Coaching: Commissions are like sausage–Just don’t go hungry by Rod Santomassimo

Rod Santomassimo, Massimo Group

Almost all commercial real estate professionals do it–set annual income goals, that is. Is it important? Well actually it is more than just important, it is essential; a required element of any commercial real estate firm, team or individual.

The problem is most focus on their commission goal, and not the activities required to reach the goal. To make matters worse, very few are willing to be held accountable to the required activities. You see revenue, whether it be income, management fees, brokerage fees or consulting fees, is not something that you can control. Let me repeat that–you cannot control the creation of revenue.

Revenue is not like pork or fat in a sausage. Revenue is the sausage. It’s all the activities that go into making the sausage, in this case the revenue, that are the essential ingredients. So the real question is, what activity goals are going to create the revenue goal you are seeking?

Your key activities are what you can control. Either they have direct impact on achieving a goal, for example prospect calls attempted, or they are the result of a related activity, for example, exclusives secured. Focus on what you can control.

As you enter the 4^th quarter of this year and evaluating if you hit your commission goal for 2016, don’t look at your 1099, but instead look at your activities you completed. Soon you will set an income goal for 2017– just be sure you commit to making the sausage, or there will be nothing for you to eat at the dinner table.

Rod Santomassimo, CCIM is founder and president of the Massimo Group, LLC, New York, N.Y.