).
- Insight into if you’re improving (or not).
- Numbers that will not lie to you (they are more valuable than any consultant, coach, or broker).
So, please choose wisely when it comes to what you want to track in your real estate business. Your business is unique to you, so you get to decide which numbers matter and which really don’t.
Here are some ideas of different numbers you could start tracking, depending on your overall business strategy.
(BUSINESS) Metrics To Track
- Income – how much are you making monthly/yearly?
- Expenses – how much do you NEED to make to meet your expenses (with a little leftover)?
- Profit – how much are you making to set aside toward retirement, vacations, etc.?
(SALES) Metrics To Track
- Closed Sales Volume – how many homes did you sell and for how much?
- Number of Closed Deals – how many deals do you close monthly/yearly?
- Average Price Point – what is the average price point for the homes you sell?
- Average Commission Charged – what is your average commission on each home?
(CONVERSION) Metrics To Track
- Number of Leads – how many leads are you getting and getting in touch with?
- Lead Source – where are you getting your leads (Facebook, Zillow, TikTok, cold calls, etc.)?
- Number of Appointments – how many appointments are you setting and attending?
- Number of Signed Agreements – how many agreements are you signing with clients?
- Number of Listed Homes – how many homes are you listing per month/year?
- Number of Sold Homes – how many homes are you selling per month/year?
(MARKETING) Metrics To Track
- Amount Spent on Advertising – how much are you paying for ads, flyers, etc.?
- Number of Page Visits/YT Views/etc. – how many are you getting per week/month/year?
- Number of Social Media Followers/Friends/Subscribers/etc. – how many do you have and/or gain?
- Email Open Rate – how often do your emails get opened and read?
- Cost Per Lead – how much is each lead costing you based on how much you pay for lead sources, marketing, etc.?
(EFFORT) Metrics To Track
- Number of Days Worked – how many days a week do you work?
- Number of Hours Worked – how many hours a week do you work?
- Number of Calls Made – how many calls do you make each day?
- Number of Blog Posts/YouTube Videos/etc. – how many pieces of content do you put out in a week/month?
Again, don’t feel pressured to track all of the numbers above. In fact, some of the items listed above may not matter to your business at all. But that’s okay—this is just a jumping-off point for you to sit down and figure this out for YOUR business!
In this digital age, the multiple communication channels available to you create an opportunity for you to build your business by design! You get to create your own path, no matter what that means to you.
You might find yourself as a YouTuber (similar to me), where 99% of my real estate business is inbound—either agents looking to partner with me to double their real estate business or buyers and sellers wanting to work with me directly to purchase or sell.
Or, you might find yourself as a cold caller who spends hours a day chatting on the phone with people who need real estate advice. You might choose to use Instagram and become an “influencer” of sorts, gaining traffic from people who want to learn more about real estate in a fun, accessible way.
No matter what you like best, just take some time to plan your real estate number tracking practices based on what works for your specific tactics and business strategies.
Step 2: Set a Schedule To Pull Numbers
Now that we know all the metrics we’re going to track, it’s time to schedule when you’re going to measure all of these numbers.
Your first instinct may be, “Well Jaime, the 1st of the month is obviously when I’ll be tracking! That’s a clean break!” Not so fast, though…there are some numbers that you won’t have access to on the 1st of the month.
Some deposits or expenses may not have cleared. Your YouTube view count lags 2 days behind. Various other reports might not be available on the 1st, based on what vendors you use and how they operate.
So, my suggestions for when you’ll pull the numbers are as follows:
- If you track monthly, pull the numbers on the 3rd of the month.
- All of your trackable numbers should be in by then.
- If you track weekly, pull your numbers on Sundays.
- You’ll be motivated to tackle the week regardless if you hit your goals or not.
By the way, don’t get caught up on “where to track.” Don’t overthink it—just use a Google sheet or Excel document and make a simple chart. This doesn’t have to be complicated or costly.
Step 3: Analyze & Adapt
This is the most important part of real estate number tracking! PLEASE lean in! You MUST analyze your numbers and make the changes needed to grow your business!
For example, if you find that for 2 consecutive months, your number of leads has dropped significantly, dig deeper. What is causing the drop? Did you reduce your ad spend? Are your YouTube views down? Are your blog page visits lower? By you tracking your numbers in one place you’ll be able to find out what caused your dip in leads so much faster.
Your business is intertwined with the actions you take on a daily basis. If you forget a step, quit taking a certain action, etc., you are going to affect your business as a whole. This is why it’s vital that you select the RIGHT numbers to track in your real estate business—only the right numbers will show you what you’re doing right and what you’re doing wrong.
Please, don’t just track for the sake of tracking or to create busy work for you or your assistants. Decide on the numbers you want to track, set a time when you plan to pull the numbers, and then CRITICALLY analyze what needs to change!
Once you know what’s going wrong, it’s much easier to adapt your practices until you find a practice or method that actually works for you. It’s only then that you’ll see your business truly flourish.
I’m curious…what are you currently tracking in your real estate business? Let me know in the comments below!