The secret to success as a real estate agent is talking to people.
Real estate is a people business.
As a real estate professional the more people you know and connect with the stronger your business will be.
That knowledge will give you an edge over other Realtors.
Transcript:
Jamie Bounds 00:02
Hi Ian. Ian is a former hairdresser turned real estate agent and investor in Plano, Texas. He is the founder of Flanagan Consulting and a Public Speaker with an extensive background in investing with creative financing. Welcome.
Ian Flannigan 00:25
Hey guys, how’s it going?
Jamie Bounds 00:26
Great!
Chris Bounds 00:27
Good. Not can never claim to be a professional hair dresser. Stylish is that we can get I mean, see part of it starting to receipt. It’s there. I’ll support it. Ian, you’re a veteran. I know you work with a lot of some of the most successful agents and then you are an agent, you’re an investor and you’re very active in the business today.
This was sparked by the very last guest we had today. I posted this poll. It was basically most new agents like first year agents, like nine, I think it was like nine months in or whatever. They don’t have their first deal. They don’t even have their first year. That’s both scary and sad. Especially, if those people are really trying to make a living out of it. They’re not enough of a hobby. Yeah. What should new realtors do to have a successful first year?
Ian Flannigan
Well, let’s talk about the things we can control. That’s talking to people. If you’re not making the kind of money you want to make and you’re just not doing the deal flow. You’re just not connecting with enough people. That’s the one thing you can control. Let’s say 50 people a day. Let’s say even talk to 20 or 15 of them if you compound. 10 to 15 people every day. Week after week after week you’ve talked to hundreds of people. That’s the one thing you can control is the amount of people that you talk to. Catching up and building the database. Asking them if there’s anything that they need in real estate. I mean, the conversation can go on forever, but it’s just a touch point.
When you’re connecting with those people. When you’re building that touch point every single day, let’s say 10 people a day. There’s a couple different approaches you can do. You can do the cold caller approach, “Hey, got a house you’re trying to sell”, “Hey, a kind of buy house.” There’s that. Very salesy. Or there’s more the prospecting just warm like that circle prospect or the I guess, circle prospecting tool in one way, but there’s the value add approach. Which is completely different. That’s more of the branding approach. How do you do it or how you seen some of the most successful like very successful new agents?
I mean, if you think about this, it’s what we are all in the business. Now, it’s not about who, it’s actually more about who knows you. Who thinks of an agent or someone in real estate whenever they come across the distressed house or grandma passed away and they got a $800,000 reverse mortgage. Right. That’s kind of deals that I get referred to over the years because I can solve a lot of challenges that families have. But the whole point is talking to people, building the database and reaching out to people. Let’s just start from scratch when you’re brand new in the business because I actually coach brand new agents with our company as well.
The first thing I do is just start calling people. I mean, that’s what I do. If I want to kick up some deal flow. Now, I’m in the land development, a lot of bigger projects. I’m reaching out to different people that I know are that are in that niche asking questions, “Hey, do you come across this?” It’s almost like planting seeds especially in real estate. As a deal practitioner, you’ve got to go add value to the marketplace. But when you’re first starting out, it’s about how many people you talk to. You’ve got to touch a lot of people. Then people have to start to build trust with you that you can handle somebody to sale of their home or something like that or referral. Whatever the case may be. It’s very sensitive when people are moving in and out of state or in that homes. You have to build that confidence and you build the confidence through social media.
You have an outbound prospecting approach where you’re gathering everyone that you know. Put them all into a list. You’re calling them saying, “Hey, Chris. It’s Ian. What’s going on? I saw your kids just had a great milestone. Hey. By the way, I just wanted to let you know I’m in real estate. I’m really excited. I join an amazing team. If you know anyone that needs to buy or sell or need anything from plumbing, to electricians, to sprinklers, to pools and any type of vendor you need.
I’d love to be that resource for you.” Right. That kind of takes the pressure off of them. You’re not asking them for business, but you’re just letting them know. But you got to give them confidence. Yeah. You don’t call them up and go. I’m brand new. Oh, man, I haven’t done a deal yet. Hey, send somebody some business, please. Right. That doesn’t send any confidence in anybody. List your house with me? Yeah, much less remodel it or build a pool. Put on a second story that you want to get into what we know or what we can do with houses.
We can pretty much do anything if the numbers make sense. But anyway, that’s a value add that you offer to people that you know. Right. One of the value ads. I have been renovating houses forever is now when I have clients which I’m very picky about the people that I personally work with because I only got my real estate license for as a referral business. That was my intention from the beginning and over time. I’ll take on clients myself and obviously the properties that we renovate and always list those. But I try to refer more business than I actually do myself but you just got to talk to people, Chris. That’s my golden nugget of the day.
Talk to people then get a check. Don’t talk to people then you don’t get a check, build trust and use social media. Let them see you in houses talking about real estate. You’re touching them. You’re sending the messages. You may have added them to your database and maybe getting some emails from you. Right. If you have something in common sports teams. Right. I’m a cowboy fan or I’m sure your Texan fan the day that you guys are playing. Maybe, texting that person. Touchpoints. You’re nurturing relationships. That’s part of as a real estate agent, building that sphere of influence over time because if you’re 2, 3, 4 years and you don’t have people referring your business, you just did it wrong.
Chris Bounds
Yeah, there’s definitely a problem. There’s one in the tunnel.
Ian Flannigan 06:20
There’s one way to do it.
06:23
It’s like you were talking about sports games cowboys game, Astros game, Rangers or whatever. Have a good time with it.
Chris Bounds 06:32
Yeah, that’s not salesy. When a game like, “Hey, do you see that game last night?” You know what I mean. Obviously, you at this point. You should know that they’re interested in that or graduation or whatever is going on. But so that’s a linear touchpoint. I know, you know, but I want to expand on this, there’s the exponential because you send a text. “Hey, Did you see the draft last night or whatever?” Yeah, that’s a touch point. Nothing about real estate. They go to work the next day like, “Man, I’m really thinking about moving.” Dude, you got to come on in. That’s how we’re gonna Rockstar.
Ian Flannigan 07:15
That’s gonna work.
Chris Bounds 07:16
Yeah, that’s where things really start to compound as you’re building that relationship over time. When you’re doing that and you do it every single day.
Ian Flannigan 07:28
Yeah, it’s those numbers start to compound. It’s the compound effect. A great book that I’ve gone through a couple times. It’s impossible to implement everything but just you have to think about your daily routines and the things that you do over and over and over to get the results that you want.
First of all, you have to have a big dream, a big idea and big passion about why you’re doing what you’re doing. You can do it with enthusiasm. Right. That’s the thing is real estate entrepreneurs. Most people that become a real estate agent, they’re not entrepreneur. They’re leaving another career. Real estate is sexy. But when you really get into it, the negotiating, the back and forth, the things that people do and contracts, Chris. You know this. You’re just talking about it. Just the emotional side of the business. For me, there’s zero emotions.
Chris Bounds 07:29
Yeah, it can get messy.
Ian Flannigan 07:37
It can get messy. So to get results fast, increase the amount of people that you talk to. That’s the only thing you can control. You can control how many inbound reach outs you get. Right. You can do marketing and I don’t recommend getting into pay per click and all that in the beginning. That’s something that you scale into. You have to build the foundation first, get referral business then you start adding in repeat clients. Right. That’s how you double your business each year.
You’re dripping on those repeat clients. You’re putting in better systems to drip on those folks. And you start adding some team members, then that year two or year three which you know, Chris. If you want to. Right. You have to figure out what direction in real estate you’re going to go. I did the high volume game for years and years and years. Right.
As a as a principal operator owner of these properties, multiple markets and then making a shift over the last five years. Right now, I’m more of a passive investor in real estate assets. Not necessarily the transactional. I’ve built my business to where now. I have a team of agents that when they’re closing deals, I’m getting paid like a broker. You just find different ways over time to kind of fit your lifestyle and your needs and that’s what you learn about real estate is. You can really designed your business around your life. However that looks if you get that intentional with it. But in the beginning, just putting a check in the bank, talk to people and that’s it. That’s what you can control.
Chris Bounds 09:41
Love it. Love it. Thanks Ian.
Ian Flannigan 09:43
Your welcome.
Chris Bounds 09:44
I love working with you and having you on.
Ian Flannigan 09:47
Alright guys, have a great day.