The election is next week. Who knows what's going to happen. It is an uncontrollable. You have to focus on the process and disassociate from the uncontrollables. Focus on what you can control and the process, not the uncontrollables and the outcome. On our team, we use levers to take control of our business. Levers are specific action items we focus on - things like open houses, making calls, or regular newsletters. Levers encourage you to be proactive instead of reactive. How do you know what levers to focus on? Start by looking at what you're good at. Where do most of your deals come from? Pick 3 levers and go deep on those. Don't spread yourself too thin. If you're a new agent, your goal should be to have as many conversations as possible. Start out wide and then narrow down and go deep on a few levers after you've built your skills. You'll learn a lot along the way and figure out where your strengths are and what you're passionate at. Get on the phone. Doorknock. Hold open houses. Work works. Get after it.

It sounds obvious but everyone is different. Everyone is motivated by different things and has different habits. For example, Sarah loves finding shows on Netflix that have a lot of seasons. It gets her excited that she'll have something to watch for awhile. Versus Mark, who finds shows like that daunting. He won't watch anything with a lot of seasons. If you're in a position of leadership, these kind of fundamental differences are absolutely critical to understand. Your approach with each of your team members has to be different. You have to meet people where they're at: to understand them, to motivate them, and to ultimately help them to set and achieve their goals.

Last week, Mark and Sarah did one-on-one check-ins with all 26 agents on our team. One of the biggest takeaways? Sometimes people just want to be heard. They aren't always looking for solutions, just for someone to listen. It can be challenging sometimes to meet people where they're at. Everyone has a different background, different wants, and different needs. This also goes back to getting out of judgment and into curiosity. It's okay to ask a fellow agent, friend, or family member: are you looking for my listening ear or a solution? Your relationships will change when you ask that critical question.

➡️ At the time of recording it was September, which you may or not know is Realtor Safety Month. It’s easy to see something in the news or hear about it and just think: that would never happen to me. But in an industry like real estate, you can never be too careful.  ➡️ Back when Sarah worked in car sales, she wanted to sell a mustang to a gentleman quickly. She was distracted and hungry. The client wanted to test drive the mustang. She photocopied his license and hopped in the car with no hesitation. Very quickly she realized the situation was out of her control. The client said he wasn’t taking her back to the dealership and wouldn’t drive the normal test drive route. Sarah was fortunately able to convince the man to take her back and they changed protocols going forward for test driving.  ➡️ If you’re a realtor, situations can easily get out of control when you’re in a house with a stranger with no one else around. Safety conversations are critical for you to have with your fellow realtors, your broker, and your spouse.  ➡️ Our team utilizes Forewarn and cross references prospective client’s criminal records and other public information. Your safety should never be put at risk for the sake of making a sale.  ➡️ Be aware of your surroundings and listen to your gut.

Imperfect consistency will outperform perfect inconsistency every time. If you follow Mark on social media, you know he puts out regular reels on social media. They aren’t perfect, but they add consistent value. He posts 2 every week. He recently got 2 leads from those imperfect videos: a $1.7 million seller and $300,000 buyer. Sarah posts a reel every Friday afternoon. She was recently told by someone that she needs to hire someone to help her because of the low quality of the videos. But for Sarah, her priority is to get her message out there and consistently post every single Friday. And it’s working for her…she’s been posting every Friday for over 2 years. She’s building traction because people value what she says and people expect her videos every week. Perfection is not her goal, but rather imperfect consistency. From an agent perspective, committing to something like social media reels has more of an impact than you might think. Unexpected people are paying attention. When that random middle school classmate you’re friends on facebook with is ready to buy a home, they’re going to think of you first. You will be top of mind. Your followers will already know you, like you, and trust you and that’s half the battle.

How do you gain confidence in the luxury market? You have to preview, preview, preview. Locally, it can also be beneficial to read St. Louis Business Journal, Town & Style, and Ladue News. You may not like the periodicals, but you'll know about charity events, recent business acquisitions, and the like. The more reference points you have in the business environment and local happenings, the more likely you'll be able to connect to a luxury prospective seller. You should also do your homework on your prospective clients. Look them up on LinkedIn. What business are they in? What can you learn from their email address? If you can't find common ground before the appointment, pay attention when you get to the home. If you notice a bike in the garage or a bike rack on their car, ask about that. Mark and Neil used to cycle and it's an easy conversation to share common ground. It's also very important to personalize luxury listing presentations. It won't be as impactful if it's a canned or one-size-fits-all presentation. Make the presentation about them. Answer their questions and engage them. You have to be a chameleon. If you get caught up in your planned presentation, you'll put them off by saying "I'll cover that later." Spend time on what their concerns are and don't be dismissive. At the end of the day, knowledge gives you credibility and confidence. Don't lose sight of that.

➡️ Special guest today! Neil, Mark's brother and real estate partner, joins Mark and Sarah this week to discuss luxury listings, specifically working with luxury sellers and preparing for sale. ➡️ About 2 decades ago, Neil started like all real estate agents do: buying and selling at every price point. Early on you have to go wide so you can learn areas and grow as an agent. But over time, the ultimate goal is to naturally specialize in an area. Neil specializes in the area around where he lives, but you don't have to do that as an agent. You can choose your target area and focus your business accordingly. ➡️ At face value, there isn't a big difference between a luxury seller and a non-luxury seller. However, often luxury sellers are repeat sellers. They've had multiple transactions. While that adds to their knowledge of the process, it can also complicate things. Luxury sellers often have higher expectations and require more time. Luxury homes are also often one-of-a-kind homes, so your approach to prep for sale and marketing is different for every home. You have to be a chameleon. ➡️ On the front end, this all requires a tailored prelist appointment script. A canned script isn't going to get you the listing. Have the mindset that you're not going in as a salesperson, but as a consultant. ➡️ You have to understand what their motivation is for selling, which is critical regardless of price point. Are they moving for family, for their health, financial reasons, downsizing, etc. And no matter what that reason is, you have to meet them with empathy. ➡️ If you're an agent looking to tap into the luxury market, what gives you credibility is your knowledge. You have to be the expert and be able to illustrate you're the expert. This also gives you confidence. ➡️ An important aspect in the prelist appointment is to also make sure you're taking time to listen and not just talk. At the end, ask: Is there anything that came up today that would prevent you from working with me to sell your home? That kind of open question probably wasn't asked by a competing agent and gives them a chance to voice any concerns.

It's absolutely critical for agents to get in front of objections and avoid having to be reactive. Many issues that come up in the home buying or selling process often have foreshadowing clues in earlier conversations or situations with clients. Deal with those potential issues or doubts early on and maybe you'll be able to prevent a mutual release or your client feeling uncomfortable about a situation. A good example is with inspections. Sometimes buyers, especially first-time home buyers, panic when they get a 100-page document showing everything wrong with the house they're about to spend a lot of money on. You can start to reassure them before they even make an offer by saying things like: "This house is a wonderful fit for you, but keep in mind that it is 100 years old and there will be some things that come up in inspections. No house is perfect, but rest assured, I've sold older homes before and most likely it's not going to be anything we can't handle." Get in front of it. Set expectations.

Follow the breadcrumbs. If you're an agent, you're probably utilizing a CRM. Your leads will leave you clues in their activity, searches, and even just in their email address. Don't miss that opportunity to dig deeper. Maybe their email is an edu, so you know they work in education. Or maybe their email indicates they work in the medical field. Look for those clues. They can give you insight. A lot of times, the lead is showing you what they want with their activity. You can see their general price point, locations, school districts, and anything they prioritize in their searches. You just need to be paying attention. Ask questions about what you discover, and you can form a deeper connection faster and ultimately convert the lead into a client.

National headline: "Record Number of Home Deals Collapse in July." We've seen this as well in our business. You never want to use the down market as an excuse to be down in business, but in some ways, it is reassuring to know that we're not the only ones seeing a record number of mutual releases. When we started seeing this trend earlier this spring it was because of how quickly the market was moving. Buyers were having to make quick decisions to successfully get under contract, and then they were walking away later. Today, it seems like people are questioning the state of the market. Interest rates are still high (although they have come down recently) and there is a degree of uncertainty with the upcoming election. You, as the agent, are an intermediary and facilitator. This isn't about what you would do personally. Ultimately the buyer and seller have the same goal and want the sale to go through. Listen and understand what both sides need to get to the closing table and take your emotions out of it. "Tell me more" vs. "you should do this."

People don't care about what you say until they know that you care. People also remember how you made them feel long after they've forgotten what you said. You have to keep this in mind when interacting with clients, other agents, friends, family, or anyone in your life. Maybe you thought you made a great buyer presentation. But even if you said all the right things, it doesn't matter if you didn't make them feel valued and heard. The worst question a buyer can ask their agent is: are you working for me or the seller? Conversely, the worst question a seller can ask their agent is: are you working for me or the buyer? Those questions illustrate that they don't trust you as their agent or think you care. Some of this nuance comes from how you handle questions and objections. If you listen to your clients with your response in mind before they're even done talking, you're not actively listening to understand and meet them on their level. Don't be so anxious to respond that you don't even listen. Sometimes people just need to be heard. You don't have to have all the answers for them. They need you to be in their corner. You have to learn to tell the difference. It's not about what you need, it's what they need.

There is a disconnect between what buyers think their agent does for them and what the agent actually does. Sarah recently saw an interesting statistic: buyers think it takes an average of 15 hours for their agent to find them their home. However, in actuality, it takes more like 80-100 hours for an agent to find their home. Mark argues that a great agent actually takes even more time than that. Part of this disconnect could come from the fact that a lot of what an agent does is make things easier and more streamlined for their client and agents don't always do a good job of clearly articulating what they're working on behind the scenes. Most of their job is behind the scenes. Even if you're just looking at showing time, 15 hours would accumulate pretty quick. If the agent shows a client 10 homes, you've probably already exceeded 15 hours in just face time. What does it take to prepare for a showing? Good agents will preview homes and neighborhoods so they're familiar with the area, what else is for sale, amenities, schools, parks, traffic, etc. Comps also need to be pulled on recent sales and based on that, a determination on if the home(s) are priced adequately. Many buyer agents will call the listing agent to see how motivated the seller is or if there are inclusions/exclusions. For those 15 hours of face time looking at 10 homes there is at least an equal value (probably more) time on the back end in preparation. This puts us at 40 hours minimum just in early conversations with the buyer, a strategy session, and 10 showings BEFORE writing contracts, negotiating, inspections, resolutions, walk-throughs, and closing. Agents, you have to be louder and voice what you're doing for your client. You have to show them that you're in their corner looking for that perfect home. We've talked about having your value proposition dialed in to secure a client, but you have to communicate your value throughout the process.

You may have heard...but things have changed in real estate recently. A Buyer Agency must now be signed before an agent can show a prospective buyer a home. Some agents have always done this, but others have wanted to establish a relationship before formal agreements. Now, the Buyer Agency is required whether you show them one home, or three, or twenty. A positive of this change: there is now a defined relationship starting on day one. You know now that the client is committed to working with you upfront and vice versa, your client has decided to work with you because you've articulated your value and they know what to expect. You, as the agent, now have a concrete value assigned to your services, whether that's paid by the buyer or seller. There is transparency up front. But how do you actually articulate your value to a prospective client? One of our agents Noah has a great tactic. He finds out the buyer's criteria on the phone before he has a buyer consultation with them in person. He then looks through our exclusives database (withheld listings through our brokerage) to identify properties that may work for the buyer that haven't hit the market yet. Last week, he actually found the perfect home for a prospective buyer that checked all the boxes. In his appointment, he's able to tell the client that by signing the buyer agency, the client would have access to view that home and make an offer before it becomes public on the market. He's not just telling people that he can find exclusive listings, he's proving his worth with tangible evidence up front. There is a direct correlation between your compensation and your contributions to the buyer-agent relationship. In the absence of value, you can only compete on price. If you want to show that you're worth a higher commission, then you have to show how you compete with value. It's true that it's more work to add more value, but your return on investment is so much greater.

Picture this: you're at a restaurant on a Saturday night. It's busy...there's a band and every table is full. You put in your food order and the food just doesn't come. However, your waiter addresses the issue head-on and provides an explanation, an apology, and a coupon for your next visit. He didn't skirt the issue, avoid you, and allow you to become progressively more frustrated. A negative situation became a positive one because of how that waiter handled it. His professionalism was memorable. The way you communicate matters. Every word matters and how you tackle situations. You can't be afraid to pick up the phone and make that call. The saying goes "Go the extra mile," but sometimes what you need to do to stand out, have a huge impact, or save a client relationship, isn't that much more. Just go the extra hundred yards. Be honest and upfront, and tackle things head-on.

In the standard contract in Missouri, the seller is responsible for getting occupancy inspections done. But, the seller is not necessarily required to make all the necessary changes and updates to the home that were flagged on inspection. If the seller doesn't want to handle repairs, they have to tell the buyer within the allotted time frame, which becomes a point of negotiation with the buyer. However, if the seller does not notify the buyers within that timeframe, then the seller must provide free and clear occupancy. You can protect your buyer by writing in the special agreements: "Seller to provide clear occupancy." From the sell side, you have to prepare your seller for what this could mean. If permits weren't closed out from 3 owners ago, they'll have to close those out. If anything fails inspection, they'll have to fix it. It all goes back to the contract and giving your buyer or seller confidence in what they're up against. The worst situation you can be in as an agent, is when your clients ask you "Why didn't you tell me about that?"

About a month ago, our team started using FUB (Follow Up Boss). It's a CRM (Client Relationship Manager). If you remember, we did an episode cautioning against getting distracted by shiny objects a few months back. We already utilize Sierra as a CRM, so how does FUB not fall into the trap of shiny objects? You shouldn't make changes just for the sake of making changes. There's something to be said about being a creature of habit, especially if what you're doing is working for you. But you also have to consistently raise the bar. As we've talked about, when you're making a decision you have to ask yourself 3 questions: what's the upside, what's the downside, and can I live with the downside? We've been successful using Sierra, but we were missing metrics and data. It was ultimately hard to hold agents to specific standards because we couldn't actually track all the data we needed. Ultimately, we determined this was an absolute must for us, so we decided the transition to FUB was necessary. Something to keep in mind. Make a change before it's needed. If you wait until change is needed, then you're already behind. Be vigilant in your business and what you need to do to keep up with the market or whatever industry you work in.

Mark has been investing in real estate for many years and he hosts an investment meeting every Friday for our team. Investing in real estate is a no-brainer as a long-term investment. It's also something tangible that you can be involved with regularly. Sure, some people own stocks that they manage themselves. But with real estate, you can physically drive by your investment to check on things or work on it. For Sarah, she has very specific goals for her real estate investments. She wants to own an investment property for each child. 3 kids = 3 properties. The financial gains from these properties can go towards their college funds or other. Their kids can be involved in those properties and they mean something. Mark has been on the hunt for a commercial space for a year and a half. He's been looking for something very specific to serve as both our new team headquarters but to also be a second location for his co-working business with rentable office space. He was under contract twice before finding the perfect fit. He was patient and didn't rush the process. But where do you get started? Today, Mark goes for what he describes as Class A properties. He's looking for premium properties in premiere locations. But he started with Class C properties in less desirable areas. You need to cut your teeth on Class C, so you can learn along the way and have less skin in the game. Build your way up. Mistakes that you make on Class C will cost you less than they would on Class A. You also have to train yourself to run your investments on the numbers. You have to be able to remove the emotional side of things. Even if you are emotionally attracted to a property, you shouldn't purchase it if the numbers just don't work. Run the numbers of purchase price, renovation cost, tenant figures, etc. Be disciplined and stick to your plan.

Our team has been taking field trips on Wednesdays to areas some of our agents may not know. Our first trip was to a particular area that still has affordable homes available for under $200,000. It is the perfect target area for a first-time homebuyer. The same can probably be said for agents all across the US. If you're an agent, there are probably sections of your city you don't know as well. But you should. Preview and get to know as many areas as you can. To relate it to another industry, we've talked about how Sarah used to sell cars. She specialized in Ford cars, but if she had clients that were interested in or were good candidates for pre-owned cars, then she had to still be knowledgeable about other car brands. She provided more value to her clients by knowing beyond her traditional scope. Back to real estate. Neil, Mark's brother and business partner, recently went on a luxury listing appointment with another team agent. Neil was able to tell the prospective client about not only every luxury home Neil himself has sold, but all the luxury homes that have sold recently in that area, and also all the luxury homes that are still sitting on the market. He was able to show proven market knowledge to that prospective client and ultimately procured the listing. The takeaway for our team agent that joined on the appointment...? Nothing replaces market knowledge.

Ultimately, you control your own life, your own business, and your own time. There are a lot of tools out there and guidelines you can follow to achieve your goals or solve problems. But at the end of the day, you have to decide what will be best for you and your family and then do it. You have to ultimately make that decision and commit. Here's a real-world example. Every year during the first week of the summer, Sarah's girls have dance recitals. It's an insane week every single year. Lots of running around, commitments in the middle of the day, long days, and things can be unpredictable. Instead of trying to force all those commitments, feeling like she has to make the first week of summer fun, AND staying on top of her responsibilities as Chief Growth Officer, the best way forward for her and her family is actually to take that week off from work every year. That week just needs to be re-prioritized and it's not a reflection of her abilities professionally or personally, it's just the decision she needs to make for herself and her family. At some point, your success or lack of success is down to what decisions you make or don't make for yourself. Be critical of what needs to happen and what works for you.

How do you process and retain information? How do you keep things top of mind? Sarah learned along the way that if she transcribes what she’s hearing she has a better opportunity to remember it. She’s used it now for years and has volumes of notebooks to refer back to with so many ideas etc . She has notebooks that she can reference back on what the thoughts were when creating team training programs, Google contests, one on ones, agent goals, etc. but the coolest part is that it serves as a constant reminder of where we’ve been and ultimately how it led to where we are. Now you will never see her without a notebook.

When Mark was a teenager, his first job was actually his own start-up business doing car care and detailing. He would leave flyers on the windshield of any fancy car he saw and over time, he developed a loyal customer base. He'd wash their car every week and even go so far as to clean between all the spokes on the wheels with a toothbrush. He was so successful that he even employed a friend to keep the business going while he was away at college. What did all this teach him? Always use the toothbrush. Get gritty, get after it, and just hustle.

"Why?" is a conversation stopper. Instead, use "Tell me more." That's a conversation starter. Both are prompts to try to get more information from the other person, but "tell me more" relays more interest in what they're saying. It can also come across as less judgmental. Acknowledge, ask. Acknowledge, ask. Here's an example. Someone says they're going to Six Flags for the weekend and you respond with "why?" That implies that maybe you don't like Six Flags or it's a waste of time, or whatever the case may be. Instead, acknowledge and ask. "Oh, I haven't been there since I was a kid! What is your favorite ride?" See the difference?

When a new lead comes in, look for clues first. What's their email address? You can learn where they work, if they're an educator, a hobby of theirs, a dog or cat lover. It is surprising sometimes what you can learn just from their email address. Follow the breadcrumbs. If you can see their search history, are they only looking in a specific zip code? What other common factors? There is so much you can learn before even making contact with a new lead. If you've done your homework on the front end, use your newfound knowledge in your first conversation with that lead. Show them you were paying attention. Ask them about their job in the medical field if you notice their email is from a local hospital. Ask them about their dog if their email is "doglover etc." Ask them what they like about a certain area if they're searching in one or two zip codes. It's important to remember though to ask, acknowledge, ask, acknowledge. You don't want your conversation to be more like an interrogation. We hear all the time that agents just want more leads. You don't need more leads. You need more conversions. You need more meaningful conversations.

Let's dive deeper into the Mel Robbins 5-second rule. If you have an impulse to do something, you have 5 seconds to act on that impulse or your brain will kill that drive. It all starts with getting out of bed in the morning. We've all been there...your alarm goes off and you just don't want to get out of bed. You hit the snooze button and before you know it you've hit the snooze button 3, 4, 5 more times. If you had just gotten up at the first alarm, you'd have kickstarted your day. For Mark, he knows that if he doesn't work out in the morning before anything else, then it likely won't happen. Not because he doesn't want it to happen, but because things come up. He prioritizes working out first thing and then takes care of the rest of the day. It's the same principle as the 5-second rule. There are definitely days when he doesn't feel like getting up before sunrise to go to hot yoga. It's part of his routine now. Flipping this around a little bit, that 5-second rule can be applied to other aspects of your life. If you're angry or frustrated while conversing with a loved one, colleague, or maybe the opposite agent, take 5 seconds before you respond. Give yourself that time to digest and cool down.

If you have a goal, start small and just do it. You have to start somewhere. If someone had said 2 years ago that we'd someday have recorded over 70 podcasts, we would have thought you were crazy. And yet here we are. You just have to start and be consistent. Even if you're taking small steps, they build up over time. If we relate it to social media: imagine you're posting reels all the time. 2-3 a week, but none of them have gone viral yet. Most are getting between 150 and 250 views. That's okay! You know why? Because those 150 people that are watching are just as important. Just keep after it and you'll find your audience.

If you're an agent and you're feeling insecure or uncertain about the future given the NAR settlement, what are you doing to prepare? Start by asking yourself: what is your favorite part of this career? What do you love doing? Then prioritize that activity. For Sarah, she loved previewing. Consistent previewing brought consistent results. She was finding houses that worked for her buyers that they had written off for various reasons. She was gaining market knowledge. She was gaining more clients by just having her feet on the ground and meeting neighbors or other people at showings. If you're presenting yourself as an expert, but you've never been to the house, or the neighborhood, or the area...then not only are you doing the client a disservice but also yourself. There's not enough inventory right now for you to not be able to preview the homes in your target area. Action begets action. It's not luck when you successfully sell a house. It's preparation and knowledge. You did what you needed to do to find that home that fit for your buyer and you got the deal done. Also keep in mind that you need to be versatile. Cast a wider net. It's important to specialize and become an expert in your area. But in this market and with low inventory, do you really want to turn down business? You have to go where the homes are and where buyers are looking. Start where you know, but then branch out. Preview, doorknock, converse with other agents. There are unknowns in the real estate world right now. You can't control that, but you can control your activity.

Sarah's two oldest children are very active in sports and she's noticed some common traits of good coaches: they instill confidence, they hold you accountable, and repetition. Coaches see our potential and push us to reach the highest level. Just like in real estate, there is no magic button that will get you to your goals. You have to practice and go through all the steps to gain the skills to get there. If you're a coach or a leader in real estate or in your life, be careful not to overthink things. You might think you need to always be looking for that next best thing or the newest technology. But really, those same three key aspects are all you need: instill confidence, accountability, and repetition.

"The biggest communication problem is that we don't listen to understand. We listen to reply." - Steven Covey Remember: conversations are a gift. They're a chance to learn about the other person. When you interrupt someone you're not only derailing their train of thought, but you're also proving that you're just listening to reply not understand. One of our agents recently said that some of the biggest problems he's experienced in the business have happened when someone is listening to defend. It's even more critical when you're at odds with another agent, your client, or anyone in your life, and you're listening to defend not listening to understand. Ultimately, you want everyone to win at the end of the day. All of these podcasts connect. Take a moment, listen to understand, have an abundance mentality, and things will work out the way they're meant to.

Communication is about balance. Look at your own relationships. If you're an overcommunicator or external person, maybe you haven't had the best relationships with people who are the same way. (Unless you feed off of conflict, which is a whole other conversation.) In general though, external communicators are balanced by internal people. It's a give-and-take. You have control over what relationships you have in your personal life, but we don't have that luxury with professional relationships. If you've been an agent for even a short amount of time, you've probably had a call with another agent where they said something along the lines of "I've been doing this for 35 years..." This can feel belittling and it can be tempting to be combative back. But stop living in assumptions. Maybe they aren't trying to be belittling. Maybe they want to assure you that they have the expertise to get you through whatever you're working through together. The same goes for your relationships with clients. Instead of getting annoyed with a client who is hyper-fixated on evaluating every foundation and basement for waterproofing. Maybe find out where it's coming from. Did they have flooding issues in their previous home? Get out of judgment and into curiosity. We're all human and in general, we're all a little too quick to judge. As we said last week: pause and take a moment before you react.

Sometimes we lead with our ego and jump to conclusions. Pause and think from the other person's perspective first before reacting. Are they stressed? Are they afraid? Where is their opinion coming from? At the end of the day, you want to help your buyers find a home and you want your sellers to help them sell their home. Keep the ultimate goal in mind when you're working with your clients and also when you're working with the opposite agent. They also want the transaction to succeed. It's rare for a transaction to go through without some kind of hiccup, whether it's big or small. It takes a lot of self-awareness and introspection to step outside of your own feelings and react objectively. Your client relies on you to represent them and their interests in your conversations with other agents. Somethings things get lost in translation but they can also get lost in emotion, if you aren't taking constant inventory of the situation. Take a moment and evaluate before reacting.

Respect your time and worth. If you say yes to something, then you're saying no to something else. Don't forget that a buyer or prelist consultation is not just about convincing them you're the right agent for them. You're also interviewing them to make sure they're the right client for you. Do you want to work with a seller who has unrealistic expectations on the price of their home? Do you want to work with a buyer who is looking in an area very far from where you live? Is that person going to be a client that will listen to your advice or be difficult? If you're going to commit your time then you need a commitment in return. Get all up in their business and ask those difficult questions so you know exactly what their goals are and what they expect.

The NAR settlement has been a hot topic in real estate. There is still a lot of uncertainty and unknowns. 90+ brokerages still haven't settled. Growth happens outside of your comfort zone. When there is uncertainty, there are 3 options: fight, flight, or freeze. This directly translates to how people in the real estate community are reacting to the recent news. Mark predicts that current high performers are going to excel. Middle performers will either rise to the occasion and fight or they'll flight. Underperformers or newer agents are more prone to freeze or flight. The ultimate goal of the lawsuit is to decouple the commissions. Sellers have always paid commissions to the buyer agent. These have always been negotiable. In many markets, you can already pay out zero. This has eliminated the MLS marketing of buyer commissions. In other words, listings will no longer include what the buyer agent will receive in commission for finding a buyer for that home. This doesn't mean that sellers won't still be paying a buyer's agent commission or through concessions. It just means that the amount won't be advertised. Requiring a buyer commitment shouldn't affect your business. You should be doing that anyway. You can't list a home without listing paperwork, so why would a buyer be any different? All you're doing is solidifying that relationship. There is consistent noise out there on the effects of the NAR settlement. Don't make a decision on your worst day. Do your research. Absorb everything you have heard and then take a look at your business and maybe how that needs to change. Align yourself with an expert that can help you keep perspective. Real estate will go on. You have to ask yourself if you're going to participate or get out? Can you improve your skills and up your game? Here is the good news: the sun will rise and set regardless. What we choose to do with the light is our decision. It's up to us. Journey wisely.

Picture this: your buyers are in their car on a winding road with their dream home at the end. You as their prospective agent, aren't in the car with them. You're actually in the grass off the road completely. They haven't yet chosen their agent and they don't know how long their journey on the road will be. How do you get from the grass to in the car with them as their copilot? Don't think about follow-up as just follow-up. Think of it as your strategy to get in the car with them on their home journey. As their copilot, you'll need to be prepared to guide them around obstacles along the way to get them to their final destination. Keep in mind, that not everyone wants to take the fastest route to their destination. Think about your own travel. Do you take the route with the least traffic? No tolls? The most scenic? Or simply the fastest? The same transfers over to a buyer or seller's journey. You have to understand what they want their journey to look like to be able to effectively get them to their desired destination. Don't just take them down the route you would take. The journey is not about you.

You've heard that growth happens outside of your comfort zone. There is nothing wrong with being in your comfort zone...unless you have goals and aspirations. Part of our growth strategy is if you're standing still, then you're moving backward. If you do the same activities you did last year, then you haven't adjusted to how the market has changed. The market is not a static thing. It is dynamic and you have to be as well. Get comfortable being uncomfortable and don't let others around you dictate your goals and behavior. Set your own standards for success and don't hold back. Your goals have nothing to do with someone else's goals and standards. Not everyone will be happy when you succeed, especially if they haven't been able to get out of their comfort zone and achieve their own success. At the same time, you can't always be outside of your comfort zone. It's important sometimes to take a moment and reflect or catch your breath. Appreciate how far you've come and take time to smell the roses. This is critical or you'll get burnt out. In general, you'll be on an upward trajectory but there will be dips and downward moments. If you haven't taken the time to appreciate your journey, those dips will feel like much larger setbacks than they actually are. Keep your perspective.

We each have a finite amount of energy and that may look different from person to person. Throughout your day or week, your energy depletes. What things in your life deplete your energy the most and the fastest? How are you replenishing that lost energy? As agents, we talk to a lot of people all day. That can be exhausting and run through your body's battery quickly. Are you balancing your schedule between depleting and replenishing activities? For Sarah, giving her energy actually helps her rejuvenate. When she helps someone or gives them insight, it motivates her and pushes her forward. If you think about it in a more literal way: some people fill your cup and some people drain your cup. Be cognizant of that and pay special attention to those people or activities that fill your cup. As leaders and as agents, you're constantly filling someone else's cup. Whether it's through giving your time or your knowledge, and that balance is critical.

There is no easy button, magic pill, or lucky horseshoe that will give you automatic success in real estate. If you magically sold 5 houses in a day without having to put in the work, then you'd never gain the skills to continue building on that success. You would have no foundation. The journey is just as important if not more important than the success sometimes. It takes work to create the habits of success. It's like winning the lottery. Few people who win the lottery end up happy and successful. They don't know what to do with the money and it's often mismanaged. Many actually go bankrupt because they don't have the foundation. Part of your growth in real estate is in failing forward. You learn from mistakes. You learn from trail and error. Sometimes the hardest lessons are actually when you learn the most.

You've heard the grass is always greener on the other side. Think about it in a different way though: the grass is greener where you fertilize. Water your own grass. Don't always be looking over the fence at your neighbor's yard. Your business is different from other agents you're competing with. It's even different from other agents on the same team. From the outside, sure maybe it seems like someone else has an easier time than you. But you don't know the behind-the-scenes and you don't know what it took for them to get there. Also, keep in mind that social media does not equal reality. You know the facts of your own life. Your challenges and your goals. Everything worth achieving takes work. It's the same with relationships. Marriage takes work but in the long run there's more highs than lows. Put in the work and fertilize your grass.

The difference between a good, a mediocre, and a terrible lead follow-upper will show in one place: your number of closings. Think of leads in 2 different ways: a warm lead vs. a cold lead. A warm lead is someone you met face to face or belly to belly / ear to ear. If you meet a lead at an open house, then you're more likely to dazzle them since it was in person. It's a stronger start to building a relationship with them. A cold lead is a connection via text, email, call or any avenue that isn't in person. It's hard to make that personal connection when you're not face-to-face. To have a high conversion rate on cold leads, you have to have your follow-up dialed in. Pro tip: as soon as you get a lead, follow up immediately in the same platform. If they submit an inquiry on Zillow and you get an email, then email them back. If you follow up to an email lead with a phone call, you may not be as likely to reach them immediately. If they don't answer, then try another platform and stick to whatever form they respond to the most.

If you're not tracking your metrics, then you're missing the boat. There is an emotional and analytical component to why metrics are important. For example, every Friday Sarah posts an agent advice video on her social media. It's a short 2-minute video on a specific topic with a full-text description. This text then goes directly into an email that goes out to about 2,000 local real estate agents first thing Monday morning as a kickstart to the week. Sarah doesn't always have a lot of responses to her videos on Facebook. If she was just paying attention to that, she may have lost her steam. But by also looking at the email metrics, she can clearly see that the email has consistently high open rates every week. She also hears from people in person about her videos. These metrics motivate her even more to keep producing these videos and getting her message out there. Numbers don't lie. Track your metrics for all your activity so you know where your time is well spent and the impact you're having. Auditing your time will also show you where you're wasting time and when you're most productive.

First off, if you are an agent and don't have a social media presence then you're missing out. What is your voice? What unique perspective can you provide? Be yourself and loosen up. We get in our own way sometimes and think we need to present ourselves in a specific way. You might think you're coming across as professional, but people are actually perceiving you as stiff and unrelatable. Just keep it organic. One of Mark's most successful reels to date was him being funny and almost making fun of himself. It was relatable and fun, and that's why it resonated with people. If you don't know where to start, start with a market update. People want to know what's going on in their area. There is huge value there and you already know the content. Just relax and talk about what you already know. It's easy to tell the difference between people who are doing what they're passionate about and people who are just going through the motions or copying something they've seen someone else do. You want to strive for content that is more compelling and organic. Bottom line: be you, find your rhythm, find your identity, be consistent.

Follow-up is not one size fits all. Agents that are the most successful at follow-up don't get frustrated. They mix it up, make it a game, and keep it exciting and fresh. There are 5 easy ways to communicate: call, text, email, video, and social media. There are about 16 working hours in the day by which you can reach someone. If you're not mixing up the method and timing then you're missing out on deals. Experiment with different subject lines and different titles for your prospective buyer searches. If the search has their name on it are they more likely to open it? Where can you personalize your follow-up? Tactics that work for other agents may not work for you. That's normal. Let others inspire you, but ultimately you have to put in the time and experimentation to find what works for you. It has to be your own journey.

Sometimes we can get in our own way and our client's way. We have a new agent on our team that was inadvertently sabotaging his showings. He was saying his opinion right off the bat when opening the front door. The other day he tried a different tactic. When they walked in, he immediately thought the home was outdated...but he waited to see his clients' first impression. And they loved the home! If he had voiced his initial thought first it could have swayed their opinion of the home before they'd even had a chance. There is power in silence and letting the client speak. Here's another example. You've just given your value proposition and put everything on the table. The client is ready to sign with you but you keep going with your sales pitch. There comes a point when you can stop selling. Don't sell yourself out of a deal. Learn to recognize when that turning point is.

Have you set realistic goals for 2024? If you have been making 50 calls a week and you set your goal for this year at 200 calls a week, is that realistic and sustainable? Don't set yourself up for failure before you even start. Building habits is the beginning of building consistency. First, you need to consistently commit to the activities. Once you’ve gotten a hang of that and built the habit, add more to it. Remember, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You want to dream big but you have to be honest with yourself and what you can commit to.

If you don't think that your buyers are looking at homes priced at more than they're approved for, then you're wrong. With the way the current market is, you should be too (within reason). Not everything is selling right now with multiple offers and over asking. Are you looking out for your clients and keeping tabs on price adjustments? There may be a surprise opportunity for your buyers. Homes that may not have been in their budget could be at any time. Have an accurate gauge on your buyers and the market they're looking in. You also need to be able to adjust your strategy and communicate that clearly to your buyer. If your buyer has a budget of $500,000 then right now you might need to monitor homes up to $525,000 or even $550,000. But if that same buyer is looking in the summer at the height of the market, then you might not even show them homes priced at $500,000. You may cap at $475,000 or $450,000 because of how competitive the market will be at that time. A good place to start is to take your buyer through a journey in the MLS before you even start looking. Look at the homes that have sold in their target area in the last year that would have met their non-negotiable list. What were they listed at and what did they sell for? Would your buyer have paid for that price? This exercise will back up what you're telling them about the current market and give you credibility. Ultimately, they will have more realistic expectations going into their search. How do you handle the objection: "I don't want to overpay for a home?" A home is worth what the market is willing to pay for it. If a home has multiple offers over asking, then the market has determined that that home is worth that amount. There is no such thing as overpaying.

You've probably heard from prospective clients that they want to wait to buy until interest rates come down. What are the cons of that strategy? More buyers will enter the market in the spring. Historically over the last few years, there has been an uptick in buyers but a decrease in inventory. This equates to a more competitive market. If you compound this normal ebb and flow of the market with interest rates likely continuing to go down next year, then buyer demand will compound even more. It's all about educating your buyers not selling your buyers. Lines like "You should buy now because we don't know what's coming" are pushing them to buy right now but from a place of uncertainty. If you instead phrase things like: "Buying now might be right for you because historically the spring has been more competitive and lower interest rates will also dramatically increase the buyer pool," then you're giving them the knowledge they need to make the right decision for them.

Relationships break down when there are unmet expectations. If you are frustrated with clients for not showing up to buyer consultations or showings, or you've been driving all over town for months and they've yet to write any offers, they might not be the problem. You need to do a better job of setting expectations. Look at the patterns in your daily frustrations and then take a hard look at your processes and how you're setting expectations. For example, if you answer your client's phone call at 10 pm then you're giving them permission to call you every night at 10 pm. Tell them upfront what your daily availability is. For example, you show homes every day in the afternoon between 1 and 4 pm and you can take calls anytime from 7:30 am to 5 pm. Better yet, call them every day at the same time and you'll find that you get less one-off calls. They'll just wait for your predetermined time. It takes time to refine your process and scripts, but don't be afraid to make changes along the way. These tweaks will have a lasting impact on your business.

We are all human. We all have fears of rejection in some form or another. This ultimately boils down to your ego / sense of self-preservation. Either let the ego lead or tame the ego and open yourself up to the possibilities. If you let your fears hold you back then you're guaranteed to not reach your full potential. Sometimes overcoming the fear of rejection boils down to your perspective. If you think of a good day as a day you sold a home, then even if you're a great agent selling 40 homes a year then that's 216 bad days. In this business, the quicker you learn to get out of your comfort zone, the faster you're going to be successful.

Sarah's daughter requested a Stanley cup for Christmas. She could not find the color or right design anywhere, so she turned to social media. Responses poured in suggesting where to look and she started getting texts from people in stores offering to buy the right one. It was shocking how far this one post spread. We all have a village around us ready to jump in. Don't forget that and don't forget to also support your village.