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/RealEstate is a bi-weekly podcast where we chat with agents and experts in the real estate space to find out what strategies are working for them, what tools are powering their business, and how they are maneuvering shifts in the industry. Join host and marketing aficionado Chris Whitling as he uncovers the tips, tricks, and tech ambitious agents can use to take their businesses to the next level.
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:26:12
Unknown
All right. Hello and welcome to Forward Slash Real Estate, the podcast for the technology enabled agent. I'm Chris Watling, VP marketing at Real Geeks and I've got a one of our frequent fliers here, Todd Tremonte. I'll let you introduce yourself. Happy to do it. Yeah. Todd Tramonte team leader broker here in the Dallas-Fort worth area. We do a lot of radio.
00:00:26:12 - 00:00:51:15
Unknown
We've got the number one radio show in Texas as far as residential real estate is concerned. And the only reason that really matters is it indicates the kind of team we are. We are repeat and referral first, but we also do heavy direct response marketing. We try to do that as intentionally as we can to neighborhood home sellers, as well as homes on land buyers and sellers, which we would call small acreage properties.
00:00:51:15 - 00:01:17:23
Unknown
This is our 20th year as a team. We've been coaching and consulting with agents for about 12 years. We've hosted a conference with Real Geeks for about seven years now. And we love what we get to do. I feel like this is where I get to use my God given gifts and abilities. In the world, the most to add value for our team, for our clients, for agents and for partners like real geeks and others.
00:01:18:01 - 00:01:39:08
Unknown
But, what makes me excited and willing to to do things like this and share and encourage is I think our industry is really jacked up. Right? And so I've worked really, really hard to build a team that I'm proud of, to build a team that I would want to join if I was a newer agent, or if I was a seasoned agent, I would want to join and stay on.
00:01:39:10 - 00:01:56:21
Unknown
All right. Well, you you left dangling bait there, and I think I'm going to have to bite down on it immediately because you said, you know, you think that this industry is kind of jacked up. And so you're just going to have to explain that, you know, because there's going to be people, you know, screaming at their iPhones right now, you know, one way or the other.
00:01:56:23 - 00:02:15:01
Unknown
So, like, lay out your position before we get deeper into this thing. Yeah, yeah. Feel free to send your hate mail to Chris at now. Do you know what? Let's engagement hack this thing. If you think Todd's wrong right now, go down to the comments and tell us exactly. Yeah, I'll come back and look at those and we'll fight down their numbers, too.
00:02:15:03 - 00:02:35:15
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. Comment below if you think, fillable that the residential real estate industry is generally terrible at our job. Go ahead. Now, you're going to need to give me some reasons that I'm wrong, but I'll tell you why I think I'm right. On the whole, most people are not experts. The vast majority of our industry is not even full time.
00:02:35:15 - 00:02:53:17
Unknown
And I'm not attacking you if you're part time. But generally, as a rule, if you're not full time, you're probably not world class. Probably. There's exceptions, but you're probably not world class. You're probably not building a true business. You might be helping some friends and family. You probably don't have proven, repeatable systems with significant income and significant impact.
00:02:53:19 - 00:03:17:12
Unknown
You're probably not making as much of a difference in the lives of team members or agents or community or vendor partners. And so generally, when you think of a world class professional, even you probably don't think about real estate agents. I can keep going. I can keep going. As to the level of professionalism that exists, when you hear an agent on the other end of the phone say, honey, I've done this for 26 years, is your instinct?
00:03:17:12 - 00:03:39:21
Unknown
Oh, she must be incredible. I bet it's not. I bet it's not right. Right. When you see somebody that's had eight brokers in eight years, are you thinking they're great? It's definitely not their fault. It's the broker's fault. Now, our industry is known for laziness and wannabe well intentioned, nice people who aren't great at their jobs. And that is true.
00:03:40:02 - 00:03:57:12
Unknown
Now there's a select group of us, probably the people tuning in to a podcast like this that want to be great, that are committed, that are committed to growth. And so I'm probably not talking about you if you're hearing this, but if you're hearing this and that was convicting, great. Join the crew. Run with us. Let's help each other get better.
00:03:57:18 - 00:04:21:06
Unknown
But I don't apologize for saying that this industry generally sucks at our job. We do. We got Todd fired up already. This is great. Yeah. I mean, like, you know, if I if I say, like, I'm going to an orthopedic surgeon or I'm going to, you know, a GDPR lawyer or, you know, a Six Sigma consultant or a cybersecurity specialist like that evokes a certain, a certain image, you know?
00:04:21:06 - 00:04:52:19
Unknown
But if I say, you know, I am, you know, working with a real estate agent, even if I say that specializes in this, you know, certain field, it doesn't evoke the same thing. Right? And so what if it did? What if what if we could move the market just a little bit or a little more professional? Or if you were one of those people that really did specialize a lot to that level where you eat, slept, you know, breathe whatever, you know, this specific niche, like, how would that change what people say about you and how your clients think about you?
00:04:52:21 - 00:05:12:18
Unknown
Yeah, it's funny because I use this example that most people used to not be familiar with, but because of professional sports and probably a gambling problem. People are now familiar with Mattress Mac, the gallery furniture guy in Houston. People, a lot of people know that he he makes this big grand bet on the Astros a lot of years.
00:05:12:18 - 00:05:34:15
Unknown
And anyway, the point is, I've talked about for years, I grew up in Houston. I've lived in Dallas for 20 something years now, but the point is he is he sells furniture with the entire city of Houston, which is one of the biggest cities in the world, knows this guy by name because he's done such a good job of specializing and branding his business for repeat referral, but also for new business.
00:05:34:17 - 00:05:54:21
Unknown
And we don't all have to go that far. We don't have to be globally known. But if you could be citywide, town wide, county wide, known that you do one thing and you do it exceptionally well, imagine the difference you could make. Imagine the income you could have, the impact you could have, the job satisfaction, the legacy.
00:05:54:23 - 00:06:14:17
Unknown
That's what we're talking about when we say specialize. So I want to make sure I'm answering your question. So I'll stop. But yes, I think the generalization thing is very dangerous. Okay. So we'll let's just dive in then to the meat of what we're going to talk about here. And like I guess it's the the perfect question is okay, explain yourself more.
00:06:14:17 - 00:06:38:14
Unknown
Todd. How is it that helping everyone actually hurts your business? Pick any industry on the planet. Let's use, for example, real estate, if I say and we've all seen these postcards, right? They come to your house and it says Bob from Bob's Real Estate or mortgage or whatever. Right. I specialize in residential, commercial, industrial, leasing, sales, single family multifamily.
00:06:38:16 - 00:07:05:22
Unknown
That's not what the word specialize means. And so if you're spending your 40, 50, 60 hours a week, whatever you're working, doing 16 different things 1 or 2 times a year, would any logical, self-respecting person think that you are excellent at any of those things? No. Could you logically be excellent at more than maybe 1 or 2 of those things?
00:07:05:22 - 00:07:26:16
Unknown
Are really any of them? If you're just doing it here and there, whatever the answer is, obviously no. So as a generalist, there are things. And I think with the advent of technology and AI and some of the things that are progressing, there is some value to generalists. But in the world of residential real estate within our industry.
00:07:26:18 - 00:07:53:03
Unknown
And we'll talk about this at the conferences here. What is the successful real estate business of 2035 look like? I will tell you. And I could be wrong. I will tell you it does not look like generalizing within the industry of real estate. It might look like a general knowledge of technology, a general knowledge of financing. But within your core expertise of residential real estate.
00:07:53:05 - 00:08:22:17
Unknown
I'm telling you, I think your best offense and your best defense both is specialization. I have actually very inclined to believe what you believe. You hear, and my favorite question to ask real estate agents when I, you know, meet them out on the street, you know, doing things in Austin is how are you different. Right. And it's it's such a simple question, but it chokes them up in it's like in a profound way, you know, or they or they spit out something that's like, oh, well, I, you know, blah blah blah.
00:08:22:17 - 00:08:39:08
Unknown
Like I'm first this well, I can tell you what most of them spit out, and I have no idea who. Right. Let's hear it. Let's hear it talk. Hey, Todd. Todd, great to meet you. So you're a real estate agent. What makes you different than all the other real estate agents? You know, we are super committed to making sure that our clients have an incredible experience.
00:08:39:08 - 00:09:00:23
Unknown
We always put our client's needs before our own. And, we are where people first. You're just missing that. You're like the number one, sales rep in a certain hyper niche. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're the top office in West Austin based on random metric here. Right. But the point I'm making is another way to see it is, you know, pick a big broker.
00:09:00:23 - 00:09:15:22
Unknown
I'm not going to pick on one. Let's just say ABC Realty. But you know, one of the big, big, big brands and, you know, they provide a big website for everyone. And then like these little agent specialty sites and they all have like almost the same bio. I specialize in West Austin. And we put our client's needs first.
00:09:15:22 - 00:09:41:07
Unknown
And we guarantee top notch service. That's table stakes. That's required. That's the standard. That's not differentiation. That doesn't make you unique. But people are using the question which, by the way, should be your favorite question. What makes you different? Man, I'm so glad you asked. We specialize in small acreage property in and around DFW. We're talking kind of half acre to five acre like big backyards.
00:09:41:11 - 00:10:03:21
Unknown
Sometimes they have a wall or barbed wire or solar or different issues with access. Fencing is a little different. A lot of times the maintenance is totally different, septic and stuff like that. So we specialize in helping people buy and sell. And then honestly, outside of buying and selling, we help people really, really love those properties. So why is it that that everyone seems to have, you know, your standard agent?
00:10:03:21 - 00:10:22:00
Unknown
I seem to have an aversion to this. They're afraid to let go. They're afraid they're going to miss out on something. So, Chris, if I told you that I specialize in desirable neighborhood homes and homes on land and DFW, I'm afraid that if your friend wants to buy a condo, you're no longer going to send them to me.
00:10:22:02 - 00:10:39:14
Unknown
And all my career, I've been putting together, my goals in 36 deals, I've been doing 18 or 17 or 19, and they've been from any place and every place in a little bit of commercial, a little bit of residential, a lot of neighborhoods, a little bit of townhome one out on the lake, one that was just a lot.
00:10:39:16 - 00:10:59:03
Unknown
And I know the only way I've been getting to half of my goal is a little bit of everything. So, if you're telling me, Chris, I need to pick one of those things, it scares me so much that I'm going to lose the other stuff that I can't. I can't come to a conviction to do that. That's the number one fear here that that resonates, right?
00:10:59:03 - 00:11:15:10
Unknown
You know, and I think that's like, you know, when I, when I talk to agents, I think that is exactly spot on. But the flip side, you know, it's like in my position, you know, I know a lot of tech pros moving to Austin. Right. So that's a lot of people coming in. And I know a lot of real estate agents, you know?
00:11:15:10 - 00:11:38:21
Unknown
So that makes me like a natural connector. But, you know, like, I don't usually want to connect someone with the generalist. I want to give the best, the best reference I can. And so, you know, if the person is looking for an investment property or a condo or like small acreage on the outskirts, or, you know, like that Central Austin, whatever, you know, like, I like to connect them to with, with the person that is that is the right fit.
00:11:38:21 - 00:11:55:05
Unknown
You know, that makes me as a person passing off a reference feel really, really great, right? It's what we would do with any other professional industry. You're like your friends, like, I need a contract lawyer. You're like, I know a criminal defense guy. You wouldn't do that. I know, I know, it's great a DUI. Trust me, you'll be great at this.
00:11:55:06 - 00:12:26:17
Unknown
Yeah, but in our world, we think it's appropriate to tell our friends. Yeah, to tell their friends that we're their best option at everything. Does that even sound ethical? Yeah, it's what the whole industry does. Which is why I said the industry is generally terrible. Now, as an individual, how easy do you think it is for all your friends who all know 20 or 30 or 40 agents to remember you as real estate compared to DACA?
00:12:26:18 - 00:12:53:00
Unknown
Water from. Yeah, impossible to forget you as stackable waterfront. Yeah. Now they might only refer you once or twice a year or once every two years or whatever. But if you know a thousand people and they all, you're the only person they know that only does. And you don't have to say you only do it, but primarily specializes in dock of a waterfront, you're probably going to get way more referrals because you're unforgettable easily.
00:12:53:03 - 00:13:12:20
Unknown
I know, I actually know a guy that that's all he does, and I've seen the books that he writes about it, I've seen the videos he does about it. So I know the fear I've had the fear, but I also know the benefit and had the benefit. So let's talk about getting from okay, I'm a generalist. I've been doing this for a little while.
00:13:12:21 - 00:13:30:17
Unknown
You know, maybe I've had some some success in niches, but I really want to, like, I know that I need to specialize. Right. Like, I've been listening to all these marketing guys I doing. I'm listening to Todd and Chris, and, you know, I get it, I get it. I need to to like, go in that direction. How do you get.
00:13:30:19 - 00:13:48:14
Unknown
Because it does seem like a daunting problem with a whole bunch of FOMO. How do I get from I'm a generalist that's been doing this for, you know, a little bit of time, you know, to, okay, I am the specialist in this field. Is it? And it's like it is and it seems like, okay. Is it is it business model based?
00:13:48:14 - 00:14:06:07
Unknown
Is it is a, you know, like buyer specific or specific buyer seller types is a geographic is it, you know, aspect, you know, like how do you lay out a decision matrix for how you would make that evolution. Yeah. And it will spend a big chunk of two days on this at the conference. So this is obviously a bigger conversation.
00:14:06:07 - 00:14:32:19
Unknown
But for the sake of right now, you would evaluate things like what are you interested enough in to be a constant student of. What are you interested enough in to be a constant student up or what? Have you already done enough of that? You know, that's one of my favorites. I really, really like that. And then you look at things like turnover and volume and potential market size, and then you look at what you and I have discussed many times.
00:14:32:19 - 00:14:54:18
Unknown
Market message media is the market real? Do I have something of value for them? What's the message that they would receive? And then what's the media to deliver that message only do that market. So we've talked about that before. We'll talk about it again. But you got to do just some. That's some logical work like that. I would say the most important thing here is that is something you're willing to stake 50% or more of the rest of your career on.
00:14:54:20 - 00:15:14:04
Unknown
Yeah. If you are like terrified of water and hate boats and stuff, stackable waterfronts, probably not a great need for you if you like love condos with rooftops, but there's only 12 of them in your city, that's not a good one, right? So some of that is just like logical. Please, in real estate, be a real business. Do real business stuff.
00:15:14:06 - 00:15:37:00
Unknown
Don't just manage a busted up pipeline. That's really a roller coaster of despair. Don't do that when you're a generalist. You're like, I'm pretty good at contracts. I'm good at showings. I'm kind of good at negotiation. I'm okay on repairs. I'm not excellent at anything in that picture. And then here comes Chris, who's like, obviously good at all the same stuff because most agents have to be pretty decent at that stuff.
00:15:37:01 - 00:15:58:23
Unknown
But now he's like, oh, this is Adorkable waterfront. I do 57 of those a year. I know the local HOA, I know the provider of the pulleys on the boatlift. I know the insurance you need for a composite shingle boatlift cover as opposed to the corrugated boatlift cover. I know the cost of treated lumber for this type of deal.
00:15:59:01 - 00:16:20:08
Unknown
I know what it cost to drive those. You know, those those, pile driver type, you know, things down into mud. Yes. You have no clue. And you're faking it. And everyone can tell, including your client. How's that generalization going to work out for you? They're. What if it's your family? What if it's your friend? What if it's your friends family and now you have legitimately lied to them?
00:16:20:08 - 00:16:48:20
Unknown
You've told them you're the expert that could best serve them, and you're realizing on the fly that you are not. What's the ethics of that now? Can you always and forever be the smartest person in the room? No, but you can always meet our standard of of of we have an above the bar. We have more than the required amount of area expertise, geographical ability, knowledge.
00:16:48:22 - 00:17:15:20
Unknown
And then you're not normal. You're differentiated. Now, I think this is one of the biggest things I said earlier, your best offense and your best defense going forward. Who thinks Zillow or Opendoor will be better and more resource than you at generalization, two hands better go up. Yeah, right. Or that whoever's next, yeah, whoever goes and gets the VC money because the VC money's gonna keep coming for our multi-billion dollar industry.
00:17:15:23 - 00:17:38:03
Unknown
Yep. They're not going to quit trying to figure out profitability in such an essential, massive market. But who thinks that Zillow is going to try to beat you on Lake Travis walkable waterfront, or even be decent at it? I can tell you, if we have a chance, that's where we have a chance. Let me ask you, like minor pivot on this.
00:17:38:06 - 00:17:59:05
Unknown
So, you know, I'm thinking about who's going to show up at the conference and, you know, some of their different business models. And, you know, a lot of them are exactly what you're talking about. You know, like specialists in geography, specialists at certain things, you know, like maybe, I mean, like, I, I've, I have been on a boat with one of our agents that, specialized in dock, waterfront.
00:17:59:07 - 00:18:20:16
Unknown
So, like. Yeah, I mean, that's a that's a actually practical example right there. But what about the the agent that says, or, you know, even broker team lead, it's like, you know what? I am a specialist in this type of, marketing channel, right? So, like, I run, you know, a really strong ish team, and so I'll sell them anything I can sell them.
00:18:20:16 - 00:18:42:07
Unknown
But I'm just really great at, like, processing, you know, this sort of, like, long tail lead. I would ask that person how exhausting it is to continue to build and rebuild and rebuild and rebuild and rebuild their business because they're specializing in process, not people, not market. That is everyone hearing the difference? You're going to need to apply that.
00:18:42:07 - 00:19:05:15
Unknown
Yeah. Now you can specialize in a property type a client type of price point. That's all fine. It doesn't have to be geographic or private. But my point is, if your uniqueness is in process, meaning the way you convert leads the consumer base, the marketplace does not know you. It doesn't know anything about that. And so you have to adjust that to the market over and over and over and over and over.
00:19:05:18 - 00:19:25:00
Unknown
Instead of having loyalty and relationship and trust in the marketplace with a certain people group. Now, it could be that you have loyalty with them because they're physicians and you serve physicians. It could be because they are. You know, 1 to $3 million property owners. It could be because they're townhome owners. That's all fine. You don't have to be hemmed into that.
00:19:25:01 - 00:19:51:17
Unknown
But the point is, do you have trust and loyalty and frequency and relationship with anyone if you're specializing in process, I think that's just a more it's a less cost effective less. Life cycle value way to specialize. I'm not saying don't have some specialized process. We have a proprietary selling process, proprietary buying process, but who do we serve?
00:19:51:17 - 00:20:15:12
Unknown
How do we serve? What's the difference we make? What's that transformation? I'm telling you, I'm begging you to join me on the journey to constantly communicate the value you deliver. The transformation, not features. If you have to pick features or benefits, pick benefits. But if you can go beyond benefits, how does what I do transform your life? How does what I do make your life better?
00:20:15:14 - 00:20:35:19
Unknown
That's when you're going to get hired, going to get remembered, going to get referred, going to get battled for people will go to war for you. If your difference is I have people in a room making calls, texts and emails to get anyone and everyone to buy or sell with us. You have no momentum. You have no critical mass of people out there advocating it.
00:20:35:19 - 00:20:52:10
Unknown
Doesn't. Your cost efficiencies don't ever come down. Your loyalty. Repeat referral. Now you could do a good job. I'm not saying that's an impossible model, but I know a lot of people with that model. I've coached a lot of people that try to build that model, and it can be great in seasons, but it is it is brutal to sustain in the long haul.
00:20:52:12 - 00:21:14:00
Unknown
So to package that up, it's like you need a brand that resonates with the people on the other end of the phone, the the pipeline, the way that they get to you is not necessarily that differentiating piece. The message is the differentiation, not the channel. What do you have to offer? What's in it for them? That's all they care about.
00:21:14:00 - 00:21:32:20
Unknown
And it doesn't make them wrong to only care about that. So you having is a phone sales team is of no value to your client. Exactly. It's a value to you. Now, in theory it could add value to the client, but you have to have an opportunity to communicate that it may be efficiency, or you might be able to find more sellers for your buyers or find more buyers for yourselves.
00:21:32:20 - 00:21:54:23
Unknown
And so and that is a real value of having a, you know, inside sales team or whatever. But the point is, what is the group of people that you're creating trust with? Who are they? What do you know about them? Have you studied them? Have you obsessed about them? Do you know their wants and needs and fears? You know the pleasure they're trying to move towards and the pain they're trying to move from?
00:21:55:01 - 00:22:19:22
Unknown
Now, without making this entire episode all about marketing theory and process and stuff, I'm happy to get into some practical. But, you know, we kind of teased with this topic, there are some other things that agents are just habitually, continually getting wrong and being trained to get wrong. If you want to talk about those, we can. It's like you read my mind because I was the next question I was going to ask you.
00:22:19:22 - 00:22:36:06
Unknown
I was going to say, like, since I think we got aggro Todd today, you know, and we're, we're going down this path, you know, so like, tell me about where people are screwing this up. Yeah, well, this and lots of other things. You know, we have people who are working in areas that they're just not at all very good.
00:22:36:07 - 00:23:00:21
Unknown
Yeah. And I'm here to give you permission to use your natural gifts and abilities, what I would call your God given gifts and abilities. Use those more and do a lot of the things that you don't do well and that you hate doing. You get you can do those less. You can actually have a great business doing stuff you're bad at less or never in doing stuff you're great at more and getting even better at it.
00:23:00:23 - 00:23:22:05
Unknown
Okay, so a simpler way to say that is stop doing stuff you're not very good at. It's not good for your client and find ways with help to do the things you love to do and are great at more and more and more and you'll grow a better business. So on the one hand, one of the huge mistakes that a ton of our industry is making, it really always has, is doing it all yourself.
00:23:22:06 - 00:23:37:15
Unknown
We coach a lot of people that don't want to be a team, and that's fine. You don't have to be a team, but they kind of are. It's just a it's a matter of wording. They're a solo agent with some virtual help or with some assistant help or with some agent support help, but they don't think of them as on their team.
00:23:37:15 - 00:24:06:03
Unknown
That's fine. I don't care what you call it or how you structure it, but if you are truly 100% on your own, then you have to do a lot of things you're not very good at. And so I don't really encourage anyone to be truly, completely isolated and on your own. But that doesn't mean you have to be responsible for other people's livelihoods, but you have to piece together those partners and vendor partners and support, you know, if I needed a showing and I'm not going to do it, do I have a friend at the office that I can reliably go to?
00:24:06:07 - 00:24:28:08
Unknown
That's fine. They don't have to be on your team, but to go completely on your own. That means we are now, yes, consistently having to do things where I can't look my client in the eye and say, I'm really gifted at that. And we're probably clouding out, choking out the ability to look a client in the eye and say, man, this is what I am truly exceptional at.
00:24:28:08 - 00:24:56:19
Unknown
And you're going to get the great benefit of that. And here's my track record with that. Another thing that people do all the time that is really harmful to your client is you refuse to sell. You say things like, I don't want to be a salesperson. I just want to help people when they want my help. Well, does anyone ever had someone that really needed help that they didn't want to ask for that was uncomfortable for you to persist and compel and persuade your client to trust your leadership on?
00:24:56:21 - 00:25:13:17
Unknown
And if you refused to sell, if you refused to lean in and be crafty and strategic and be trained and be equipped, they would not have gotten to that thing that was best for them. And how many of you have had a really close friend go use an inferior agent? Doesn't mean they're inferior in life, but they're not as good at real estate.
00:25:13:19 - 00:25:31:15
Unknown
And it hurt them. And it was because you could have pushed, you could have persuaded, you could have sold more. I'm not telling you to twist people's arms and shove your business card in their hand and be an annoying jerk. I'm saying be better at selling. Selling is serving. Be better at compelling and communicating that they need real help and you're the real help.
00:25:31:16 - 00:25:52:04
Unknown
I had a thought about this, over the last couple of days, and, I we'll see if we'll see if producer Sean likes this bit and, you know, it stays in. So. So the thought was basically, I think a lot of there's a cohort of people that give up after the first objection, right? They're like, oh, this person is expressing the first objection.
00:25:52:04 - 00:26:11:22
Unknown
And so rather than addressing the objection and navigating around it, which I think a lot of times is what the person, the, the prospect wants you to do, right? They're saying, I am concerned about this thing. And if you just be like, oh, well, okay, whatever, you know, and walk away like, yeah, missed opportunity. But if you then start and this is this is not just sales.
00:26:11:22 - 00:26:38:00
Unknown
This is also just like negotiation or, you know, life advice. Right. Like okay now I'm going to address that and see if we can overcome it. Like you're actually both better off. And there's like a nice happy zone between, you know, okay, am I trying to compel that person through a bunch of manipulative tactics to get to the objective that I want, or am I actually really doing the discovery of what's in their head so that they are going to experience no cognitive dissonance?
00:26:38:00 - 00:27:01:23
Unknown
Working with me? And they're 100% on board, right? Yeah. We do a weekly sales role play call with our team and our coaching clients, and this comes up literally every week is our job, our goal is to lead them to the outcome that is best for them. We actually don't want to sell people houses that shouldn't be buying houses, or that don't really want to buy a house, like that's just almost never going to go well, right?
00:27:02:01 - 00:27:27:21
Unknown
We want to help people achieve the outcome that they want that is best for them now. They are often the biggest obstacle to their own outcome, and it requires compelling persuasion and selling carefully and ethically and sometimes somewhat tediously. But my point was people refuse to sell, which often translates to refuse to occasionally push people. If doctors couldn't push people to take care of themselves, more people would be unhealthy and die, right?
00:27:27:23 - 00:27:49:15
Unknown
If your personal trainer couldn't push and persuade and sell you on one more rep, don't take a day, you know, eat well, then that would go poorly for you. So we're talking about getting them where they want to go, getting them to what's best for them. But often it takes selling. If selling means serving, if selling means persuading, communicating, educating, compelling and all those things.
00:27:49:17 - 00:28:19:12
Unknown
But, you know, that's just a couple of things that agents are currently doing that is hurting them and killing their business. Another one is that they're working with terrible clients. Okay. They're working with a non-ideal but customer is always right. By the way, I love that you said that because in residential real estate, based on license law or license rules, there's a big difference between a customer and a client.
00:28:19:14 - 00:28:43:17
Unknown
And they should all be clients, which means they've signed with you and you have a representation agreement. Different states use different language. I know that everybody again emails can go to Chris. Yep. Yeah. Once you have a fiduciary responsibility for them now you need to give them all you've got. And that will go way better when they are the kind of person you know you can serve the best.
00:28:43:22 - 00:29:03:00
Unknown
And that goes all the way back to specialization. Who can I serve the most? Where is there a group of people that has an incredible need that I know I can serve at a very high level? That's a market product fit, market service fit. Now I can craft a message and a media campaign, whether it's just word of mouth or email doesn't have to be like major mass market media.
00:29:03:02 - 00:29:21:21
Unknown
But what's the delivery mechanism? All this stuff fits together and none of it's rocket science. It doesn't make it super easy to do, but it makes it pretty simple. So the more you specialize, the more people will remember you and refer you and repeat, the more you can, your marketing can separate you and get more attention and attraction and all those things.
00:29:21:23 - 00:29:39:20
Unknown
Also, the more value you can deliver, because you get to do the same thing over and over and over again. And you get to understand that Chris is my ideal client, and I already know a bunch of people like Chris, and I know that they generally have the same likes and dislikes, needs and wants. They generally like information this way, but not that the better and better and better and better you can get at that.
00:29:39:20 - 00:29:59:16
Unknown
The more reps you get with the same people, types of people, properties, areas, price points, whatever, the more value you can deliver. So when you're like, yeah, but I'll take one two hours away and yeah, I'll take one that I don't really know anything about. I just always say yes and figure it out. Yeah, the less awesome you can get at what you do, right, the less value you deliver to the client.
00:29:59:22 - 00:30:13:16
Unknown
And then the whole system breaks down. Well, you didn't do that good of a job, so you didn't get a great reviews. You didn't get a repeat, you didn't get a referral, you didn't even like it that much. It took four times as much time. And now you don't even know if you like what you do. Working with a bunch of cruddy prospects.
00:30:13:16 - 00:30:48:11
Unknown
Non-writing. It hurts everyone. Maybe another example of this, you know, which I just find so stark, is how like every every agent you talk to, if you ask them about investment properties says, oh, yeah, I'll do investment properties, right? Because they like to have the deal. But if you have anything other than an investor that is like, like totally passive and it doesn't care, you know, or like, is going to live in the house and then maybe rent it later, like if you have someone that actually cares about, you know, like, oh yeah, I've been looking at my other assets and I need to reposition some wealth into this.
00:30:48:13 - 00:31:06:23
Unknown
You know, I'm like, I need models that show, like, you know, based off like, this debt model, what the return on, you know, you're going to be so out of your depth so fast and that client is not going to like it. It's not going to go anywhere. Right. So I love it when I hear agents that are like either specialized investors.
00:31:06:23 - 00:31:26:06
Unknown
And this is my process. Right. Because those agents that specialize investors have a specific process for that. Or I do not touch investors. If you want to do investment like here's the guy, you should go talk to him. Yeah. You get a referral. You are the expert at what you do. And you continue to perpetuate that by saying, I'm not an expert at that.
00:31:26:06 - 00:31:43:07
Unknown
For example, we don't we do zero commercial, we get a commercial lead or something, we refer it, we know who does what kind of commercial. Which commercials got 27,000 specialties with inside of it. So we don't do a lot of leasing. We refer that out, even though most residential agents would say same license, we do all of that.
00:31:43:09 - 00:32:07:14
Unknown
They might not do corporate industrial, but they would be making that common mistake. And there are times like, you got to do what you gotta do. Yeah, but you make you better. Make sure you are compliant, that you have enough aptitude to meet the license standard. But, you know, there's a bunch of other things the industry does by pattern, by training, by reputation that are really counterintuitive, that hurt them.
00:32:07:16 - 00:32:21:16
Unknown
And there's also a lot of things we could talk more about that people ought to specialize more. So let's we can go wherever you want to. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, I think speaking of here's a great place for a plug, right. You know, speaking about talking more about this. You know, first of all, go down to the description.
00:32:21:16 - 00:32:44:18
Unknown
There's going to be a blog post covering, a lot. This is probably actually be multiple blog posts. And depending on when this episode airs, if you're interested in going to Real Growth Summit in those blog posts, there is probably, some links that you should check out for that. So, Todd, before we go into act two here, why don't you just talk a little bit about Real Growth Summit and what that is?
00:32:44:20 - 00:33:06:22
Unknown
Yeah, real Growth Summit is is a baby of mine that seven years ago was born as the Real Geeks user conference that I hosted and put on in partnership with Real Geeks. Real geeks is, you know, constantly growing and innovating for users like me, and leading in the real estate space as a whole. So I just said, hey, I'm going to get everybody together.
00:33:06:22 - 00:33:26:12
Unknown
And it's evolved into now year seven of that event, but it's open to everybody real geeks, users and non as a place to come and grow your real estate business. Yes, Real Geeks is there with tech support and the product team, the marketing team and the executives. I'll interview the co-founder and CEO of Real Geeks for the seventh year in a row.
00:33:26:13 - 00:33:53:22
Unknown
Where's real estate going? Where's technology going? What's happening with AI? What's real geeks up to? But even if you don't have a real geek CRM, or you don't have one yet, or you're never going to have one or whatever, you're going to want to be at this deal. Two straight days of building your business, scaling teams, putting together marketing, thinking about recruiting, thinking about agent specialization or not, how to get listings, how to get buyers, how to maintain a sustainable income and impact tight business.
00:33:54:03 - 00:34:10:14
Unknown
We say build the business that supports the life you want to live. We're not just trying to win trophies of most sales, but if you want to do that, it'll help with that too. We get together, we make a big difference for a cause. We have a welcome cocktail party the 14th. We have a super fun cocktail party.
00:34:10:14 - 00:34:31:00
Unknown
And, bonus laser coaching session. The night of the 15th, we do a little faith in business bonus session the morning of the 15th. All that stuff's optional. Of course, the whole thing's optional, but otherwise we go hardcore all day, both days with content. It's my event. And the reason I say that is I built it because it's the event I want to attend.
00:34:31:02 - 00:34:51:21
Unknown
I go to a lot of real estate conferences that, frankly, are not very good. Or there's like one great session and then two cool things in the hallway. My goal is to bring in speakers from outside of the industry, and then awesome people from inside the industry to share their best stuff with each other. So you should be there September 15th and 16th in Dallas, Texas.
00:34:51:23 - 00:35:11:11
Unknown
Real Growth summit.com. And what Chris was hinting at is as the headline sponsor, Real Geeks has some bonus tickets and some sponsor tickets and a coupon code for a few people. And I don't know when you're seeing this, but if there are any of those tickets left and there may or may not be, and you get that code, you can go get a ticket.
00:35:11:11 - 00:35:31:06
Unknown
And if you're listening to this as late as this is probably going to come out, the event is September 15th and 16th. I love it every year. I freaking love it when someone's like, dude, I saw something. I heard something, I got an invite four days ago, I got on a plane. I'm here. That is usually those are some of the people that leave going, I can't I can't believe how valuable this is.
00:35:31:06 - 00:35:48:13
Unknown
I'm gonna go set my business on fire. They come back the next year and they've, like, doubled their net profit, or they've added three agents or added way more listings or whatever. So we love action takers. Real Growth summit.com. You know, one of the things I like about the conference is how open book everyone is. You know it.
00:35:48:14 - 00:36:08:04
Unknown
It is really like if you want to hack on your business and like get a lot of great advice from, you know, a lot of people that are really willing to help. Like, I have been part of some amazing conversations at the conference over the years, so I absolutely love that part. It's not the, it's not the conference to go and like, flex on other real estate professionals.
00:36:08:04 - 00:36:26:00
Unknown
It is the conference to go to you, if you're serious about growing your business, which, you know, people that listen to all of our stuff, here's the Segway, really love, like the tactical, tactical stuff, you know, that that is always what people like. Click too. And so, Todd, I want to start give them giving them the, the meat, you know.
00:36:26:00 - 00:36:46:06
Unknown
And so my question to you is like we've been talking about differentiation and we've been talking about, you know, how to find the right clients that best serve. But now let's just get into like nuts and bolts. So like, what are the systems and habits that help the agent stay focused on these best clients? There's a couple of very simple ones.
00:36:46:06 - 00:37:08:02
Unknown
One would be a messaging filter okay. So if you have a messaging filter on your computer screen, on your wall, on your cell phones screen or whatever, that tells you nothing goes out that represents me, and your business might be just you or you and your wife or husband or whatever, or 27. It doesn't matter. Nothing goes out that represents us.
00:37:08:02 - 00:37:23:01
Unknown
That does not include a B and or, you know, whatever it is, you have to determine that. And you can determine it through some of the things we said before. What do you give to that? What could you study for the rest of your career and enjoy? You know what? Do you have some aptitude? What's not all that competitive?
00:37:23:01 - 00:37:43:08
Unknown
Or is there enough transactional volume and low enough competition? There's metrics for all that. And again, we'll go into two days of that at the conference. But I'm trying to give it all to you in the time we have. But if you have a messaging filter that says nothing goes out, that unless it includes neighborhoods and homes on land, then you know everything you do is just layering another brick in the wall.
00:37:43:10 - 00:38:03:23
Unknown
Another I call them little landmines of opportunity. We put out another opportunity. Somebody could trip that boom, blow it up by herself. Boom, blow it up. Great agent. Boom. Blow it up. Opportunity to be interviewed about that area of expertise. Contribute to a blog, YouTube channel, whatever. So one is a messaging filter. That's very simple. You could probably put one together in an hour and then refine it for the rest of your career.
00:38:04:01 - 00:38:24:08
Unknown
Right. And then two is like an audit. If I was a stranger in a Google Incognito window, if you don't know what that is, Google it. And I went looking for you. What would I then think about you? So if I look it up and I'm like, oh, I really know. Is your real estate agent in Austin, I don't see anything that says doc about waterfront.
00:38:24:10 - 00:38:42:10
Unknown
I see that you have four active listings and they're in four completely different parts of town for completely. And that's probably I don't really know. Okay, so now how do I start to move that needle? How do I redo that audit once a month and see if strangers start to see me as more a more of a specialist?
00:38:42:14 - 00:39:04:04
Unknown
If I'm asking for reviews, I want those reviews to include language about what I'm specializing in. That's indexable, that's searchable. That's where most people are going to see me first or second, maybe third. What's on my website, what's in my email campaigns, what's in my email signature? If I have business cards, what's on it? If I have a sign out front, what's on it?
00:39:04:06 - 00:39:26:01
Unknown
If I do events, is there signage? Are there stickers? Are there shirts? Are there hats? What do people you could go if you're in a right market with the right a number, you go 30 days from no one knew to most people know it is impossible to get to. Everybody knows there is marketing terminology that has made it out into pop culture, right?
00:39:26:01 - 00:39:44:04
Unknown
When people say that's on brand, you know, it's basically it's basically probably a marketing. I mean, obviously we say that, but you know, that's on message would be another, you know, more like marketing PR way of saying it. And so I like the idea of like, you know, you could write this out and be like, okay, this is my messaging guide.
00:39:44:09 - 00:40:04:01
Unknown
In fact, we should probably just start saying, like, you could instead of you could do this. You just go to your eye of choice and say, I need to develop a brand messaging guide. And like, this is what I think about myself and it will help you write that. No problem. Right. You can you can continue to refine that going forward.
00:40:04:01 - 00:40:21:23
Unknown
But yeah, brand guide, messaging, filter whatever you want to call that start very simple. Yep. And you can refine it. But I don't make it. So now there's going to be some different channels have some different layers and rules. Right. Every single social media post for the next 20 years doesn't need to say. And I specialize in. Right.
00:40:22:01 - 00:40:48:04
Unknown
But then indicate in the backgrounder what you know, whatever. But that's where you're starting. Let me actually opine on this for a second. You know, I, I have I like to, there are things that you say blatantly and then there are things that are themes that you let people pick out. Right? And so you don't, you know, if you this could be elements of, like, the way that your brand is put together.
00:40:48:10 - 00:41:20:12
Unknown
Right? You don't have to, like, hammer any everything directly. There could be things that are like, this is our broad theme, but we never say it like exactly that. This is this is how it is. Right? And and so like I would encourage people to think about like what is the unavoidable message that they will get, like being around your brand, but the you are never going to say directly, right, which is different from the things that are always going to be like, let's say you're doing, you know, text ads or something like that.
00:41:20:12 - 00:41:44:20
Unknown
It's always going to be in your ads because because it is absolutely central to your message. Yeah. And there's a lot that is better caught than taught. Right. So I think you asked me last time I was on can't remember what the question was, but my my answer was the two things that we want our brand associated with now, brands are a tricky word and I'm not going to go down the rabbit hole, but I would say expertise and fun, right?
00:41:44:20 - 00:42:11:00
Unknown
We're not saying to the world we're experts and we're fun, but those are the two. Those are the indirect things that we want association with. Right. So indirectly, we want to model that. We want people to catch that while we do the things that are direct, like talk about homes on land and neighborhoods. Right? While we model our expertise, instead of saying, we are experts, we're going to show our expertise.
00:42:11:06 - 00:42:37:10
Unknown
Instead of saying, we are fun, we're going to show our fun. But a messaging filter would be one of those action steps getting your area of specialization mentioned in reviews. That's one of those action items, right? Doing an audit of what does a stranger see if they Google me or Google the things I want to be found when people are googling, if they're Google doc about Waterfront Austin, that's not my name or my brand, but how do I get found?
00:42:37:10 - 00:42:53:14
Unknown
And then what do they see? Because they're not finding this one. They do that, but they're finding that about me when they do that. So what's there? So that's that audit process. And you can come back and do that every 30 days. And just your commitment is that we're going to get better and better and better every 30 days, every 30 days, every 30, every 30 days.
00:42:53:16 - 00:43:16:17
Unknown
These are action steps. Some of them are immediate. Like I changed my email signature in my banner on my website where I'm sending a bunch of paid traffic, and then others are subtle, indirect, over time, trust building, earn momentum, organic, whatever. And we could go on and on and on for hours. Like, to your point, what's direct, what's indirect, what's the primary messaging?
00:43:16:17 - 00:43:36:03
Unknown
What's some of that secondary matching. Is there tertiary messaging? What do I do for past clients? What do I do for active clients? What do I do for preferred ideal prospects and what do I do for the whole audience? The whole town? Different things, different budgets of time, energy and money. And this doesn't have to all be about marketing.
00:43:36:03 - 00:44:06:13
Unknown
Some of it is about your desire, your passion, your excitement. What are you already doing that you love doing? That's easy. That could help you build a specialized, specialized brand. So there's two questions that are basically they're of the same question, but just, framed in different aspects of the business, that I like to ask people, you know, and this is outside real estate as well, you know, where are you spending most of your time and effort to acquire your customers?
00:44:06:15 - 00:44:22:16
Unknown
Right. And so the sophisticated players will just, like, list off the list. Okay. I do, you know, this channel, this channel, this channel, this channel and the breakdown is XYZ. See, this is where we spend the money. This is where you spend the effort. This is the outputs of this. Great, you know same question you know. All right.
00:44:22:16 - 00:44:45:13
Unknown
Well where are you. Where are you spending the effort in your business like more as an operational question. Right. So like is it marketing, is it operations, is it, you know, whatever. Right. It's trying to try to get at like what the problems are. Right. So and I yeah. So I think the sophisticated people have answers to this and I team you up for for a question here, but maybe Todd I'll let you I'll let you react to this first, and then I'll ask my question.
00:44:45:15 - 00:45:05:00
Unknown
Yeah. I was just going to say in our coaching world, we we borrow from Michael Gerber in the e-myth all the time. And when you're working on your business as opposed to in it, these questions are critical because a lot of people think they're working on their business when they're not with a client, which is probably true in some ways.
00:45:05:02 - 00:45:23:00
Unknown
But until you can get out of it and see it through a different lens and see it from some distance, you may not be doing good work. You may not be doing productive work that's going to get you where you want to go. So I'll let you ask. Yes. Right. Sorry, this is just sparking another tangent here, which is like, you know, the big tech companies will talk about like, well, is this person a manager?
00:45:23:00 - 00:45:44:08
Unknown
Is this person that I see? And it's almost useful to think about yourself even as a sole proprietor that way. Like, am I doing this task as an individual contributor in my business where I am like turning the crank that is going to like crank out widgets? Or am I doing this other thing where it's like a management role that is going to make the ICS role more productive, right.
00:45:44:10 - 00:46:02:00
Unknown
And so you could think about it that way. And we we talk about it with hats again. So there's a lot of coaches that are good at how to get a listing. How do you buyers we do all that. The thing I think we're uniquely good at is strategy. And the core like is this a real business? Because you can go get learn how to get listings all the time, and you may not still have a business.
00:46:02:00 - 00:46:22:10
Unknown
And you could also have a great strategy and not hustle and not have a business. But the thing that I think we can be uniquely good at is building a strategy around the life you want to live, and making that business consistent and sustainable so you can have income and impact all that to say, the Gerber terminology is a manager, an entrepreneur and a technician.
00:46:22:12 - 00:46:42:11
Unknown
And you are if you if you have a small business, you're going to wear all of the hats at times. To your point, you're like my technician hat. I'm writing contracts, I'm prospecting, I'm setting appointments, I'm converting appointments, I'm negotiating. I'm being an agent technician. The manager is is anyone else helping me and how am I helping them help me?
00:46:42:12 - 00:47:00:02
Unknown
And then the entrepreneur is I think what you're talking about is where you back away and you're like, I need to be creative. I need to create a system, a process. I need to change that, fix that, put out that fire. But I'm not selling and I'm not managing people to lead to direct sales. Right now, I'm building strategy, I'm building brand.
00:47:00:06 - 00:47:17:12
Unknown
These are indirect down the road things. And I have to be able to detach, take that hat off to put this other one on. And we talk to people and train on how much time should you spend on each and what do you gifted at? Where do you need help? No two people are the same. We could do a whole episode on that, but it's different, right?
00:47:17:12 - 00:47:38:14
Unknown
So instead, I'll ask the question I've been teeing up for, which is like kind of another one of these, engagement hacking, rage bait questions, which is. So go down to the comments and leave your answer. Where are agents spending time, you know, in the context of this discussion, that is just an absolute waste. And they should, you know, repurpose it in part three.
00:47:38:15 - 00:48:04:12
Unknown
He continues now, okay. You know, we talked about some earlier, but just to give you new ones without having to revisit any of those, this is going to sound crazy. I think there's a lot of agents spending time learning stuff that they shouldn't even try to learn. Oh, there's a study in the MLS. They're studying all this inventory that they have no need to know about when they should be committed to learning stuff that will drive direct value to your clients or your team right now.
00:48:04:12 - 00:48:31:11
Unknown
Today you should be improving on your talents, your unique gifts, your abilities, where your company's different, where you could be better. Now that does not ignore the fact that you need a baseline aptitude on some things. So I'm not saying just be willing to be horrible at critical things, but I'm saying there are people that convince themselves they're being productive when they're sort of studying or doing work that could someday, maybe be helpful.
00:48:31:13 - 00:48:53:18
Unknown
And it's okay to say, I, I don't know anything about that. I have someone else for that. I refer that out. I, I help him for that. She helps me for this. That that is how real businesses work. Nobody's awesome at everything. And if you're spending a bunch of time trying to be awesome at things, you're instinctively not very good at, I think that is unwise.
00:48:53:20 - 00:49:12:14
Unknown
I think you're better off getting 1% better at the thing you're exceptional about, and being even more exceptional then trying to become really good at something you're not going to be really good at. Now. You have to be good enough at some things to meet standards and ethics and all those things. But after that, I think that's an area people waste a lot of time.
00:49:12:16 - 00:49:38:16
Unknown
Also people I also think people tell themselves they're prospecting when they do a bunch of research before a call that might not even get answered. So people to get four calls in because they never felt ready to make the call. You're killing yourself. You are wasting a lot of time. Critical information practice having something to say when they get on the phone to buy yourself time to access the information that you're now currently.
00:49:38:16 - 00:50:04:12
Unknown
A lot of people reading and studying before you make the call, you can make 20 times more calls, text, or emails. Get them on the phone, have a little script to add value while you're buying yourself. Time to pull up the unique information and then have it. Did that make sense or did I go too? Well, I think I think that's almost like the I like that because it's like a hyper tactical thing that, you know, we've been talking about all this like, you know, sort of big brain marketing stuff.
00:50:04:14 - 00:50:24:13
Unknown
But, you know, at the end of the day, you got to make the calls, right? And so if you're not doing that, then maybe you should reassess the way that you're allocating time. Is that maybe a good summary of what you just said? Yeah. I mean, don't do things you're not going to be good at period. And I know I'm not going to be a world class designer of anything.
00:50:24:15 - 00:50:44:21
Unknown
So if I'm trying to download Canva and figure out how to do fliers for my open hours, in the beginning you have to do some stuff, but as quickly as you can, even if it's not for money, it's a trade of expertise or I'll scratch your back. You scratch might find someone who's uniquely good at that, or better than that, or has a more aptitude, or has more time or energy or whatever.
00:50:44:23 - 00:51:01:08
Unknown
And don't do think. Don't try to get great at things you're not going to be great at. Don't try to do things you know it's not. You're never going to be world class. If I have to be in the back end of an ad campaign, I'm physically agitated. I know I should never be the one doing that. You lead teams of people that are world class at that.
00:51:01:08 - 00:51:20:13
Unknown
I should not even touch it. Yep. And you have to know that about yourself. People burn a lot of time thinking I'm supposed to be good at that. There's a lot of people managing their own PPC. It's one of the dumbest things they can be do. There's a lot of people just thinking about that, you know? It's like marketing world is like replete with those, those examples where we've been money.
00:51:20:13 - 00:51:38:05
Unknown
Yeah. No, you could have sold two more houses and paid somebody 600 bucks to do that. And I'm not saying everybody has $600 to throw around in the beginning. You might have to do some stuff, but as quickly as you can don't. And in the beginning, there's no cost. Things where you could have a teenager or a cousin or a friend or another agent in your office.
00:51:38:05 - 00:51:52:23
Unknown
Man, you're so good at that. I'm pretty good at this. What if I do that for you and you do that for me? And we both enjoy our work more and put out more value in the world. So that's a really. Yeah, I know, it's like, well, what do you call the difference between the value that someone receives versus the effort that you put in.
00:51:53:01 - 00:52:10:07
Unknown
Right. That that's like profit, right. And and everyone's happy to pay it. So yeah, there's just a lot of time spent on things that people think they're supposed to be doing, or it's okay just to be like, I'm no good at that. I have somebody that helps with that. Just as a as a like closing question. Right.
00:52:10:09 - 00:52:34:12
Unknown
How do you make sure that you're standing out for the right reasons? Yeah, I mean, there's there's two quick thoughts on that. Number one is constantly be guarding against standing out for the wrong reasons. Right. So be vigilant. Be aware. Audit mystery shop. You know, as owners, as entrepreneurs, as leaders, whether it's leading yourself or leading a team of 2 or 22, whatever part of that gig is to be the put out or of fires.
00:52:34:12 - 00:52:54:00
Unknown
Right. And so you're looking for fires. That's just part of it. Oh, that could go bad. Let's protect. Let's be careful. Let's be extra cautious. And then deliberately, willfully making sure that the thing that is out there, whether it's just word of mouth or actual marketing and branding or advertising, means you got to commit some time to it.
00:52:54:02 - 00:53:13:21
Unknown
You got to continuously grow or find people that are gifted at those things. And again, this is a quick question. Quick answer. But if you had that messaging filter, if you had a this is what we put out, this is what we don't put out. That becomes easier and you can delegate easier. You can get help easier, you can get virtual help.
00:53:13:21 - 00:53:32:14
Unknown
You can use Fiverr. Hey, here's our messaging filter. Could you help me with these things? All of a sudden, you don't have to be the only one all the time, and you can protect against being known for things you don't want to be known for, and build that momentum much faster, with much more energy, with much more success on things you do want to be known for.
00:53:32:16 - 00:53:55:07
Unknown
I want to make sure people get actionable takeaways. So one of the thing people are killing themselves doing and that would help if they were more specialized, is, I call it seeding the source ground. The people that you have promised, directly or indirectly, that I will be your source of real estate expertise and you let them go get real estate expertise from inferior sources.
00:53:55:09 - 00:54:22:15
Unknown
That is a mistake people are making. If your clients get their best real estate info from Zillow, you have given up that ground of being the primary source of real estate expertise for them in your marketplace, and you should be way better than Zillow in your marketplace. Okay, if they're reading the local newspaper, our local newspaper is absolutely terrible at helping people with anything they're good at getting eyeballs.
00:54:22:17 - 00:54:50:19
Unknown
They're terrible. I have a newspaper, Dallas Morning News, Fort worth Star-Telegram. Dallas is worse than Fort Worth at this, but they're both really bad. And it's because it's not their job to advocate for homeowners is their job to get people to read or click or listen, review or whatever. My point is, if you are not actively being protective, that you should be the most authoritative guide, advocate, leader, protector of your clients and your sphere, that's a mistake you're making in real estate.
00:54:50:21 - 00:55:10:14
Unknown
You don't have to have a beautiful newsletter. You don't have to have print and digital and audio and video and all that. But if these are people that trust you for real estate expertise, you should be offended if they're going to anyone else for expertise or anyone over you or anyone before you. Okay, the other one really quickly is wasting your expertise.
00:55:10:16 - 00:55:38:08
Unknown
So when you are really great at property valuation, local trends, whatever, but you're not putting that out there. You're not sharing that, you're not getting that to your ideal prospects or your clients or your vendor partners. And you are not using your natural ability, your giftedness, the thing you're great at, you're not using it enough, then you're also harming yourself, harming the growth of your business, harming your ability to deliver value and love and and joy.
00:55:38:13 - 00:55:59:10
Unknown
Who feels great when you're doing something you're awesome at pretty much all of us. So when you're under utilizing that expertise because you're doing all the busywork, well, you're not an expert that doesn't drive value. That's not fun. It doesn't make money. That doesn't create impact. Those are other two other quick ways that you are actually things agents do to hurt their own businesses.
00:55:59:12 - 00:56:18:11
Unknown
I hope that was clear. Yeah, I think so. Send us home, Todd. Give us give us the final, you know, third or fourth, you know, real growth summit plug here and tell people where they can find it. Yeah. If you want to have a sustainable, profitable business in real estate in 2035, you've got to be a part of more of these conversations in 2025.
00:56:18:12 - 00:56:36:20
Unknown
You gotta listen to this podcast. Watch this podcast. You got to come to the Real Growth Summit on September 15th and 16th. Real Growth summit.com. If we still have tickets left, by the time you're hearing this, there's going to be a paragraph or a blog or a link somewhere near where you're watching or listening that you might be able to get a discounted ticket.
00:56:36:20 - 00:56:52:07
Unknown
But if you're lucky, you'll be able to get a ticket at all. Get in the room. Come to the welcome party September 14th that evening, 4 to 6 p.m.. Check in register. Get your stuff, get a drink. Get an order. Serve. Meet some people that you're going to run with for the next two days. All day the 15th and all day the 16th.
00:56:52:09 - 00:57:11:18
Unknown
Cocktail parties, lunches, dinners together. Lots to learn. Connect with real gigs. Connect with people in your same career, stage or role. Talk to people who have been where you want to be and help people who want to be where you are. It's an incredible community. It's the most generous group of real estate professionals on the planet.
00:57:12:00 - 00:57:31:06
Unknown
We will have people there for the seventh year in a row. Lots of fifth and sixth Real Geeks has been there for it'll be their seventh. And then go seek out other expertise. If you have expertise to offer, offer it to others and build that reciprocity in the world. Awesome. This has been excellent everyone. Thanks for listening.
00:57:31:07 - 00:57:43:14
Unknown
As for real estate, I've already invited you to be part of the conversation. You know you know what to do. You know, Todd, always great talking to you, Sean. Thanks for doing your thing. We're out. Thanks, fellas.