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The market is coming down, you can’t deny it. Eventually we will all have to figure out how to sink or swim. How can you adapt to succeed in a down market? The money isn’t gone, it just isn’t where you think it is.
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The Listing Advocate (Earn more listings!)
Transcript:
What’s up? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our episode of the Real Estate Marketing Dude podcast. I think we just had 8% interest rates. The market is slow. What are you going to do? Hey, if you’re a real estate broker or you’re a team leader, it is fucking recruiting season all day, every day. Because every single time the market shifts, agents are who are spoiled about how easy business was.
00:01:40:23 – 00:02:01:20
Unknown
They weren’t really looking at their brokerage for support. But when things shift like that, the number one thing all agents industry I look in is who’s going to help me navigate the mess that we’re in, the slowness that I’m experiencing. And if you’re in the business of recruiting, this is today’s episode is going to be how to feast and famine, feast or famine in a changing market.
00:02:01:20 – 00:02:17:00
Unknown
This is going to be on how you feast because it’s markets like these that are honestly the easiest time to recruit. It’s very difficult to recruit when everyone is doing well because what’s the purpose of recruit? Hey, I’m doing well. I don’t need you right When you’re getting your ass kicked, you’re like, Should I need some help? I need a coach.
00:02:17:00 – 00:02:36:16
Unknown
I need to switch brokerages. Maybe I’m with the wrong people. Maybe I’m with that. What my predictions are going to be, I’ve never I’ve been roasted for 20 years. I’ve never seen 8% interest rates before in my career. So this is new to me as well. But what I know is that people are hurting right now and people are looking at what am I going to do next?
00:02:36:16 – 00:02:56:10
Unknown
And they’re scared. 90% of the real estate agents out there have never seen a shift like this. So if you’re a team leader or broker owner, the chances are you’ve been in the business longer than most of the people you’re trying to recruit early. Usually that’s how it used to work. Today you have people in the business for two years and all said in their coaches and their influencers and all this other stuff, but we need to go back to the basics.
00:02:56:10 – 00:03:15:05
Unknown
This is a very healthy thing with the right mindset. So without further ado, I want to go ahead and introduce our guest. We had him on about like the Kova days, if I’m not mistaken, a couple of years ago, years ago now, three years on, his name is Mr. Jim readily jumped. Hello. Hey, man. Thank you for having me back on the program.
00:03:15:05 – 00:03:31:15
Unknown
Always a pleasure, Mike. What are we going to get into today? Let’s talk about recruiting because it’s recruiting season, As you mentioned, I just saw a stat that was 90% of all the agents operating today have never been in a market with 5% interest or greater. And so when you look at that, you know, you’ve got a lot of agents who are exiting.
00:03:31:15 – 00:04:00:02
Unknown
The latest numbers show that about 80,000 agents have already exited this business. Now we’ve got a double whammy hitting the market. We’ve got a whammy of, you know, people just not ever experiencing a down market. They’ve been in an upcycle for the last ten years. But now we’ve got something else is setting the market. There’s a lot of fear around which is buyer representation back BS now under attack by the Department of Justice in two major lawsuits and major players like Remax Keller and Re Max.
00:04:00:02 – 00:04:30:07
Unknown
But anywhere Keller claims is on the list. But Remax got major MLS. Those that are settling in the settlements are saying basically we’re going to make sure that sellers now have an option not to pay back agents that don’t know how to deal with that are going to exit the business as well. So now you got a double whammy in the market where you’ve got a tremendous amount of pressure build up and as you mentioned, it’s a great time to recruit because agents need guidance, they need playbooks, they need a strategy because most agents have been market driven, not strategy driven.
00:04:30:07 – 00:04:46:07
Unknown
And when the market turns, they’re just upside down immediately. Yep, very well put. I didn’t give people give you the proper introduction, so I want you to tell people why they should listen to you. So today, how long have you been in the business? Really quick. Now let’s get into this because yeah, guys, he knows what he’s doing.
00:04:46:07 – 00:05:03:17
Unknown
He coaches brokerages and teams and all over the country. So really pay attention to what’s going on here, because even if you’re an agent listening to this, you need to find a broker that’s doing the things we’re going to tell you about, period. Right. So, Jim, go ahead and give me your accolades. So I’m going to give you a really brief rundown.
00:05:03:17 – 00:05:29:06
Unknown
33 years in the business. I started it in the back in the late eighties, early nineties, when interest rate my first house about ten and a half percent interest. I thought I was so lucky to get it. So been through those upward cycles and interest rates. But at first year in the second year, the business took 150 listings, got a lot of accolades and 21 Centurion Awards of my first company at 23 agreed that to 17 offices sold that No.
00:05:29:06 – 00:05:50:07
Unknown
Six right before the crash, spoke for NPR for ten years, grew another company in southern Oregon from 38 agents to 250 agents. Now that company is in the top 500 companies in America by volume. In a small, powerful population base of 80,000, our average agent productivity is about $7 million per agent. So doing something right, that’s my version.
00:05:50:13 – 00:06:08:05
Unknown
Let’s let’s get into this because you just mentioned something I wasn’t planning on talking about. But yes, this is like the perfect storm. You have super high interest rates that nobody’s used to. You have unaffordability, you have high inflation rates. You know, people are worried about their finances. 80% of people today don’t believe buying a house is a good investment.
00:06:08:07 – 00:06:24:00
Unknown
And then you have the other side of it with this NAR thing going on. And what’s really you guys commission compression is real, like the days of you when this shit hits the fan and when it’s all settled, you’re not going to get a five or 6% listing agreement in my opinion, anymore. I think everybody is going to get cut.
00:06:24:00 – 00:06:49:15
Unknown
So not only are you’re going to be making less money than you’re ever used to now, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Okay, So this is the stage. This is the business that we’re in today, guys. So you have two options Adapt and change or die. Yep, one of them. So let’s talk about adapting and changing and let’s first get into brokerages because whether you’re an agent listening to this or not, I know Jim’s going to speak through like if you’re a broker owner, here’s what you should be doing.
00:06:49:15 – 00:07:06:11
Unknown
But if you’re an agent, you need to be following people that are doing the stuff we’re telling you. Okay. So, Jim, what do you do right now? Like, what do you we’re saying it’s it is recruiting season because people want to be part of something where they know the direction. And when everybody is walking, it’s sort of like if you go to a haunted house, it’s Halloween going haunted house and it’s pitch dark in there.
00:07:06:11 – 00:07:20:10
Unknown
You’re sort of like, what the hell’s going to pop up here? And you’re sort of tiptoeing all the way through. You just want to turn the damn lights on and walk through and exit the door. Right? Right. So what do we do in these shifts, Jim? What’s the first thing that you’re going to do as an agent today?
00:07:20:12 – 00:07:36:23
Unknown
The top three things you can do and we’re training our agents to do this right now is just to be on the cutting edge. You gotta look at this as an opportunity for growth. And you got to look at this is not a challenge, but an opportunity. So here’s the opportunity for growth. Number one, you need to act as if this change has already occurred.
00:07:36:23 – 00:07:53:21
Unknown
Act as if we’re five years out from these lawsuits being settled because they are going to be settled. They’re being sold right now. These are the major lawsuit goes this goes to court October 16th, one of them is going to settle. And the outcome of that is going to be, ah, the way we collect fees from buyers is probably going to be we’re going to collect it directly from a buyer.
00:07:53:23 – 00:08:12:01
Unknown
So let’s assume that’s already changed, right? I taught that too. I taught the accredited by representation class for ten years. So he used to teach us for years. But here’s what I’m going to change. I’m going to start treating buyers the same with the same respect. I treat sellers, meaning I do a buyer presentation every single time when I’m with a buyer and I say, Hey guys, can I just take a few minutes and show you how I work?
00:08:12:03 – 00:08:27:10
Unknown
Can I just kind of walk you through the process of how I work with all my buyers and now I’m going to open up maybe a digital presentation of here’s the process, here’s the five things we need to talk about as you’re working with the buyer. And during that buyer presentation, just like with the seller, I’m building value in my services.
00:08:27:12 – 00:08:42:20
Unknown
Now, let me tell you the key part of your your, your, your proposition, your value proposition. It’s not finding them in the home. C most buyers today we hear it all over the internet. I can unlock a door and I can search for homes myself. I don’t need a realtor to do that. So we got to take that off the equation as fast as possible.
00:08:43:01 – 00:08:57:20
Unknown
And what we say is, you know, finding the house is really the easy part. And then we say the hard part is what comes next. And now I’m going to build my value from here on out. Now, how am I going to build that value? I’m going to say, so what I do is when we find that house, here’s here’s here’s the steps I go through.
00:08:57:20 – 00:09:14:02
Unknown
We’re going to do some deep research on the house. I’m going to check the assessment data, I’m going to check the planning data, and I check the zoning data. I’m going to check the overlays. We’re gonna look at what the seller paid for the house the last time, the refinance, the property, all the trends that are happening. That neighbor over the last five years, we’ll do an in-depth buyer, CMA, on that property.
00:09:14:02 – 00:09:36:20
Unknown
We’ll see if there’s any red flags on the permitting. Have they not pulled the permits for the last construction? They’ve done that deep in the house. You’re going to know more about that house and the on has about that house by the time I’m done. And then once we know about that house, my real skills are going to show because I’m now going to talk about negotiation, that negotiation aspect of your skill set is the number one value point that buyers look at from you.
00:09:36:22 – 00:09:55:24
Unknown
They want the best negotiator in the market. It’s just like a surgeon and the best surgeon. They want the best negotiator. Then he got approval with testimonials and back it up and show them proof of life, how you’ve helped other people negotiate great deals. Now you’re going to set the stage for you are worth whatever you’re asking. I’m not worth 1%, 2%, 3%, whatever your number is going to be.
00:09:56:01 – 00:10:13:22
Unknown
And you’re going to have to set that number. It’s not going to be like I’m just accepting what the seller is offering. It’s going to be I’m going to be charging a buyer. What’s that number going to be? Right? So step one buyer presentation set, you know, you’re in a value proposition. Step two is really understanding the buyer representation agreement in your market area.
00:10:13:23 – 00:10:29:03
Unknown
Whatever state you’re in, there’s a buyer representation agreement that’s already been created. You need to get it out, you need to read it, review it and understand and be able to present it just like you can listing appointment at listing point of the listing documents. Right? And number three, you got to start roleplaying this with somebody in your office you trust.
00:10:29:03 – 00:10:46:09
Unknown
You’ve got to actually practice, practice, practice. I call it the three step method of practice. You had to memorize a presentation cold, you got to internalize it so I can turn any page of my presentation or have any objection thrown at me and I can respond instantaneously. And last I got to personalize in real time to the client I’m dealing with.
00:10:46:15 – 00:11:01:00
Unknown
So those are three things we’re talking about. Like it. So I’m going to dig deep a little bit further. It’s crazy that a lot of people don’t do buyer like I started doing buyer console. That’s how I learned all the business. I was only 21 years old and no one took me seriously. I was an alcoholic pretty much at that time.
00:11:01:00 – 00:11:16:05
Unknown
Like just at the bars every day and then had to go meet with someone that was ten years older than me, literally, and tell them. On why they should buy a house. So I knew instantly I had the world against me in all odds against me. Because why are you listen, this punk kid who just got out of college talking about your wisest investment ever?
00:11:16:11 – 00:11:29:00
Unknown
Well, I got really good at presenting, and I got to build my worth in there. And I would tell people straight up, Look, I don’t really care what you buy. I don’t care where you buy. I care what you buy. And the only reason you’re going to hire me is because I’m going to get you a better deal.
00:11:29:00 – 00:11:48:13
Unknown
That’s the reason I have a job, right? You know, it was just it was just straight up. But there’s going to be a lot of other things. Like you guys have to look at your business today as a no differently than a restaurant does. What’s the experience that you actually provide? Are you going to give them hair in their food or are you going to actually walk away and they’re going to be talking to everyone else about why they should come visit your restaurant?
00:11:48:15 – 00:12:03:01
Unknown
And this means you’re going to have to stack your offer. The days of opening your doors and closing them like there’s going to be part of the job that’s going to be like 4% of it. Yeah, this is facilitation is also another way to build your value. Like you have to sell your service and be like, like I’m a bulldog.
00:12:03:03 – 00:12:19:06
Unknown
I’m going to get you the best deal. And the only reason people hire me is because I’m good at finding deals. Some some you guys are going to develop off market deal finding abilities that’s gonna be very high in demand. Some of you guys need to facilitate the entire deal. That means you have to do a hands off, buy a house with me.
00:12:19:11 – 00:12:38:07
Unknown
I’m going to give you your movers. I’m going to give you the the whole process. I’m going to turn on your utilities for you. I’m going I mean, it’s literally got to. You are no longer a real estate agent. You’re fucking Home Depot, right? I love it. Well, and I like this idea that you got to create your own unit.
00:12:38:07 – 00:13:00:22
Unknown
You are. You’re talking about your unique selling proposition. What is it different about you than the 5000 other realtors in your marketplace? And a couple of things that we’ve been talking to agents about is like you’re saying buyer concierge services. And here’s a classic example that most agents take a buyer, they meet with them, they find out their criteria, they plug it, and then their criteria list on their website, and then it just spits this stuff out at their buyer.
00:13:00:24 – 00:13:16:08
Unknown
And the buyer every morning gets an email. Here’s the five properties that match our criteria. Pretty soon, within about three or four days, it becomes noise and they’re like, Delete, delete. Billy till they do what a great agent will do is say, I’m going to say to that list, but I’m in a curated. So every day you’re going to get it, I’m going to get it and then I’m going to go back.
00:13:16:08 – 00:13:31:06
Unknown
I’m going to give you the notes because I’ve already seen a lot of these houses. I’ll tell you which ones, the Best Buy, which one we got to go see right now, today. So you can now going to get those notes. Now the notes become valuable. Now they come a lot because you’re curating. That’s a classic example of adding value to a system that’s already out there.
00:13:31:08 – 00:13:45:07
Unknown
Yeah. And this includes having coffee ready in the car when you pick them up. Like that was a that was a must for me. I would bribe people with gifts, dinners, lunches, whatever, because as soon as I bought them something, I knew they’re loyal to me and I used to pick them up, literally. I go, You’re not driving.
00:13:45:09 – 00:14:07:05
Unknown
I can’t stand when agents like it. Follow me. No, the help get them in the car with you. That’s when you’re actually building your rapport with them and generating referrals off of the relationships they have access to. So, like, all of these things are such little big, big, big keys. Now, I don’t personally, though, I don’t see a buyer like, look where I’m at in California.
00:14:07:05 – 00:14:22:24
Unknown
I don’t see a buyer paying 3% of a purchase price to an agent at $1,000,000 like. So you’re going to charge me 30 grand cause you can’t finance that. I do think there will be a lender that comes out with financing rolling commissions and that’s what content lenders like. Where are you guys at? Like, why isn’t it hot out already?
00:14:23:01 – 00:14:37:13
Unknown
Yeah, but I believe that’s what’s going to be if, if you’re listening, you’re in the lending world, that’s what I would be focused on. How do I create a product to finance buyers agent commissions? And then I’d go after every single buyer’s agent in the world, and now you’ll have all the business you need without spending a fucking dollar on a great.
00:14:37:13 – 00:15:01:05
Unknown
Yeah, that’s got to be a product that’s going to be rolled out for sure. That that will be the challenge and that’s going to see commission compression. I bet you will see a lot of agents go to a flat fee and they’ll say, I just charge five grand, I charge ten grand, whatever the number happens to be. That’s going to be a conversation with every brokerage and every age in America is, first of all, as a broker, do we have a set standard like we’re going to have a minimum standard in our office, just like we have a minimum standard, probably with seller listing fees?
00:15:01:07 – 00:15:19:21
Unknown
And what’s that standard going to be? Right. So we’re all going to have to make these kind of really tough decisions here in the next probably six months to a year of how we’re going to run our business and how we’re going to what we’re going to charge for buyer representation. I would focus on building options. Here’s option one where you have like, you know, I’m barely working on your deal.
00:15:20:02 – 00:15:38:07
Unknown
Here’s option two that you got me mentally involved and here’s option three Why? Well, if I can sleep until I get you what you want, right? And then you’re going to have those different things. Now let’s go to the brokerage. And because we’re laying out what you should be building the environment for. Right? So like, if we’re telling agents what what to have.
00:15:38:07 – 00:16:05:11
Unknown
Well, here. Here you go, Mr. Broker. We know commission compressions real like we have a software we just released. It’s called Suite Assist, and it’s all about teams and brokerages. But a major portion of that are ancillary services and profit maximizers because we know this is coming. So we have relationships with vendors like solar, for example, handymen movers, where agents can make multiple streams of income around the transaction, because we already know that you’re not going to getting the two and a half percent.
00:16:05:13 – 00:16:24:11
Unknown
Yeah, no, as a team or broker leader, what I’m doing is I’m filling up all of my affiliate and local vendors and service providers so that I could help my agents create a better experience so that they could earn that commission. They’re going to charge the individual agent is very rarely going to put all this stuff together, the team leader or broker owner.
00:16:24:11 – 00:16:43:14
Unknown
Their responsibility is to do just that. You need to build the rest around. Your agents are going to cook in home. I love it. Love it. It’s very similar what you’re talking about with brokers already realized about ten years ago, some brokers, and that’s why they added mortgage and insurance, some of them and title some of them because they saw commission compression at the brokers level.
00:16:43:15 – 00:17:16:02
Unknown
Now we’re going to see it more at the agent level and you’re giving them a solution for that, which I think is absolutely brilliant. There’s a couple and even in the lending world, this is the type of mindset you guys got to think, how can I monetize the things I’m already doing today? Yes, right. And like just in the just in the like the lending world, you can there’s a million of these companies now and you could go out and get your MLO, your mortgage loan origination license and you could just refer the deal over to the lender and then you can make a rip off of that.
00:17:16:04 – 00:17:31:05
Unknown
Right, right, right. So there is ways that you’re going to have to look. And it’s actually very healthy because whoever wants to rely on just one stream of income and I’m not talking about your going to get rich off the you’re going to get you’re going to have a couple dollars coming in from every which way you might sell a mover service.
00:17:31:05 – 00:17:51:11
Unknown
Right. And but you might only make $100 off that move or service. But it’s know it’s on the books, but there’s three or four other of those different transactions around the real estate transaction that you can absolutely monetize. And I think that’s the going to be the future of of, of this business is you’re no longer a real estate agent.
00:17:51:11 – 00:18:06:11
Unknown
You are like your Home Depot and you have to provide all kinds of services all around, not just the transaction of the House but the ongoing servicing of it. Yeah, hundred percent. And that and I think agents that do that are going to be more like the concierge anyway, which is what clients want. They want one stop shopping.
00:18:06:13 – 00:18:30:08
Unknown
Yep, for sure. So let’s get into this here. I have a question I want get your opinion on this or I, I agree. I think buyers are going to like, do a flat fee type service, but I do think that in the way that I’m reading the lawsuit, you might know more about this tonight than me. You have a lot more insight in it.
00:18:30:10 – 00:18:48:01
Unknown
Their lawsuits aren’t going to say that you can’t offer a cooperating commission. No, They’re going to say, like you, if you’re offering a cooperating commission, you got to tell the seller straight up, hey, I’m going to charge you 4%, but I’m going to use like one and a half percent of that to pay out a buyer’s agent to entice them to come get the house.
00:18:48:03 – 00:19:17:00
Unknown
Right. Right. And in the event that buyer’s agent doesn’t sell the house, I not on my own, then I’ll drop that percentage. But you’re going to pay a buyer’s agent to entice them. Is there any do you see any language that doesn’t allow that? No. I think what would the the language of all the lawsuits that I’ve read and I’ve read them, I think all of them is that it’s going to basically when you go to a seller, there’s going to be a requirement that says, listen, Mr. or Mrs. Seller, you know, you can offer a buyer agent commission if you’d like to, but you’re not required to if you do choose to offer one.
00:19:17:05 – 00:19:33:21
Unknown
You know, here’s what’s happening competitively in the market. But there’s not going to be this situation where they’re forced to offer one because of what’s happened over the years, is that all these MLS is that are owned by realtor organizations, that that’s been a requirement that you have to offer Vasya by raising commission. So you’re going to see that go away.
00:19:33:23 – 00:19:51:13
Unknown
I think that’s inevitable. That’s going to happen. The question mark really is will Sellers still offer a back when given the option not to? And that’s a question mark. We just don’t know yet. Yeah, it’s going to be on how you pitch it. Yeah. Because what’s going to happen is in the news media, they’re going to pick up on this.
00:19:51:18 – 00:20:09:17
Unknown
Why would you ever pay somebody that to represent somebody that’s working against your interest financially? And, you know, when people actually start to kind of think about that, a lot of sellers can be like, why would I do that? Why would I pay somebody to work against me? As makes sense? And that’s that’s the whole pitch. Yeah, it’s interesting.
00:20:09:22 – 00:20:26:15
Unknown
There’s so many different ways to spin it. Yeah, I could honestly see both. Like, I don’t like the arguments, but I can understand where they’re coming from. I don’t doubt that it’s going to cost lots of people that won’t be able to get into a house because they won’t be able to afford to pay an agent. So it’s going to it’s going to hurt the industry, in my opinion.
00:20:26:17 – 00:20:53:17
Unknown
So now let’s look at opportunities, though, because let’s be honest, like the the less agents are, the transactions are still going to happen with or without real estate agents. People move, right? So you’re going to see a lot of agents probably leave the business. But, you know, and just think to yourself, like, how many times have you lost that one or two deals a year to like little cousin Billy who just got his license or ansu the blue haired realtor and invite her to do She is a billionaire, but she went got her real estate license because she just needs some to occupy her time with.
00:20:53:19 – 00:21:17:18
Unknown
And every single year you lose a couple. Those are gonna be losing those deals. Yeah. As much anymore because there will be less transactions or I mean less agents and then it’s just going to be. But I think that’s what’s coming, what’s going to happen to Na Na is I’m in trouble right now because na with the settlements that are just they haven’t been approved yet but with first of all Redfin bailed out everybody thinks Redfin bailed out because of the sexual harassment suits that are happening.
00:21:17:20 – 00:21:35:13
Unknown
That’s part of it for sure. But if you look deeper into what’s happening with Redfin and the reason why Redfin just bailed out Redfin resigned from the board of directors of an are because I refuse to give up on this back issue. And they said, no, we are not going to bend on this issue. And they said, if you don’t get on this issue, we’re bailing.
00:21:35:18 – 00:21:53:01
Unknown
They left the board and now they’ve left. You know, they’re giving their agents. They haven’t completely left, but they’ve given their agents the option of not having to be a member of M&A. Ah, but what a lot of people don’t realize is in these two settlements now with anywhere they call a banker, think Sotheby’s, you know, think these big major companies that are owned by anywhere.
00:21:53:06 – 00:22:11:08
Unknown
And now Remax, both their settlement agreements also state that they’re not going to require their agents to be in our members. So all the agents at these companies are not going to be required to be an NPR member. You know, are they going to stay or maintain their membership? Our brokerage is going to maintain their membership. The key component will be in their local MLS.
00:22:11:08 – 00:22:29:02
Unknown
Is is it owned by NPR and are they required to be a member? In that case? So lots of fallout here happening. I definitely see many are under more pressure than I’ve ever seen in 30 years in the business myself. I’ve never seen it like this. The conspiracy theorist in me tells me this is a set up to get it out of the way so they could go to real.
00:22:29:02 – 00:22:44:22
Unknown
What is step two in this whole entire situation? Because who’s going to? There’s no one left to lobby for the industry after Na’s gone. I agree. I don’t think many agents are going to be stay on as members because every agent always complains. I see on socials like, Hey, what is not even do anyways? What’s the point of this?
00:22:44:22 – 00:23:01:00
Unknown
Right? And that’s not his fault for not creating a value, but that’s sole purpose of we’re talking about. If NA can’t particularly value for their own agents, you have to create value for your own clients the same way. Otherwise there’s no reason to work with you or be parties. So NA, pay attention. Listen to your own advice writer.
00:23:01:02 – 00:23:22:18
Unknown
All right, so let’s look at this brokerage and let’s go into brokerages and what they’re doing. The listing agent side is there, but I think it’s got to be ancillary streams of income. And then you got to look at different ways to make money. I do firmly believe every single real estate team or brokerage will end up being.
00:23:22:18 – 00:23:38:08
Unknown
I think there’s going to be a conglomerate of smaller entities as opposed to super large ones, or there’s not going to be like a middle of the ground in. A lot of the smaller ones are going to be rehabs or investors themselves. That’s going to be one of their profit centers. And they’re they’re just going to happen to own a real estate brokerage.
00:23:38:10 – 00:23:58:22
Unknown
But it’s going to be something like that. And there’s so many different ways to diversify your ends. What do you see out there and what do you what’s your advice for brokers and teams and for the for brokers, their lifeblood and for teams? Frankly, too, if you got to be a great recruiter, right? That’s what my brokerage coaching company, we’re all about recruiting and retaining great agents.
00:23:58:24 – 00:24:13:17
Unknown
But if you’re not a great recruiter, you’re going to you’re going to have a real hard time in this market because what recruiting does for you is it brings profitability back into the company. You’ve got ten agents that have left your last year. If you ever replace those ten agents, you just might have lost $100,000 worth of business net profit for your company.
00:24:13:17 – 00:24:31:18
Unknown
So you got a challenge. You got to replace those agents with great agents, and it’s a shrinking pool. So that means you got to become an expert in recruiting. Absolutely, positively. One thing that I think is going to attract agents, you got to say what’s going to attract an agent to my firm? The big thing over the last 20 years is, man, it’s always commission splits, commission splits, commission splits.
00:24:31:20 – 00:24:51:02
Unknown
And, you know, you definitely got to be competitive, no question. But what’s more important than a commission split? And I this is what I got to drive home to everybody. What’s more important than a commission split is helping agents close more transactions because 100% of nothing is nothing I can be closing two transactions. You’re going to end percent and not make as much money as somebody closing 20 transactions or 15.
00:24:51:07 – 00:25:18:19
Unknown
So as a brokerage owner, team leader, I got to be able to demonstrate to agents, I’m going to help you close more transactions, bring more money home to your family. I’m going to show you how I’m going to do it, either with playbooks, with strategies, with technology. One of the my favorite things of the agent that brokerages should be doing is actually and team leaders actually starting to think of themselves as a lead source for their for their agent body and saying, I’m going to go create the leads as a brokerage owner or team leader.
00:25:18:19 – 00:25:36:24
Unknown
I’m going to hand them out. Even if there’s a fee attached, these agents, the agents will pay the fee all day long and they’ll be excited to work for you. And they will never go anywhere if you’re able to generate leads. So I think the new paradigm for a lot of these brokerages that are going to be successful and team leaders are I’ve got to be the marketing company, the branded company.
00:25:36:24 – 00:26:00:21
Unknown
I got to go after these leads and deliver them. That’s why. Yeah, I 100% agree you’re going to. Yeah, the agents are your clients. Yeah. You’re going to have to create trainings for them. You’re going to have events for them. If they have socials, you got a sales meetings, but yes, you’re going to have to create business or systems for them as well, because you can’t, as most agents aren’t business people like.
00:26:00:21 – 00:26:20:00
Unknown
And this is no knock on anybody like you got in the real estate. That is a good idea and whatnot. But mostly all are entrepreneurs like that. That’s just and this is an entrepreneurial space and that’s not a bad thing or not. But if you’re not that visionary or you’re not that entrepreneur, then you join a team and you plug right in there and then you become part of that, right?
00:26:20:02 – 00:26:41:12
Unknown
I hundred percent agree on the on the lead. You’re going to have to do something to encourage increase of business, increase production. Yeah. What about what do you see happening with this is something I’ve noticed firsthand is like over the last few years we’ve seen a lot of the export of the world now Reals and others. LPT There’s Exit Realty.
00:26:41:12 – 00:27:02:05
Unknown
I used to be a broker owner of back in the day or the first commission multi level marketing company right but a lot of those I’ve seen like if people who left like our broker here in San Diego, like I said I’m coming back to because their downloads are down, like their downline still has to create production, right?
00:27:02:05 – 00:27:21:16
Unknown
You still have to have closings for it to work. What do you see in Across the Edge? And then as a broker owner, what do you think is the opportunity there? I think that the virtual hybrid model is is definitely a viable model. I think the idea that I’m going to recruit, shoot instead of sell real estate is a flawed model.
00:27:21:22 – 00:27:50:13
Unknown
I thought you first, if you’re going to be in real estate, have to sell real estate. And I think that big sell to all these agents out there has been detrimental to the industry and detrimental to them personally because of exactly what you’re saying as their downline collapses and it will collapse with agents that have been doing one or two transactions are going to exit the business, then then you’ve got a problem because now their income stream has gone in half or to a third or to an eighth of what they were getting before and they forgot how to sell real estate because they’ve been so focused on recruiting.
00:27:50:19 – 00:28:08:04
Unknown
That’s a problem. I think, you know, hybrid virtual is great model. You can cut costs and there’s some advantages to that. But I think more importantly, you’ve got to train agents how to sell real estate and build and build a viable business. That way, if you can come in, it’s coming back. Yeah, that’s the basics. The fundamentals and the basics.
00:28:08:08 – 00:28:28:12
Unknown
If you if you just apply that same model and you said, what if we apply that model to attorneys, would that work? It wouldn’t work in any other industry. It probably wouldn’t work very well. Right. And it doesn’t work long term for realtors either, I don’t think. But my personal opinion, I agree. Yeah, it’s interesting to do that in the attorney world.
00:28:28:14 – 00:28:45:01
Unknown
So the top three, if I’m a broker owner, what I’m hearing you say is you got to focus on agent problems. First one is production. You have a second one is is education and leadership. Right? What do you do in this type of market? Well, you’ve never been here before. These are all opportunities, right? Like you guys can be having training events.
00:28:45:03 – 00:29:05:05
Unknown
And I love leading with education. I think that’s the ultimate way to you have to recruit. I’ve always said that is when people show up to your education events, they’re asking you to be recruited because they’re looking for help and they might not know it yet, but they’re there for a reason. Right? And if you’re the one and you become that shining light on a dark day, well, you just made the job 99% easier.
00:29:05:07 – 00:29:21:12
Unknown
Right. And I think what people will really buy into is culture, too. They want a culture of growth. They want a culture of excellence. They want a culture of leadership. When you have leaders that are walking around kind of with their head in the sand, they’re not addressing the current problems. They’re just saying, wait until, you know, I’m hearing this big thing now, you know, stay alive till 25.
00:29:21:12 – 00:29:42:14
Unknown
That’s just an excuse. What do you need in 2025? You’re going to go broke, right? That’s terrible. People are saying that. Oh, I hear that all the time. Stay alive for 25. Terrible. It’s almost like date the rate, marry the house type thing. I couldn’t stand that one man thought about it. Saying that makes you go nuts. That was it for me and people I agree with you.
00:29:42:14 – 00:30:00:19
Unknown
People want to be rescued and you got to be able to be the one that’s running the ship that can rescue people and say, how can I rescue them? What’s the hottest topics on my market? Educational events also being super present and like you’ve been coaching for years and years on social media with video content and educating people through video chat as well.
00:30:00:21 – 00:30:20:01
Unknown
I’ll tell you what doesn’t work. I’m going to give you two things that doesn’t work, in my opinion, is you got a lot of people that are hired ISS to cold call recruits. Terrible idea. You’re never going to get great agents cold calling with ISIS from wherever part of the world. And the second thing is just relying on social media alone to recruit or putting ads on.
00:30:20:01 – 00:30:36:04
Unknown
Indeed. But you got to look at yourself is as like an NFL, NHL, you know, NBA team owner. And that’s the way I recruit is if I’m recruiting the best people, the LeBron James of the world, that means I got to get on the phone. I got to have a conversation. I’ve got to have a meeting, probably several meetings, and I’m pitching.
00:30:36:04 – 00:30:57:03
Unknown
And that’s where salespeople are the other day. And when you kind of turn your attention as a brokerage owner into I’m a salesperson selling my company, you’re processes will change and you’ll get better in recruiting. I like it. And you guys got to be loud. This leadership is probably the would you agree? Leadership right now is the number one thing you could be doing.
00:30:57:03 – 00:31:17:20
Unknown
So if you’re that broker owner like you have to be creating videos, you have to be on social media. And even if your bottom line is hurting, fake it till you make it right now because it won’t be long. You need to get out there and be loud because I think people are just looking for that leadership. Yeah, and it sounds a lot simpler than it sounds so simple, though, Jim.
00:31:17:22 – 00:31:33:11
Unknown
It is. I mean, it’s just exactly what we tell our agents to do. You got a prospect every day. We got to recruit every day. You on the phone, five calls a day. You know, from my experience, five calls a day, one appointment, five appointments equals one recorded agent. So I’m just going to I got to get the path is in the math, right?
00:31:33:14 – 00:31:48:13
Unknown
The fortunes and the follow up what eight what brokerages do is the same thing agents do. We procrastinate. We don’t do what we’re supposed to be doing, and then we wonder why we’re going broke. We got to figure it out. We got to say, Hey, I’m going to take and apply the same standard. I coach my agents to prospect.
00:31:48:15 – 00:32:12:06
Unknown
We generate follow up, you know, I agree. Jim, any closing thoughts here? You want to provide to agents or broker owners? I think broker owners, the one thing I’d say look at this is the probably the best period of recruiting in the last ten years. This is a wide open window for you to recruit the best agents in your market, bring them into your fold.
00:32:12:08 – 00:32:33:13
Unknown
It’s an amazing opportunity. Look, specifically, if you really want to go for it, look at teams and a lot of these team members that are on a team are suffering. They’re really suffering and they’re great agents, but they’re suffering and they’re there at subpar commission splits. They’re not getting leads. They used to great opportunity in teams also second, second opportunity, huge opportunity is brokerage acquisition.
00:32:33:13 – 00:32:51:06
Unknown
And when I say acquisition, I thought you you’re writing a check but that they’re walking their agents over to you and you’re giving them ten, 20% off the all the agents they bring over the next couple of years. It’s a walk over. Huge amount of walk overs are going to happen over the next 12 months. Massive amounts of companies are going to fold up shop, don’t let them fold up shop and close their doors.
00:32:51:12 – 00:33:08:20
Unknown
Bring them under your under your under your fold. Lots of communication about that with agents at the end of that buyer presentation, what would you look for? That’s a really good point. M&A is guys. Yeah, because people aren’t going to there’s an ego thing there. Yeah, right. And you got someone who had a shop, but the reality is it’s not doing as well.
00:33:08:22 – 00:33:25:11
Unknown
They don’t want to shut it down now because I going to feel like a failure. Right. But they want to keep it going and figure out a way to make income and you can absorb them, bring them into your mix. And what what are the signs of finding a brokerage that’s ripe for an M&A? It’s studying. You got to know your market stat.
00:33:25:11 – 00:33:45:15
Unknown
So I’d be watching where you where the all the companies are in the marketplace rank them you know, top 50 companies and watch their production numbers We’re watching in our market and we’ve just seen there’s like a one and two, we’re number one. We got a number two behind us. But then you go down to three and four and five and six and it’s like 50% down, 50% down, a 2% down.
00:33:45:17 – 00:33:59:23
Unknown
And it these companies that are 50% off or more than last year, they’re already losing money. It’s just a matter of how much per month And what’s the bleed for them. The key thing is you just got to open the door. And the way you open the door is you just invite those people to lunch coffee and just say, Hey, we’ve admired your company for years.
00:34:00:00 – 00:34:16:13
Unknown
I just want you to know that the door is open. If you ever decide to make it, make a change, exit anything like that. Please be the first person I talk to. They’re going to say no initially because it’s because it’s an ego. But within 3 to 6 months I’ll be calling you. Very good. Especially if you’re loud.
00:34:16:15 – 00:34:33:05
Unknown
Stay in front of them just same way like we do with clients, right? Yeah. They’re. They’re a good stuff, too, folks. This isn’t doom and gloom. There’s a lot of opportunity. I know it might be a little rough right now, but it’s what do during the times of the hard that make into the times of the good and the people who put their head down right now.
00:34:33:12 – 00:34:52:04
Unknown
Yeah, you might take a little bit of an income here for the next few months. That’s fine. Okay. But you’re you’re building a brand right now, and the one who’s standing at the end of the day is the one who wins. And I always like to tell people, and you guys with this, don’t be the the hare, be the tortoise.
00:34:52:04 – 00:35:20:13
Unknown
The tortoise look nice and slow. And they won the race because they’re consistent. Went back to the basics. Just went left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Did it take shortcuts and try to do this and try do that? And at the end of the day, who wanted to embrace the tortoise? But so you got to go back to the basics in these times when openly if I’m going to summarize the call today, one is leadership honor percent two as systems stack in your offering on behalf of your agents, if you’re an individual agent, you stack your offering and create value.
00:35:20:19 – 00:35:41:01
Unknown
If you’re the broker owner, you need to create value for your agents because you got to assume that they’re not going to do it on their own. Lead generation systems to enhance business for brokerages, for their agents, and then ultimately leadership. No one’s been here before, guys. If you’ve been in this market, you have a skill that most people will listen to right now.
00:35:41:03 – 00:36:00:00
Unknown
If you’ve been in the last year for those you in oh seven, oh eight or nine and ten days, you got to bring those stories back up. Yeah, but what you did, because that’s what people are looking for, looking for that experience. Any additional closing thoughts? You know, I think I think you’re exactly right. And bringing some positivity and some light to your agents.
00:36:00:00 – 00:36:15:13
Unknown
People want a positive person and that’s going to attract agents. You have think of how am I attracting people, going to attract people to your positive messaging every day? It’s not negative, it’s positive. Don’t look at the challenges, look at the opportunities. Every single thing as a silver lining. And we’re putting those silver linings out to our clients and our agents all the time.
00:36:15:15 – 00:36:30:14
Unknown
Love it. Love it. Thanks, dude. I appreciate your insight and we appreciate you listening. Another episode of the Estate Marketing Do podcast. Folks, if you’re looking to build your brand, stay in front of that database in a very nonchalant system and create ancillary streams of income and your broker owner, or if you’re an agent, you can check out suite assist.
00:36:30:16 – 00:36:47:02
Unknown
So yes, this is a true all in one platform that helps you manage your entire office, but more importantly, it gives your agents a marketing system to stay in front of their database effortlessly, and it gives you the infrastructure to create additional streams of income to adapt in today’s current market conditions. So we’ll see you guys out next week.
00:36:47:02 – 00:37:13:16
Unknown
So appreciate you. See you later, Mike. Thank you for watching. Another episode of the Real Estate Marketing Do Podcast. If you need help with video or finding out what your brand is. Visit our website at WW dot Real Estate marketing do dot com. We make branding and video content creation simple and do everything for you. So if you have any additional questions, visit the site, download the training and then schedule time to speak with the dude and get you rolling in your local marketplace.
00:37:13:20 – 00:37:16:15
Unknown
Thanks for watching. Another episode of the podcast will see you next time.