Bob Sokoler is Owner of The Sokoler Medley Team at RE/MAX Properties East and works alongside his better half (Norine) who is also a Co-Owner of the Sokoler Medley team. As a full service Realtor, Bob is ranked #1 in Louisville for volume. His team is ranked among the top five teams regionally. Before becoming a realtor, Bob was host of “The Morning Team” heard daily 5-9am on 84 WHAS. He was also Co-Host of “Louisville Tonight Live” on Kentuckiana’s News Channel, WHAS 11. Bob also co-anchored the noon news and was a field reporter for the 5 p.m. news on WXIA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia. Bob is also a two time Emmy award winning reporter. His hobbies include Photography, Gardening, Technology and trying to keep up with his 3 Dogs. Georgia and Savannah (English Bulldogs) and Roxie the Boxer.

Join us as Bob shares his mindset and a glance at his journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by becoming a top ranking realtor in Louisville.

Quotes to Live By

  • “Even if you make mistakes, understand that you’re human and the people who are watching you know that and actually will empathize with you if you make a mistake and need to retract a little bit, just go back and start.” – Bob Sokoler Click To Tweet

Bob’s Tools

  • Matterport: Be there. Experience fully immersive virtual Spaces that feel so real, it’s like being there.

Bob’s Sites

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • How video blogging can help you earn.
  • How to get your information out there.
  • What Matterport is about.
  • How to use Matterport as a listing tool.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Bob

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Bob  and thank him for his rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Bob

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Sponsors

  • MyOutDeskMyOutDesk becomes familiar with your real estate systems and personality profiles before recommending Real Estate Virtual Assistants for you to interview. Use Virtual Assistants to grow your Real Estate Business. Hire a real estate virtual assistant today.

Christina Griffin is an experienced real estate professional with Coldwell Banker in Tampa Bay, Florida. She handles an enormous volume especially in the foreclosure and REO side of real estate. Her dedication has placed her in the top 1% of agents with Coldwell Banker, top 100 for the state of Florida and #28 with The Wall Street Journal for volume.

Join us as Christina shares her Realtor mindset and a glance at her journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by becoming recognized as a top performer in the state of Florida.

Quotes to Live By

  • “My goal is to obtain as many awesome leads as possible for my team.” – Christina Griffin Click To Tweet 

Christina’s Tools

  • BoomTown: Close More Deals with our Real Estate Sales and Marketing software.
  • MyOutDesk: Real Estate Virtual Assistants
  • Stridis: Connect your brand to the right audiences in relevant ways.

Christina’s Sites

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • How to guide a team and create an amazing culture.
  • How to obtain new listing opportunities.
  • How to make an amazing living through REOs and foreclosures.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Christina

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Christina and thank her for her rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Christina

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Ben Caballero is the #1 ranked real estate professional in the USA for 2015 in two categories: (1) number of real estate sales transactions and (2) cumulative transaction (dollar) volume. He received the 2014 Pinnacle Award for Real Estate Entrepreneurship, presented by Keller Williams Realty, and was named the Most Innovative Real Estate Agent by Inman News in 2013. He is the CEO of HomesUSA.com. Inc. and the President of the National Association of Real Estate Professionals.

Join us as Ben shares his Realtor mindset and a glance at his journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by becoming an Innovator and Preeminent Leader in the business arena.

Quotes to Live By

  • “To be successful in anything, you have to specialize.” – Ben Caballero Click To Tweet 

Ben’s Sites

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • What you can do to be successful.
  • How to help builders save time and money.
  • How to increase sales using technology and expertise.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Ben

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Ben and thank him for his rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Ben

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Christy Lundy left a successful 15 year career at a national non-profit to pursue real estate. She made all of the rookie mistakes and still managed to gross 6 figures in her first full year. Despite that “slow start,” Christy is on track to quadruple her production in 2016! Christy believes that with the right tools and some persistence, anyone can be a successful real estate agent.

Join us as Christy shares her Realtor mindset and a glance at her journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by helping people improve their lives through real estate!

Quotes to Live By

  • “Just because you don’t start as a rockstar, doesn’t mean you can’t be a rockstar.” – Christy Lundy Click To Tweet

Christy’s Tools

  • Conversion: We are a conversion optimization agency.
  • Club Wealth: World Class Coaching, World Class Results.

Christy’s Sites

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • What to do to go from rookie to rockstar.
  • The advantages of having a coach.
  • How to make your open houses more effective.
  • The importance of having systems.
  • How you can make money in a short period of time.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Christy

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Christy and thank her for her rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Christy

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Thach Nguyen was the youngest agent at Windermere and the youngest person in the multiple listing service or MLS. He adopted the successful strategies of a national real estate coach, learning how to actively search for sellers and listings rather than waiting for clients to passively come to him. Thach became one of the Seattle real estate company’s top agents. As founder of The Gift, Thach is teaching others the value of helping where they are needed. Today, he is a highly successful Real Estate investor and developer of micro unit apartments. He hopes to inspire and empower billions of people to reach for their dreams by sharing his personal journey and success.

Join us as Thach shares his Realtor mindset and a glance at his journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by making a difference in the world, one person at a time.

Quotes to Live By

  • “The level of your success and happiness is in direct proportion to the number of people you serve selflessly.” – Thach Nguyen  Click To Tweet

Thach’s Book

Thach’s Sites

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • How to go from homeless to a millionaire home seller.
  • Learning from mistakes in real estate.
  • Building Micro unit housing.
  • How to nurture your database to get referrals.
  • The Gift: The 4 Step Process.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Thach

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Thach and thank him for his rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Thach

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Prior to SoloPro, Tommy Sowers served as the Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs at the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and as a McKinsey & Company management consultant. He was the 2010 Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Missouri’s 8th congressional district and is a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer. In 2015, Sowers, along fellow founders Shayne Sowers and Narayan Krishnan created SoloPro, Inc. the first pro-agent, pro-buyer online marketplace of real estate services. Named by CNN as one of the five startups “changing the real estate game”, SoloPro rose over $1.6M of venture capital and has launched in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Join us as Tommy shares his Realtor mindset and a glance at his journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by changing the real estate game for buyers and sellers.

Quotes to Live By

  • “We are a marketplace, and marketplaces compete on different rules.” – Tommy Sowers  Click To Tweet
  • “Our enemy is inefficiency.” – Tommy Sowers  Click To Tweet

Tommy’s Tools

  • SoloPro: Commission Free Real Estate

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • What SoloPro is.
  • Understanding the fee structure with SoloPro.
  • What a consumer can get and what would it cost.
  • SoloPro services.
  • Marketplace model vs. Commission based model.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Tommy

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Tommy and thank him for his rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Tommy

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Team Lally is currently ranked in the Top 5 Real Estate Team in the State of Hawaii for Sales & Volume! Adrienne Lally, President of Team Lally has been awarded 5-time consecutive years place in Hawaii Business Top 100 Realtors in Hawaii, including one of the top ranked teams in all production categories including homes sold, Gross Commission Income and number of listings taken and sold. Adrienne has been crushing business with her partner Attilio Leonardi, a native Hawaiian born and raised in Oahu. Together, they have helped people buy and sell homes throughout Hawaii (providing service to all islands) selling over 100+ homes per year.

Join us as Team Lally shares their Realtor mindset and a glance at their journey to becoming Real Estate Rockstars by helping people achieve their dreams!

Quotes to Live By

  • “Regular consistent activity gets you regular and consistent results.” – Team Lally Click To Tweet 
  • “You’re never a prophet in your own home land.” – Team Lally Click To Tweet 

Team Lally’s Books

Team Lally’s Tools

Team Lally’s Sites

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • How to get your team to be more productive.
  • Economically driven business vs. Strategically driven business.
  • How to develop a culture of prospecting with your team.
  • What positive peer pressure is.
  • How to leverage your coaching.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Team Lally

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Team Lally and thank them for their rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Team Lally

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Michael J. Maher is a speaker, author, and Kansas City’s foremost expert on real estate who has earned the title (with documented numbers to back it up) of America’s Most Referred Real Estate Professional. No matter what industry you’re in, Michael has a lot to teach when it comes to building powerful professional relationships and growing your business.

Join us as Michael shares his Realtor mindset and a glance at his journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by becoming the Leader of a Team of Leaders!

Quotes to Live By

  • “It’s not about getting up earlier. It’s about getting up better.” – Michael Maher Click To Tweet
  • “The better you get at generating referrals, the better you get as a person.” – Michael Maher Click To Tweet
  • “Own your morning, own your day and own your life.” – Michael Maher Click To Tweet
  • “Generosity leads to reciprocity. Reciprocity leads to referrals.” – Michael Maher Click To Tweet

Michael’s Book

Michael’s Sites

Check out the #30 Mornings Challenge

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • How to make yourself become more referable.
  • How to make a powerful affirmation to make yourself more referable.
  • What does a massively successful agent look like?
  • What the 30 Mornings is all about.
  • The 5 Minute Incremental System.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Michael

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Michael and thank him for his rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Michael

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Misty Soldwisch has been in the real estate business for 16 years, owned an office for 8 years, and started seriously building her team 3 1/2 years ago. She was named the #1 team leader in her RE/MAX region (Iowa/Nebraska) for the last 3 years in number of transactions, last 2 years in GCI, as well as top number of transactions and total volume in the Des Moines market. Misty has the ability to custom-tailor marketing strategies and provides the very best service to her clients. Professional service with an emphasis on guidance, planning, and dedication to her clients’ needs are her top priority. Misty has 4 kids and runs her business with her husband Keith of 20 years.

Join us as Misty shares her Realtor mindset and a glance at her journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by becoming the best and most innovative real estate team leader in the Iowa/Nebraska region!

Quotes to Live By

  • “I love this business so much because of the amazing opportunity for everyone.” – Misty Soldwisch  Click To Tweet 

Misty’s Books

Misty’s Tools

  • Vyral Marketing: Where referrals meet technology.
  • FiveStreet: Lead Consolidation and Response Software for Top Real Estate Teams and Brokers.
  • Hoopla: Team Performance Platform For Your Entire Company

Misty’s Sites

Give Back and Support

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • The most difficult thing to give up on a team.
  • The importance of putting systems in place.
  • How advertising becomes a dominant lead source.
  • How to cultivate past clients & referrals with the right systems in place.
  • How you can get people to work with you.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Misty

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Misty and thank her for her rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

Click here to connect and thank Misty

Thanks for Rocking Out

Thank you for tuning in to Pat Hiban Interviews Real Estate Rockstars, we appreciate you! To get more Rockstar content sent directly to your device as it becomes available, subscribe on iTunes or StitcherReviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and appreciated! We read each and every one of them, please feel free to leave your email so that we can personally reach out and say thanks! Have any questions? Tweet meFacebook me and ask Pat anything. Don’t forget to head on over to Bare Naked Agent for Pat’s answers, and advice. Thank you Rockstar Nation, and keep rockin!

Read the Full Interview

Matt: Hey, what’s up Real Estate Rockstar Nation, it is today’s host Matt O’Neill, and today we have got an awesome guest for you Misty Soldwisch. Misty runs a Real Estate team in Des Moines Iowa with her husband, she’s a mother of four and she runs the number 185 ranked team in the entire country by The Wall Street Journal. Last year Misty and her team sold 408 homes for a total of $86 million. Misty, thanks for being here today.

Misty: Thanks so much for having me, I’m so excited.

Matt: Misty, this is going to be a great podcast and I know that the entire audience here today is going to learn so much from you. Let’s start out. Tell the audience a little bit about yourself.

Misty: I’ve been in Real Estate for 20 years. I’ve been a broker-owner for 12 years and I’ve run a Real Estate team for just over seven years. I’ve loved it the whole time.

Matt: So you grew your Real Estate team in just 7 years worth 408 transactions?

Misty: Yes.

Matt: How’s that possible?

Misty: I think it was just working really hard on improving how we do things year by year so that we could serve more people and just be able to do it in a way that got referrals and got people excited about working with us.

Matt: Seven years ago when you started your team, what did it look like, how many people did you have? Did you have transaction coordinators? Were there other people that were working with you or had you been a solo agent?

Misty: I’ve been a solo agent for about 13 years at that point and a broker-owner for a few years. I think one thing that really sent me up to work a team in that environment pretty quickly, was the fact that as a solo agent in 2007, I started getting into foreclosure properties and so REO requires a lot of systems, it requires a lot of recording. I had to get administrative help in order to do that effectively, and that just forced me to have systems that when I went into building the team, I already had some great admin help. It just was getting more people to be out there working with customers clients.

Matt: Yes, and what’s interesting is before we jumped on this podcast you and I were talking and you said what’s really unique about you that is different than most of the team leaders that you and I know is that your DISC profile is not the ID or the DI. What DISC profile do you have?

Misty: I’m a DC and I really like to get things done but I really love the details.

Matt: Yes, you know who else has that same DISC profile?

Misty: Who’s that?

Matt: Gary Keller.

Misty: See, I was meant to be.

Matt: What was meant to be.

[laughter]

Yes, absolutely. When you’re a DC that means you’ve got a lot of dominance and a lot of systems, right?

Misty: Right.

Matt: Those are the two, just get shit done profiles. These things crush work, and I think but it’s a really unique combination too, right?

Misty: Well, and I think that people are sometimes surprised by that because I was a solo agent for many years, successful on my own. It tends to be people that like you said are high DI or ID, and I am very much not a high I, but I’m really good at knowing how to connect with people to get things done. It’s just one of those things, I think there’s so much flexibility in what can work to be successful in Real Estate, it’s just figuring out what makes it work for you.

Matt: Yes, I want to stay here because I think a lot of people if they don’t know about DISC profiles in running a team and grow a team would be a really good idea to start looking into these DISC profiles. We work with Wise Hire, are you familiar with them?

Misty: Actually, we work with as well.

Matt: Yes, a fantastic company of putting ads out there and also at the same time running a DISC profile before you even meet with somebody which is useful for us. When you go to hire agents for your team now since you do use Wise Hire, what are you looking for when it comes to that DISC spectrum for the agents you hire?

Misty: For agents, Wise Hire puts in place their own what they suggest for different roles, and I consider that but I also take it with a grain of salt just depending on the overall picture for that person. One thing I really like about Wise Hire is they incorporate the into the assessment as well, the value’s index. I think part of that is just as important, having a high economic driver is important for people that are in a 100% commission position. It’s just really looking at the overall but then I also look at what the backstory is for that person and what got them to where they are now. I think people are complex, and it’s important to have people in a place that they’re going to be comfortable with, but it’s also important to understand why they want to do the role and really talk about what some of their natural weaknesses might be, so that they’re conscious of it and what they need to do to play up their strengths.

Matt: I love it. That’s what I was hoping that we would talk about because I agree. Any DISC profile can be successful in real estate. The number one agent in my team a couple of years ago, his highest trait was S. A lot of team owners would say, “Oh, man, if you’ve got a high S, that should be an admin support staff rather than a real estate agent. I can assure you this guy has sold 16.5 million a couple of years ago as a high S.

Misty: Well, and I think that that is the advantages of a team is that because you have a lot of different people playing off of each other. On my team, my agents don’t need to be a high drive or a prospector because we have a really strong ISA department that tees up those prospects for them. I want them to give exceptional service and care to our clients. That’s something that I wasn’t ever great at as an agent. I did a good job with that, but I never went to their birthday party the following month and went out to dinner with them.

My agents form these lifelong connections with our clients because of personality traits that sometimes are seen as not being great traits for a sales position, but they actually are if you plug them into the right system.

Matt: I love that. I always say to people there’s no wrong personality style. There’s actually no wrong personality style for real estate, in my opinion. If somebody thinks high C can’t do well, let’s just look at Misty. 86 million sold last year. Let’s get into the nitty-gritty. We know that you sold 408 homes last year. What was your gross commission, and then what was your profit?

Misty: My GCI last year was 2.8 million. On my number for profit, I’m combining owner compensation as well just because I think that’s the fair way to do it. That was 30%.

Matt: [claps] Man, that is fantastic. Congratulations.

Misty: Thanks.

Matt: You’re just about at a million per year in that income?

Misty: Right.

Matt: Oh, man. There are so many people on this podcast who are listening now who would love to be in the position that you’re in someday down the road.

Misty: It hasn’t been like that every year. It’s been really making sure that we have our compensation correct, that we have our fee structure correct, and really watching those numbers closely. It really made 2019 just a really strong year for us. It’s really paid off.

Matt: Yes, and if you think about it, this has been a 20-year success story. It’s awesome. You certainly have been crushing. A lot of people, they’re always wondering like, “How do I get more sellers or how do I get more buyers?” In your business, what percent is sellers versus buyers?

Misty: The last two years, we’ve been 55% buyers and 45% sellers. That was the first time our business altered to that. I strongly attribute that to our ISA department. We had been very heavy on the listing side for many, many years. As we got more buyers agents, and then had that inside sales to really retain and answer people quickly, that’s when our buyer side grew.

Matt: Great. Is the ISA Department something new for the team within the last couple of years?

Misty: Around two and a half years ago is when we started that.

Matt: Fantastic. I think a lot of agents out there are saying, “I would love to have an inside sales agent myself.” Just two and a half years ago, you started with inside sales agents. How did you start that team? What did you to hire your first inside sales agent?

Misty: My first one, it was someone who was related to an agent on my team. I said, “Let’s try it.” That is not always the best way to do it.

[laughter]

Matt: Sure.

Misty: It’s one of those things that I’ve heard of so many teams and individual agents that have gotten into inside sales, and then out of it because it just didn’t work right. I think that it just takes being patient to really commit to what needs to happen to make this work. I felt like I had such a strong belief that it was the direction our team needed to operate at the highest level, but I’m just like, “We’re going to figure this out and make this happen.” One big mistake I made early on was people that really wanted to be in outside sales.

It’s very common on teams to say, “You know what? First you’re going to be in inside sales, and then once you get through a certain amount of time, then we’ll put you in outside sales.” I felt like when I did that, it was like, “I really won’t want to do this role, but I’m going to begrudgingly do it so that I can get to the next step, so they weren’t really doing things at the highest level. Once I started hiring people, that they were like, “Yes, this is perfect for me, and I’m passionate about it, and I want to make this the best it can be.” Made all the difference in the world.

Matt: I couldn’t agree with you more. You don’t want it to be a stepping stone position. You definitely want it to be the destination. Especially with what you’re saying, this ISA team is driving your buyer business for the entire team. They’re the catalyst of your sales, so they’re highly important. In my opinion, an ISA is the highest return on investment that you can make in your business.

Misty: I agree. I just think it’s so critical for a team to be able to sale.

Matt: Let’s talk about when it started to work. What was the compensation model that if somebody out there is looking to hire an ISA, how are you compensating with your commissions or bonuses to keep their eye on what you really want, which is new closings?

Misty: My ISA team, I currently have two full-time ISAs, and then one’s a part-time. She had been full time with us for quite some time and then needed to change to part-time. She still crushes it, which is amazing. My full-time ISAs have a salary of $2,000 a month, and then they get 5% on any closings that they set the appointment on. They get 10% if it’s outbounds like a Vulcan expired for sale by owner closing.

Matt: That’s fantastic. I love that you compensate differently for them making the hard calls because then they’re going to be more excited to make those experienced and for sale by owner calls. Where if you paid them the same for answering a phone on an inbound call, they wouldn’t be–

Misty: No incentive.

Matt: Yes. Why would I want to pound my head against wall making these expired calls if I can just wait for the phone to ring?

Misty: Right.

Misty: Yes, fantastic. So the base is there to track that person into the position, so it is not just a full-time commissioned position. Otherwise, they could be a real estate agent and that’s kind of this sub-security there for that.

Misty: Right, and then the expectation is they’re in the office 40 hours a week with the exception of, if they do a Saturday, they’ll do two open houses on that day as well. They’re on call as well. They have a big time commitment, but it’s got a lot of great security. You have a base pay. You have a great office space to be in. The thing is my ISAs are probably the biggest team players that we have. They are always pitching in to help our agents when they need it, and I think that’s huge too.

Matt: Yes, and there’s big advantages too. They don’t have to be answering that complaint on repair negotiations on a Saturday night. They don’t have to be dropping everything on vacation to ratify a contract that came in over the weekend or on vacation because they set the appointment and they hand the ball off to people who really have to jump all the time, which is real estate agents. There’s definitely the right fit for that role and it sounds like you’ve got three really good A players there. When it comes to sellers, what’s the number one source of your seller business?

Misty: Besides SOI, it’s referrals from past clients, our number one first is radio.

Matt: Yes, great, awesome. How long have you been doing radio?

Misty: I’ve been doing radio for six years.

Matt: Yes, we’re in the same program together with radio and television experts, and I love that group. I’ve been on the radio for a long time as well. It’s been a big deal for us. What about somebody that has never done radio before, would you recommend that they try it?

Misty: I think that it’s really important that you have the base in place to be able to handle it because it does all of a sudden create a lot of exposure. I had already covered a really big geographical area because of my REO business, and I think that just naturally led me to have a lot more familiarity with a big area of our Metro than most agents who would tend to specialize in a certain area, but you need to have those things in place because you do not want to make that larger than investment, and then have it all fall apart because you really can’t service the business.

Matt: Yes, because that radio’s going to be broadcast to a wide net of people.

Misty: Exactly. The other thing that I found was that it was just really important to be able to meet those expectations too, and understand that it depends on the source of where you’re advertising, but it might not be instantaneous. It might take a little bit of time. Sometimes, agents just don’t have the patience to go, “Okay, I can shell out $6,000 a month for six months, eight months to get a return on this.” You just have to really feel good about the direction that you’re taking, and understand why you are to give it time to have it be effective.

Matt: Yes, and let’s look at something we were just talking about. Inside sales agents and having inside sales agents making calls on expired and for sale by owners. That to scale up, it would cost less than radio to start. Even though you did it in reverse, you did radio first and then you brought on an inside sales team. Do you think that somebody who was looking to invest in their business may want to look at doing those in reverse order?

Misty: 100%. I think that that’s a really cost-effective way, but you have to be dedicated. It’s something that, like on our team, we practice the time. We do a weekly roleplay call and expired for sale by owner is something we revisit again and again. I keep talking about DISC profile. People that are high I that rejection is hard for them. It’s like, “I want everyone to like me.” [laughs] You can’t take it personal. It’s about following up. It’s about doing it again and again. It’s about sending them a packet, offering them value after the call, circling back with them. It’s not just about that one moment, and just because they said no, it doesn’t mean you can’t call them back because they’re not going to realize you’re the one who called before.

Matt: That’s huge. When a new agent’s starting out, they could be making their expired and for sale by owner calls, right?

Misty: Sure.

Matt: They could be the ISA for themselves, and that’s really cost-effective because what would that cost you to make expired and for sale by owner calls?

Misty: If you’re using a system like Vulcan or REDX or something like that, it’s going to be $300 or $400 a month. There’s ways you can do it where you don’t have to use a dialer and a system and all that as well. Early in my career, it was back when there were all the classified ads in the newspaper, and I would cut them out and I would put them in a notepad and make notes besides the ones that I called. I spent a lot of time doing that to build my business.

Matt: Yes, but even if they did get a system for $300 a month, that’s a really affordable way to start going after home sellers. On the buyer side, what are the best sources of your business from the buyer side?

Misty: Our number one paid source is Zillow. The cost of that continues to– We really watch all of our metrics and the cost of setting an appointment. It’ll be interesting to see as they keep changing their systems, how long it continues to make sense for us. It’s made sense for us up to this point, but I want to watch it closely to make sure it continues to.

Matt: Yes, great. You guys are getting a great return on investment there?

Misty: Yes, we are.

Matt: Fantastic. Just so for other team owners, do you know about what that return on investment is with your Zillow?

Misty: I think that our cost per met appointment is around $400. The team knowing that is really important because when they don’t know how much it costs to get them in front of that person, it’s a lot easier to throw away different things that it’s not as easy as you want it to be. That was a really important thing for me. It was just in the beginning of 2019 that I really kind of opened up our books and our costs to our team, so that they had a better understanding of what kind of investment that our team was making in them. It just helped them have more ownership in how they approach it.

Matt: I love that piece of advice. What if it’s in an area the team agent is not excited about going to or if it’s a price that the agent’s not really excited about going to, you make it known that it costs $400 for you to even have the opportunity to be there.

Misty: Yes, and I think that having a strong ISA team that the outside sales agent really cares about and trusts, they want them to win from it as well. It’s not just about the individual, it’s like, “Okay, this isn’t my idea, but I’m going to do it for the team.”

Matt: That’s great too because they know the ISA that’s working their tail off 40 hours a week in the office to set that appointment only gets a bonus if that agent converts.

Misty: Exactly.

Matt: Now, you and I talked about some systems. You are a systems expert. What system are you really excited about?

Misty: The system that we implemented at a high-level last year was Trello, and I absolutely love it. I look to Trello for every piece of our business for tracking and just everything because I think it can answer it so well.

Matt: Yes. For people who aren’t familiar with Trello, you said it can do so much. What’s something that somebody would want to start with if they were going to start using Trello?

Misty: We use Trello. We started out with listings and transaction management. I was a long-time top producer user and we were like “Okay, here’s where we’re going to start. We do all these checklists for different things. We’re going to turn that into Trello.” Trello is a very visual project management tool. We started there, and then we started using it for open house calendar. We do a lot of new construction, a lot of resale open houses, so we manage the process there. We manage our field services task. As far as what signs need to go where, what closing documents need to be picked up when, assigning them to people. I use it for tracking ideas I want to implement. The nice thing about Trello is you can email ideas into boards. If I have something like an email that I’ve received or something I’ve seen online I want to follow up on, I forward it to my board, and that way it’s someplace where I won’t forget about it.

Matt: Yes, that’s great. At any time of the day, if an inspiration hits you, you don’t have to write down a piece of paper. You can send it right to your idea place with an email.

Misty: My operations team and my ISA team, they each have just a daily activity board where they sign in at the beginning of the day saying what their goals are, they share it with the whole board so that they get notification. They do a huddle where they go over some key metrics. Here’s new listings coming on, here’s price changes, here’s closings coming up, there’s different things that we need. I don’t participate in that meeting, or else I take over and make it really long.

[laughter]

I have a missus priorities for the day and I email it to the board so that it gets touched on, but I’m not messing up their flow. Then they do an end of the day report on their board just saying, “Here’s what I got done. Here’s what’s still outstanding.” Everyone on our inside sales and operations team also on their card every day says what their positive insight for the day is.

It’s just to either give a shoutout to a team member or acknowledge a problem that was overcome or something they’re excited about doing this weekend. That really creates– It’s so neat to be able to see that and what’s going on with everyone.

Matt: I love the way you’re using that system because you’re not just using it to track transactions, you’re using it to grow your culture.

Misty: Totally, we are.

Matt: Most people I don’t think would think of a system that managed tasks and checklists as a way to grow culture, but you’ve done it.

Misty: Thank you. It’s really worked well for that. The other piece that I think has worked really well is we use it to– I have a business tracking board for each agent. Any time they can go into that board and see what their year to date business is, notes from our one-on-one meetings, we establish goals, and then we can look back on it. It also automatically emails their daily activity report to their board and then it has a link to different resources. It’s just a great way for agents to be able to reference what they need to and have their connection, not just with the team, but with what our communication has been.

Matt: That’s great. One of my favorite questions to get into is a failure that at the time was really hard to go through. What’s the failure that, at the time, was a really hard blow for you, but then as you look back now, was something that you learned a lot from and actually grew from and turned it into a positive.

Misty: One thing that comes to mind is just hanging onto the wrong people for too long definitely is a huge failure that I’ve had. It’s one of those things that you have to have people that are fully invested in the culture of your team, that understand what your vision is, and sometimes you hang on to situations because in a logical way it makes sense, but it really isn’t doing the best thing for the team.

I have a really bad time when someone isn’t meeting their full potential. I’m just like, “Oh man, I just need to coach them better. That’s what the problem is. It’s not that they really shouldn’t be in real estate, it’s that I haven’t done enough to coach them.” I’ve had situations where I’ve had real surprises of people leaving suddenly or not working out the way I anticipated. I just have grown so much for that.

It’s made me really be better at being more deliberate and bringing on people. It’s something that can be easy for people from the outside to question what your company is like when you have people that come and yet I know that every move that happens, is for the best.

Matt: I love that. You have the perspective now and it’s a hard thing if you’ve got somebody you really care for, you’ve worked with for a long time and they decide to go to ad different brokerage. It can be really hard.

Misty: Absolutely.

Matt: I think even harder is what you started with. The person on the team that doesn’t fit your culture. That is actually a culture killer, that’s a cancer within your team, but yet you don’t pull the trigger. You’ve learned from that, but it’s still hard. Why do you think it’s so hard to let somebody go that you know you should let go somewhere deep down?

Misty: I think part of it is an eco thing. You don’t want to admit that it’s the wrong thing and that you need to let it go, not care about what the apperances are. That’s huge. Part of it is just understanding that it’s not about holding on to something that’s not working. It’s trading the known for the unknown because you know that that’s for the best. That could be hard to do. I will say something that’s more recent for me is I’ve had team members depart in the last 12 months that were not culturally fit but were good salespeople.

I didn’t realize where the blindspots were in my team of not articulating to buyer clients. Our team concept is very easy on the home selling listing side for people to understand that on the buyer side when they’re coming from sources such as Delo, realtor.com meeting with one agent, they don’t necessarily see that. It becomes about this one person instead of the team. It really forced us to look at, “What is it that we need to be doing in a better way to help people feel that. It can be really painful at the time, but you just have to step back and go, “Okay, what did I learn from that?”

Matt: That’s awesome. Yes, I love that. It’s something that the longer I’ve been running my team, the better and better we’ve gotten at it. We’ve heard this axiom forever, hire slow, fire fast.

Misty: I do the opposite.

[laughter]

Matt: Hire fast, fire slow.

[laughter]

Misty: My problem.

Matt: The reason it’s out there is because everybody operates like that. Everybody connects with somebody and you need to fill a spot, you’re like, “You’re hired.” Everybody also has that team member that’s doing an adequate job and you don’t. You’re so busy, you’ve got so many things going on that letting that person go means I just created another job for myself. I’ve got to fill that role. Then I’ve got to have a job of going out and interviewing and hiring, and then that  you would add more work, so maybe it would be less painful to just deal with it for a while even though I know it’s not the perfect fit. I’ll deal with that when I need to.

Misty: I, for the first time, have a hiring person on my team who had been an agent, and then she had had an HR background, and just with her family needs, it made more sense to go into an operations role. She’s been killing it at meeting the agents and going through things. I’m always like, “I would have hired them, I would have hired them. I wish I hired them.” She’s much more like, “No, they’re not a fit because of this.” It’s like, “Okay, I needed that because, otherwise, these people would have all been here, and then I would have been like going crazy.”

Matt: That’s awesome. An evolution in your business which is recent is bringing out a director of recruiting.

Misty: Exactly.

Matt: What advice would give to yourself as a rookie agent? If you were starting over again, what advice would give yourself right now?

Misty: Something that took me a few years to learn that I wished I would’ve learned sooner was do not give all of your loyalty to an entity that can’t return the loyalty back because they can’t. Where I go with that is the brokerage that I started with. There were some great people there. It really wasn’t the best structure for what my goals were, but I held on to it for a long time because I liked the people there.

That’s so common. I got very heavily involved in new construction and had a large percentage of my business in my first few years working with a builder. They changed their model, which they have the right to do. Then, all of a sudden, I didn’t have that. I really had to learn, I need to be dependent on my resources and how I’m going to build my business, not a brokerage, not a builder, not someone who really, even if they like me, it’s not their job to give me business.

Matt: That is really wise advice. That’s like hitching your wagon to somebody else who has the total control over your income stream rather than making sure you’re self-reliant.

Misty: I see that so often. I’ve seen that so many times over the years of agents that, really, that is their business to one particular entity and when that goes away they can’t survive.

Matt: You mentioned it earlier. You said you’re keeping a close eye on your number one source of buyer business, Zillow. I’ve seen teams that their entire model is built around Zillow leads.

Misty: Right.

Matt: If the rules change, and we’ve seen that they can change sometimes, their whole business could be disrupted.

Misty: Right.

Speaker: Making sure you got some diversity, too, of lead sources in business. You’ve talked about foreclosure business, expired, for sale by owners, new construction, Zillow. You’ve got a lot of different places your business can come in.

Misty: We really do.

Matt: Yes. What haven’t I asked you that you feel our audience show know before we wrap up?

Misty: Oh, my goodness. I’m not sure. Maybe, I would say that I have had tremendous success in building operations through using virtual assistants. I have four full-time virtual assistants. It’s a huge part of our team, but what’s made it successful for us is that they’re not just people that we reach via email, we do a video call with them every day. Our agents know our virtual assistants. Our operations people do as well. They were actually the backbone of my business before I built the team. That’s huge. It’s such a cost-effective way to get operations assistance.

Matt: I love that, especially for an agent that says, “Maybe I can’t afford my first full-time transaction coordinator or assistant,” virtual is a way that you could get that done for a lot less money. How would someone go about hiring a virtual assistant in real estate? What did you do?

Misty: There’s a lot of different ways. I used the company My Outdesk. I’ve worked with them for many, many years. Our virtual assistants are part of our family. We are constantly commenting on each other’s social media. We know what’s going on in their lives. They are amazing and so efficient at getting a lot done. I think it’s one of those things that a lot of times agents will make the mistake of they’ve got a friend or someone they know that needs a little bit of work, so they’re like, “Hey, why don’t I have you do some assistant work for me,” and it’s really not someone that knows how to do it and has the skills.

It’s not as effective as what they want it to be, but if you use a service for that, they’ll have people that are trained in the systems that you use or you want them to use or you want them to build for you. They already come pre-ready to understand what you need and once you start doing things, it’s so easy in real estate to think of a million different things that that person can do to make you more efficient, to make you more effective.

Matt: I love it. Misty, this has been an absolute pleasure. I had a ton of fun. I learned a lot. Thank you so much for being on the show today.

Misty: Thank you.

Matt: I’ll see you in New York this April.

Misty: That’s right.

Matt: All right. Talk to you later.

Misty: Bye.

 

Chris Dunn built his first multi-million dollar company at age 25, been part of 1,600+ real estate transactions, have 12+ years’ experience trading the financial markets, and is an active angel investor. He is addicted to adventure travel and has visited nearly 100 countries. Chris hosts the Pathways to Wealth show that’s all about bringing you pathways to create more income, build wealth, and upgrade your life. His life’s mission is to help 100,000 people achieve “True Wealth.”

Join us as Chris shares his Realtor mindset and a glance at his journey to becoming a Real Estate Rockstar by discovering ways to create income, build wealth, and upgrade life through entrepreneurship and investing.

Quotes to Live By

Chris’s Book

  • Bitcoin: How to Trade it for Serious Profit by Chris Dunn

Chris’s Sites

In this Episode, We Also Talk About

  • What to buy with regards to single family home investing.
  • How you too can do what Chris did.
  • How bitcoin and digital currencies relate to real estate.
  • Gold and silver vs. the stock market.
  • What is working for you today to make money.
  • How to break through your goals.
  • Plus so much more!

Thank & Connect with Chris

If you enjoyed this interview and would like to connect with Chris and thank him for his rock solid advice, you can do so easily by following the link below.

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Thanks for Rocking Out

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