Dominate or Be Dominated: Real Estate Agent's Guide to Crushing Competition

Welcome back today's podcast is called dominate or be dominated real estate agent's guide to crushing the competition You know Julie, I was listening to an interview with Mark Willis Who's the CEO of Keller Williams and he was talking about the fact that he believes that right now We're gonna see a ton of broker consolidation in the industry where essentially you're gonna see a lot of even big huge well-established Brokerages some of the biggest in the country are going to start merging with each other and I think the same it makes sense the same Thing will be happening with teams and whatnot. And this has been a long time coming in the industry where there's going to be a lot Of consolidation. We're certainly seeing it at EXP realty in the last few days We've been talking with a lot of brokers a lot of you know, small medium and large sized brokerages and teams They're looking essentially, you know to merge with the XP and that's a conversation I welcome all of you to have with me if you're interested in what EXP has to offer for you Whether you're an individual agent, whether you're a large broker a medium broker or a team, it doesn't really matter Let's have the conversation. I'll make it very easy and painless for you Just text me directly at 5 1 2 7 5 8 0 2 0 6 5 1 2 7 5 8 0 2 0 6 So Julie the topic of today's podcast what inspired you to write this? Well, we have seen a lot of changes lately and that consolidation is putting pressure on agents to up their game if you add to that what's happening with the commission sharing lawsuits and the fact that now the buyer side is also going to have that pressure of the cream Rising to the top why because you have to have a buyer presentation now You have to have signed agreements. The entire industry is shifting upward professionally I would say and we're getting a lot of questions a lot of new coaching clients that have recognized this Because they don't want to wash out. They don't want to be real estate roadkill They want to rise to the top as well. And I I think I think you'll agree with this The agents that are the most professional will be gobbling up a greater market share and there probably will be some agents that follow the way Well, I had my interview with Chris Heller on Friday and we're gonna be playing that interview for everyone Who's a subscriber of real estate or Harris real estate daily calm? And if you're not make sure you subscribe to Harris real estate daily calm But in the interview he and I were talking about, you know, essentially the natural progression of the industry being consolidation It's happened in every industry, you know, it just every possible brand every possible doesn't matter if it's cars or computers There's always gonna be a lot of consolidation as a result of you know big I think Fluctuations in the market but also, you know changes in regulation but what's fascinating to me what we're seemingly attracting probably because of our podcast or a lot of people that are looking at this Opportunity the change in the marketplace as an opportunity to hit hard reset and create newer larger bigger goals They're not feeling like they're you know Having to build themselves back or they don't feel like they're losing they feel like they're winning and now they want to win at a higher Level and they want to figure out how to do it faster And I think a lot of cases that's because a lot of people have come from you know What was but what will it be probably the best maybe 10 or 12 years in the real estate careers? unless they decide to do something that's going to cause the next 10 or 12 be even better and a lot of times that simply Has to do with the reality a reality check on your expectations for the things you're doing for lead generation But also with regards to skills and that's what Chris Heller and I talked about a lot now more than ever if you don't have skills You're gonna get eaten alive in this industry because of the fact that in the past market I just want you guys to think about this It's frankly the buyers were gonna buy no matter what because there was massive FOMO and low interest rates even made it even more red-hot Well sellers they were essentially in the same position They wanted to move up and buy the next house and they wanted to cash out because they were sitting on so much equity and Guess what? They could get a super low interest rate, too So all the market forces made average agents look really really good and that was the reason there was this rise of these Instagram influencer type agents who are able to sell real estate, you know Despite the fact that they didn't have any skills add to this the fact that a lot of agents were buying their buyer leads from Places like Zillow all of that stuff is coming around to the bend These things were just all they were were fads all the stuff that you guys have lived through assuming you've been in the business for Last 15 years those were fads the big branding the big, you know Buying buyer leads all these things circle always circle back to the same things the skills based Agents the agents that are truly business minded and entrepreneurial They obviously are going to dominate in this changing market in the market that comes after that This these big I will call them again I'll call them fads because they really are all these big fads They've come and gone Julie and I've been in the business for a long time and we've seen all of these exact things ebb and flow like the big teams thing that started guess what guys in the 90s over 30 years ago and then there's the marketing and branding thing that started at the same time and then there was a you know undulation in the marketplace and really what happened was all Those things became oversaturated the agents without the skills washed out new agents with skills came in and then it started, you know More new agents came in looking for easy button ideas. They started buying their buyer leads all of these cycles They're predictable and what we're in now is the cycle of the skills based agent dominating So that's really where we want to have your mind focused today and always and I think you do that's the reason you listen to our podcast if you are ready to choose a broker or if you're ready to Upgrade your brokerage experience or move on to the next level in your book in your real estate brokerage your team Let's do have that conversation text me directly at 5 1 2 7 5 8 0 2 0 6 All right, so on to your guide to crushing the competition. So here's a question Are you finding that most of your deals are with people who already know you? Well, that's normal and that's great until you run out of those easy deals And I think that that's something we hear a lot in coaching is that FOMO of the previous market has run its course So what happens if you have to compete? what if you what happens when you meet somebody new somebody who might be talking with other agents and Trying to decide who is going to represent them when buying or selling What if their spouse also has somebody else in mind? How can you more easily win their trust and earn their business? Do you feel on this day when you're listening do you feel right here? And now that you can compete and win in any situation in front of any personality style or price range That's a really good place to level off Julie because a lot of agents don't have that level of confidence because they know Or maybe they're learning they don't have that level of skill So they can win with people that are maybe the similar age similar income similar background similar education levels They can't win a listing let's say or even getting a buyer to work with them if it's a little bit outside of that very Tight, you know those tight working parameters because they don't have any skills or not a large You know essentially versatile set of skills and they certainly aren't versatile versatile with knowing how to work with different personality styles Well, that's that's the point of this podcast because the agents who are already on top of this who are already Competitive are already doing very well and highly in momentum on this current shift And then there's everyone else who is upgrading their skills and realizing, you know one of the common things that we hear is they're sort of running out of those easy repeat and referral clients because they already bought in The previous boom, you know in 21 22 when there was all that FOMO they wanted to get the low interest rates They're locked in and so they're not getting that easy lead flow Which means now they're having to learn to compete along with the ones that are already up there So let's have a little quiz before we get to you know First question if you had to go on a listing appointment today and the listing appointment was with a at a price point There was two or three X what you're used to with a seller. You don't know Let's just say you've got this lead from you know Referral from church or synagogue or mosque or you got this lead from doesn't matter where just somebody knew somebody and now you have a listing Appointment. Do you have a pre listing pack? Do you know how to actually compete in that price point? Do you what are you gonna say when they ask why should I list with you versus the other agent? What makes you special? Do you have any answer to the question when they ask you about your commission or in? Yeah, they ask you about the price Do you actually have any sort of real skill set that's going to make it so that even though you know You're 25 and you're talking with someone who's 65 that they're gonna want to do business with you Despite the obvious age difference or opposite is true You're 65 and you're trying to win a listing weight, you know with a 25 year old you guys get the point Do you actually have a system and a skill set to go along with that system to make it so you can win in all? Environments you probably don't or you think you do but you won't know that you don't until you actually come up against a situation Where you lose and then you see the opportunity lost in the amount of money you could have made and helping that family sell their home Lost as well So that is the reason that we strongly encourage all of you to take a hard look at joining premier coaching The premier coaching is free All you've got to do is go to premier coaching comm or scroll down below and click the link below All right, so Julie your first point upgrade your presentations Yes, so if any of these thoughts of competition make you even a little bit nervous We're going to help you with that today point number one upgrade your presentations to be successful Nearly 100% of the time which should be your goal You will need to have a competitive and proven listing presentation pre listing package and now more than ever even a buyer Presentation. So here are the questions that go along with this point number one of upgrading your presentations first Do you have these presentations some of you they just don't exist Next question. Maybe you haven't but are you using your presentations? Are you getting signed listing and now buyer contracts at least 90% of the time? Are your presentations exactly like everyone else's at your company or are they unique to you and do your presentations? Specifically answer what Tim just said a second ago Why should I hire you? Versus another agent or versus not using an agent at all in some cases now if you answered Yes to all of these five questions You should be able to list between one house per month and one house per week Some of you may be even one a day. No problem Assuming that you know how to lead generate, of course, and we'll talk about that in the future point But if you answered to know if you answered no to any of those questions, I just read it's time to upgrade those presentations So get help with this by joining premier coaching and elite coaching I've got several of my private clients elite coaching who are also Upgrading right now because they're embedding some of the new rules with the buyer side because they're going up market They're cleaning up their presentations to look more on the luxury side So you don't have to be a new agent to have these issues It could be anybody who needs to upgrade presentations and don't be seduced into believing that having a big powerful brand is going to overcome your lack of skill or your lack of Ability to present the challenge is that everybody all you know agents you compete in Compete against especially if you're dealing with them, you know decent sale price They're all going to have similar branding. They're all going to have a similar outward outward appearance on social media there's nothing really to Distinguish you from the your competitor at least in the eyes of the seller when you're in front of the seller and you're actually you Know winning the listing or trying to win the list and get them to want to work with you. How do you sound? How do you appear? Are you just gonna win them with your dynamic personality? Well, truthfully that actually is an advantage if you have a dynamic personality Energy enthusiasm is rule number one with being successful in life in general but after that if you don't have the skills if you don't know how to help, you know, essentially have a Conversation with them about getting the home properly positioned in the market with guards to pricing and answering their questions about all the things if you think you're just gonna drop on Their desk a big bomb of marketing and all the fancy shiny things and you talking about you constantly and all of your awards Everyone else is doing the exact same thing Oh, you've got a team and your competitor you have more people on your team than your competitor And why do you think the seller would give a crap about that? They don't they don't give a crap about half the things that you think they should Care about you just been told these are the things that the sellers care about I got news for you What the sellers care about is very few things number one They care about your ability to communicate with them on a high level on a consistent basis number two They care about their confidence in you about getting the home sold with the least amount of hassle to them and number three and this will Surprise you that it's number three. They care about the actual price and that particular order I could throw some more things in there. But at the end of the day, that's what they care about that you care about them Exactly, very well put and that is regardless of price range personality style or anything else All right, number two upgrade your lead generation Are you predictably generating the amount of leads it takes to meet or exceed your monthly income goals? Are you converting leads into appointments and appointments into contracts? Do you understand and follow the spokes in the wheel model and I'm going to throw that to you in just a second and are You actively working on not just one spoke but enough to get the results that you need and we'll circle back Do you feel like you're in control of your lead generation or are you constantly wondering where your next deal or deals will come from? So back to you for the lead generation because you explain that more succinctly than I do Well, it's very simple. Basically draw a circle You can do it in your mind if you're you know A lot of you guys are driving around and you know on maybe on a treadmill So in your mind or on a piece of paper draw a circle You're gonna draw what's going to look like an old-fashioned wagon wheel and then on this in the center of the wheel bicycle wheel wagon wheel draw a little hub and then draw seven spokes in you Know it's very simple and a very simple way of understanding Really? This isn't just for lead generation. It's also for a lot of other things So each of those spokes represents a source of leads and each of those spokes cannot be interdependent So you can't have for example what if one spoke is too dependent on another spoke you don't have you have one spoke You don't have two separate spokes So you might want to the obvious folks you want to have at the first spoke centers of influence and past clients the second third Fourth spoke all have to be proactively generation spokes That would be for example calling your spires calling for sale by owners calling, you know, maybe door-knocking targeted neighborhoods It's going to be things that are going to force you to get off your butts away from your keyboards and in front of actual Decision-making adults having conversations about you know, you know buying and selling real estate your spokes are not going to be About your lead generation spokes have to be proactive now What is not a spoke in your lead generation wheel at least what should not be one of your initial spokes anything that includes? Referral fees or buying leads that is something that you all have to just simply accept is going to not Ever gonna help you win the game long term Maybe short term but not long term if you're buying a buyer lead and which is the worst sin of all in real estate And you're paying 40% plus for that buyer lead and then you're you know Paying your broker split paying your personal expenses and whatever transaction coordinator exactly on that $10,000 commission that you got on that buyer side after all your fees You probably would have been making more money had you worked at Starbucks as a barista and I'm I'm sorry to tell you but that Is the truth that is the reason that buying business in general is a terrible business model Except if you're the person who is selling you the business in the first place you wonder people worry Oh Zillow's gonna get in the brokerage business Zillow will never get into the brokerage business because they're making more margins now Referring leads off to agents charging 40% than they would if they're actually having to you know, run Real estate brokerages aka adult daycare. I mean, I'm trying to make you guys laugh, but hopefully you get the point So the bottom line is if you will never be independent as long as you're dependent on buying business So your initial spokes all have to be proactively generation now I'm gonna scale this concept for you ever so slightly when you're you know in coaching and you're listening this podcast Maybe you've read our book the whole nine yards. You're gonna then start thinking about okay now I've got my business ironed out now I'm making passive income from eXp royalty Now I want to start thinking about wealth building the same analogy applies with spokes Your goal should be to have at least you know Five or two seven different spokes that cover all your personal overhead and you know This is a place for you guys to work towards because then for example if one of your spokes is real estate sales Another one of your spokes, let's say is cash flow from rental properties. Another is dividend paying stocks Another is eXp revenue share. None of those are dependent on each other The dividend paying stocks don't care if you sold any real estate or not. Hopefully you're understanding where we're going from here I'm hoping you are also realizing the importance of thinking bigger in a marketplace like this and Stop copying the agent in front of you. You're not a pack dog. You got to start being the leader the views better Very well put. All right number three upgrade the look and feel of all of your marketing and presentation materials Questions to ask yourself right now. Do you have the same professional and authentic picture? Logo and colors on all of your assets both online and off Do you look like the same agent on every one of those items? We did a podcast where they were supposed to list all that stuff Does it look professional enough that someone with a home to sell that's double or triple your average sale price would actually hire you? This is all just basically should be business 101. You want to make sure everything's consistent do a search on yourself Make sure there's you know, something you posted on the internet ten years ago on how you thought you saw an alien I mean don't have that on there. These are just silly things. I'm gonna get free XP royalty agents I'm gonna give you guys a suggestion Yelp reviews for the most part are just garbage and you should absolutely Positively ask Yelp to remove your Yelp page. You have a Yelp page whether you know it or not It all it does is it gives a sometimes a nasty, you know, frankly evil competitor an opportunity to write a bunch of Frankly salacious garbage about you to try to steer people away from wanting to use you We've had coaching clients in the past that have run afoul of this and unfortunately that does happen in the marketplace It shouldn't it shouldn't surprise anybody Well, if you're with the XP royalty having a Yelp page for an eXp royalty agent is actually a violation of Yelps Terms of Service How do I know that because we've helped a number one a number of our eXp royalty coaching clients who hadn't had any problems with Yelp But didn't want to risk the exposure To have their Yelp pages removed and every single time Yelp removed their page So definitely do not have any kind of presence on a lot of these You know review sites whose whole purpose is to basically get people to post crap up there So that you in turn will then spend money to get the crap removed or the crap suppressed all of these websites all these review Websites, I don't know if you guys have noticed this are starting to lose their favor with consumers in general But also with the search engines because everyone's figured out that they're mostly fraudulent. Well, that's a serious pearl of wisdom I hope you guys paid attention to all of that Because that's a very quick easy and legal way to get it removed and not have to deal with any of that Well, I mean not to throw stones, but it was Better Business Bureau How do they well, I mean frankly Better Business Bureau is the one that sort of created that business model Originally Better Business Bureau was a very I think, you know solid reputable honorable thing And then along the way they decided to do exactly what I just said and there was a big 2020 I think it was some big news thing 60 minutes or something 60 minutes They did a whole story on the fact that there actually were in it was rumored to believe that they were actually creating They had a team that was creating negative reviews anonymous reviews on restaurants in particular and then they salespeople from you know That this organization were then calling the restaurants and asking for you know saying well We'll you know suppress or will change the review or just whatever whatever whatever the business model was If you pay us this amount of money per month that type of thing total extortion I don't know if it was true or not, but I believe it was a 2020 thing You can find it on YouTube about the Better Business Bureau But again, I'm not saying bad about the Business Bureau I don't know anything more than I just told you there might be you know may have gotten their act together They probably did but the moral of the story is is that these review sites in general should be avoided I remember when Zillow called us actually it was a long time ago when they're starting their agent review thing and they were Desperate to get us to allow them to put a thing up about us on their page and hell No I wasn't gonna do that because Julie and I have been essentially telling agents not to use Zillow from day one Don't you think Zillow would have loved the opportunity to pile on you know Negative feedback about Tim and Julie because they know that we are essentially preaching the antithesis of what they were trying to sell Which is buying buyer leads. I know well the fact that all of these negative posts can be put up anonymously And then you have it's horrible. I mean that by itself is a terrible premise I only on the internet and it's only because that arcane law that has to protect a lot of these You know websites where consumers create their content, but Hugh imagine actually going to a public and Out in public someplace and saying half the stuff that people were legally allowed to say anonymously online It's just insanity. So do yourself a favor and remove yourself from all that but going back to Julie's fourth point Definitely go make sure your presence is consistent everywhere Okay So speaking of which that also goes IRL in real life point number four upgrade how you present yourself Refer to the chapter about upgrading everything in our best-selling book Harris rules You can find that on Amazon to work on many specifics things But start with your wardrobe your haircut your glasses your shoes your nails purse and or a briefcase Maybe it's also time to upgrade your iPhone 5 and your AOL account So there's lots of different things to work and we do a lot of that kind of work in coaching to make sure that everywhere When they run into somebody at the grocery store They are looking like the professional they wish to be perceived as sometimes you guys have maybe heard the term virtue signaling It's basically when somebody throws that a you know, they do it sometimes without realizing it if you live in a very I think virtue signal is almost always associated with people or there are more left-leaning and So you'll if you go to like San Francisco or if you go to these areas where it's very densely populated with people that are All you know politically minded in one direction They'll say things to each other that you won't hear just the mannerisms or I rather not mannerisms But the vernacular the way they talk and they'll upswing at the end You can't even do it. I can't out of it. Well, I can't but they also they'll say little things But everybody and people say well, that's just a you know, they try to criticize, you know, liberal people for being virtue signalers But the fact is everybody virtue signals. It doesn't matter Christians virtue signal Jewish people virtue signal wealthy people virtue signal poor people virtue signal We're always doing it at all times It's a natural human behavior To try to look for people that are like you now if you're trying to attract people that are like the person you want to Become you have to start looking for what those people are going to look for Julia and I tell the story of when we went from selling meat and potato houses in Columbus, Ohio Just starting to sell houses that were you know over a million dollars and this was back in the late 90s early 2000s And this it was Columbus, Ohio. So that was a lot of money All right So what we had to do is we had to quickly realize and we did fortunately that they didn't dress like us They didn't look like us. They didn't wear the same shoes that we were we they didn't have the same watches They didn't drive the same cars. They didn't have the same experiences. They didn't read the same books They didn't vacation the same we used to go to Lake Erie. They would go to France. Okay, you guys getting my point here? yeah, I mean a bit a big weekend for us and maybe going to Hocking Hills and walking in the you know, Appalachia where these folks would go to Mars All right So what we had to do is we had to learn to become like them So that when they because they would look us up and down they would actually check to see Exactly whether you were like them you guys are thinking well Those people are just being snobs to see if you have a nice watch on or not They're not they're trying to see if you have the same values people subconsciously buy products Look a certain way walk a certain way, you know, look at this. This is funny, too Exercise and being in good shape has been widely associated with people who are conservative. I mean, it's interesting that seems crazy I know but I mean all these things So just be consciously aware if you're not attracting and I don't like I mean attracting in the most general sense But if you're not attracting the business to you or if you're trying to upgrade or get into the real estate business You have to become like the people that you want to do business with Don't expect them to be down with the fact that you don't look like them or act like them or talk like them You have to be like them for them to feel comfortable with you. This is normal. Yeah This is not weird in the book I talked about Audrey Hepburn and the fact that she didn't have a lot of formal acting training when she got her first big roles And she talks a lot about how did you deal with? she talks that she she's gonna fulfill a role of an elegant woman in a Particular movie that by dressing that way and looking that way helped her to become that way for that role Well, this is no different you and I didn't when we I mean the pictures that are still online of us when our first year In the business Yeah so we wanted to upgrade our sale price and we had a friend of ours that we had as a Julie and I when we were in college had a car cleaning and detailing business and There was a really nice guy that had this really beautiful house and a really nice, you know car anyway So he let us take pictures in front of his really nice house with our first for sale sign and Obviously we use this for a market you guys again can find these pictures online. They're pretty hilarious because we look like we're 14 But the clothes we're wearing don't really fit and the reason they don't really fit is because we got them from consignment stores Aka thrift shops and so our first year in the business if you saw Julie and I wearing more formal attire Trust me when I tell you it was not new and we did not really start buying More expensive clothes until we are in the business for like maybe two or three years Yeah, but that's also a pearl of wisdom a good tip that maybe you know upgrading to a fancy wardrobe isn't in your current budget You can find some really great things if you hone what you're looking for I'm not saying to you know, not all thrift stores are the same Yeah, you went but you can go to some high-end things and then go to the tailor and you'll spend half as much money Just taking some things in and making them look like they fit you Well, you did just say something interesting if you're near a major city and you go to a consignment store It's not like a thrift shop right where people just drop off stuff behind the thrift shop and bags You know the consignment stores and around really nice cities will have ridiculously nice things that people just you know A lot of people ladies in particular They'll buy a really nice outfit They'll wear it once and then they'll sell it because they don't want to be seen out that again Which I mean tells me we should have been all fashion designers for sure, right? Well, but sometimes people just move to a warmer climate and they leave their you know, more formal stuff We did that. I mean you had a bunch of you know Nice st. John's things and you had some other things and we sold them all exactly So, you know just start looking and it can be fun and it's a great way to not overspend when you're on the Ascension So last but not least I would be remiss without saying this one number five upgrade your coaching if you're already in premier coaching And you're ready for the next level Upgrade to elite coaching or I mean honestly a lot of them the next elite coach something probably be too big of a step Yeah, we have other middle of Midland coaching programs But if you're in premier and you're ready to go to the next step, which again a lot of you are going to be Actually talk to coach Rochelle about that and she'll answer all your questions and she runs I think she runs the premier coaching calls on Mondays and Wednesdays Yeah, but so talk to coach Rochelle and she'll help you to go to the next step in your private coaching Maybe she'll even have room in her schedule to be your own private coach You guys love her. So do consider that if you're really looking for a top-level experience And frankly, you're a good fit for Julie and Julie's a good fit for you, but she is expensive You know, I feel weird talking about you in the third person You're standing right in front of me, but she is and she's good so the move there is to text me at five one two seven five eight zero two zero six and I'll ask you a couple questions or you can just text me and tell me a little bit about yourself and save the questions and Then I'll help you set up an appointment to talk with Julie and you're gonna have a call and it's gonna be frankly in some Cases uncomfortable and during that call you're gonna decide whether she's a good coach for you Whether you know, she wants to coach you at this point in her career. That's where she's that's her mindset I personally don't take on personal coaching clients anymore So moral the story is if you're really for ready for a top-drawer experience, it's elite coaching I put all my what was my coaching schedule towards helping agents and brokers move over to eXp royalty That's where I've worked in my space and it works out perfect. Many of them are in both They talked to you at eXp and they talked to me in coaching, right? But for most agents, the next step is definitely join premier coaching We have hundreds of agents in premier coaching and promote premier coaching is a free program that all of you can join It's in does include a daily semi-private coaching call. That's five. I'm sorry They can just go to premier coaching comm premier coaching comm or scroll down below and click the link below now if you're in a different program as I know some of you listening are and you're not getting the results that you signed up For or you're no longer getting those results that you used to get You can upgrade a premier coaching as well and become part of our coaching family for free today If you like what we do on the podcast, we can only go so far on the podcast. You'll love what you get in coaching That's right. So thank you for keeping this the number one listen to daily podcasts for real estate agents Oh, and we did announce this last week, but we're gonna announce it again We are going to be in Italy France and Switzerland for the months or half of June and half of July So if you are a European listener as we know a lot of you are Let's do what Julie and I will publish our overall I think we'll say where we're gonna be in what city and then when we're there We'll just basically message on Instagram where we are. We we did a US tour in 2021 This is our European tour our partial European tour. So yeah, so for the European listeners We are going to be in your neck of the woods in the mid this year and we'd love to meet up They'd be great and so just look for that and Again, I'll be talking more about that as we get closer to leaving and then we'll be updating everyone on our Instagram page in the meantime Thank you for keeping this number one. Listen to daily podcasts real estate professionals and at least the United States It is our pleasure and our honor to be your online real estate coaches now take the next natural step and Engage with premiere coaching go to premiere coaching comm or scroll down below and click the link below to join Have a fantastic day. We'll talk to you on the show tomorrow