REality

Mastering Genuine Connections: Erik Zimmerman on Ninja Selling and Real Estate Success

• Gary Scott

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What if mastering the art of genuine relationships could skyrocket your success in real estate? Join us as we sit down with Erik Zimmerman, a seasoned real estate professional, whose career took a transformative turn with the discovery of Ninja Selling in 2009. Erik's insights on building authentic connections and truly understanding people's needs provide a blueprint for navigating the ever-evolving real estate market without feeling the sting of rejection.

Erik doesn't just talk the talk; he shares practical strategies for setting clear goals and maintaining discipline, especially during challenging times. He introduces us to the "ninja path" framework, a method focused on continuous improvement, effective communication, and a solid value proposition. With the "FORD" acronym as a guide, Erik reveals how dreaming big and being self-aware can pave the way to achieving any goal, making this episode a must-listen for anyone looking to elevate their professional game.

Tune in for a wealth of wisdom and actionable insights from a true industry veteran!

Speaker 1:

Reality Podcast. I am your host. Gary Scott Could not be more excited today to introduce our guest. I'm first just going to say to Eric Zimmerman good afternoon and thank you for joining us.

Speaker 2:

Pleasure to be with you, Gary. Thank you.

Speaker 1:

I have been excited about this particular podcast since I first had the opportunity to meet Eric May 16th at an event at Clemson University, and I'm going to read a teeny piece of your bio, Eric, and then we're going to get into what Eric Zimmerman does and the impact and influence that he has on our industry at large. Through speaking, training, coaching and investing, Eric uses real estate as a platform to help others realize their dreams. Whether your dream is to increase your income, spend more time pursuing what matters most, or invest in real estate to create passive wealth, Eric can help you articulate a plan to accomplish any or all of the above. Eric, tell us a little bit about your journey and then I will tell our listeners that most often, about four or five days prior to recording, I send out a series of questions. My confidence level in our guest today is that I did not prepare him, but he will be as well prepared as any of our reality podcast guests. Eric, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Speaker 2:

Sure. Thanks again, gary. You know I started in real estate in the late 80s in the investment side of the business and I wanted to move closer to potential deals. So I got my license in 1992, not having any idea what that was going to turn into. So I sold for several years, eventually became manager of a locally owned office in the year 2000, april Fool's Day, as a matter of fact, that says a lot and from 2000 to about 2009, I was a manager in an accidental way, and it wasn't until I got introduced to a program called Ninja Selling that the direction of my future years really take shape.

Speaker 2:

And what I mean by that is I became very intentional about how I operated my office and really how I operated my life. And so fast forward to today. I know this, gary, that my purpose is to help other people reach their goals. And it's not real estate, it's life. And what we discover is people have goals in all walks of life and we're able to implement systems and practices and discipline to allow people to achieve those goals. And I get to be the co-pilot of so much of that and hear the stories about how lives have changed, and it's a real treasure for me.

Speaker 1:

Well, I loved the first paragraph. I read some really key words help others realize their dreams, and when I had the opportunity on May 16th to see you present to our leadership team, eric, for the better part of three hours, you know you talk about servant leadership and we talk about it a lot in our business and we hear about it in all of businesses but this ability to impact and influence in such positive ways other people's lives and I find it so fascinating that you have utilized the Ninja platform to really go across this great country of ours speaking to real estate professionals, exactly like our listeners right Some people who are brand new to the business, some people who want to grow a team, some people are 30 years and need to reinvent their business. That's exactly who Eric Zimmerman talks to, so I'm going to ask a follow up question. So you talked about 2000 to 2009. Where were you when you started your real estate career?

Speaker 2:

Where I still am, in Cincinnati, ohio. So I was born in Canada, grew up in Detroit, came to Cincinnati to go to college, notified my parents Thanksgiving of my freshman year that I had found my new home and been here ever since. So 40 years, hard to believe.

Speaker 1:

Yeah Well, I'm not going to get into sports, albeit these podcasts have a tendency to drift, so before we end up, we might talk about the Reds and the Bengals at some point in time. Tell us how. The Ninja from 2009,. When did you begin the Ninja journey? And then I really want to spend some time on the fundamentals of ninja selling not just for real estate professionals to achieve their professional goals and objectives. I'm very intrigued about how we leverage this platform, that you do such an amazing job sharing for people to have better lives, because I do think in today's kind of crazy world, we live, boy, if we can help people do that, and I want our listeners today to have some things they can take from you. So talk a little bit about Ninja and then let's get right into some of the details.

Speaker 2:

Sure.

Speaker 2:

So what resonated with me with Ninja is something that resonates with a lot of people, and one of the things that's really attractive about it is you never put yourself in a position of being rejected. So that feeling that you get in your gut when you're asking somebody to do something that may be for your benefit but not necessarily theirs, we never go there. So how do we do that? We ask a lot of questions, we find out the pleasure and pain that people are having in their life and then back to your comments about a servant's heart we help them either solve that pain or experience more pleasure, and once we do that, we can help them. The bottom line is we help them go from the life they have to the life that they dream about. But we can't help them until we know what they need. So it's not what we need, it's what they need. So I'd like to suggest that it's the relationships first.

Speaker 2:

Once you have the relationships, then you find out what's going on in people's lives. Then you recognize those changes, and the changes often impact real estate. So love, death, divorce, job change, family growth, family decline all those things are going on, regardless of the economy, the interest rates, the inventory, all the things that kind of can be unstable for many agents, and what's happening these days is there seems to be a divide between those that are doing those kinds of things that create the relationships and those that are not. Because the reality is, the last couple of years the market has shifted and many of the people that I work with have decided that they're going to be on the right side of the divide by doing the daily and weekly disciplines and increasing the quality of those relationships. And when they do that, they start to experience an income that they're not necessarily used to. And when that happens, they focus on not the money but what the money will be for their family, for their life, and that that in lies the goal of the program.

Speaker 2:

It's not about more money, it's about more life, complementary way, right? What does your life look like if this business were to go exactly how you want it to go? And it never goes exactly how you want it to go, but what we're suggesting is practices that are easy to do and easy not to do, and what the people that are doing it? They start to develop daily habits and disciplines where they can't see themselves not doing it anymore. It becomes their identity. And once it becomes their identity, it's like telling somebody to stop brushing their teeth. They're just not going to do it. They're just going to keep doing what works for them. So, and again, I'm part of the equation. But more than that, I get to experience the stories about how lives have changed.

Speaker 1:

Boy. That was lots of takeaways in that segment. Eric, I want to go back a little bit to, you know, the I'll call it the COVID years. You know, kind of from April of 2020. I always say we had a 24 month spring market. You know, really, from June of 2020 to June of 2022.

Speaker 1:

And one of the observations I think those of us who have been in the business a long time and certainly during that period of time, realized that our business became transactional at the highest level during that timeframe. Even for individuals who may have been passionate about the Ninja platform, the market didn't allow you enough time. And so I do believe during that 24-month spring market June of 20 to June of 2022, our industry became really transactional, really transactional. And then June of 22, we get a report that inflation is at a 40-year high, at 9.1, interest rates go over 7, and the balance of 22 really began to look different. You already talked about a changing market and I think it remains out there that not everyone has moved to the other side of the divide. As you said, in this relationship, laser focus Would you agree that it's never been more important in our business?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Never, never been more important. The things that are going on in the world, the things that are going on in people's lives. We've got to dial into that. And one of the expressions I've liked to use lately is what got you here will not get you there, and you brought up transactional. The analogy is, if you're a fisherman, it didn't matter what was on your hook. There was fish jumping in the boat and agents were not saying, well, I'm going to stop pulling fish in the boat and work on my new technique for casting or a new bait system or whatever. There wasn't time. But when this shift happened, there was an opportunity to say they're not going to jump in the boat anymore, what am I going to do? And you know, it was a time for a lot of folks to sort of figure out where they were with their relationships, because the transactions weren't going to happen for transaction's sake. They were going to happen because of changes that were going on in people's lives and if you were a passive agent, it's very difficult to identify those.

Speaker 1:

I think I'm going to ask an interesting I think it's an interesting follow-up question, and that question is that the Ninja platform and we're not here selling it today. I want to be crystal clear with our listeners, but it does talk about a commitment to invest in my business, or invest in my life and one of the keys to success. I know you and I believe this is about having a plan and being intentional. I think your first statement today was about being intentional, and so I ask this question often. It's. We know that this particular selling strategy works. We know that when I get Ninja certified, I've invested X hundreds of dollars into a four day event and but I know I get my return on investment. So a couple of questions why don't more people do it? Would be number one, and do you find that those who do it just keep coming back for more?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so so why don't people do it? Why don't people do a lot of things that would be good for them? It does take discipline, but it also takes a goal right and then a focus on a goal. If I don't have a goal, Gary, I'm drifting and whatever I get, I get right. If I don't have a goal, how will I know when I get there it's not a plan, and hope is not a hope is not a plan either. Right and so. So that's that part of it.

Speaker 2:

I want to work with people who are so focused on what they want that they I mean they want it so bad and and they have to be way more motivated for their success than I do. And the other part of this is there's no such thing as an arrival. Nobody says I figured it all out and that's it, I can shut it down. What have you? They get on this path. We call it, we call it the ninja path, and once they're on the ninja path, they stay on there, keep coming back for more, because they want to continue to hone their systems and their life, improve the quality of relationships, and it just gets better and better unprepared Q&A 2024,.

Speaker 1:

Eric, what are some of your goals? What are some of your goals as you set forth to a pretty challenging year in the real estate business?

Speaker 2:

I still. My goal is to be in front of as many people who want to embrace life in this program, and I'm doing that in two ways one-on-one, small group coaching and then being on the road in front of groups of people and it'll resonate with some. It won't resonate with everybody, and that's okay. And then my goals are to use that platform to continue my energy and see we're trying to change the industry and I don't think there's a better time than right now to do that, because it's no longer easy.

Speaker 1:

So let's shift gears a little bit. To you know, we've got some changes upon us and I, like you, think that this might be the single most significant opportunity that our industry has ever had to raise its level of professionalism. I think this is a moment in time that real estate professionals should embrace with intensity and intentionality. I believe it. You've been doing it 25 years. I've been doing it 38 years. We've been at this craft and we've seen financial crisis. We've seen COVID and we've seen financial crisis. We've seen COVID. We saw 04 to 06, a friend of mine used to call it the hip hop years but right now we've got this change. And so, as you reflect on what's ahead of us and you think about some of the key tenants of Ninja, what are some of the many that you would highlight for our listeners that they really, really, really need to pay close, close attention to as they prepare for?

Speaker 2:

mid-August.

Speaker 2:

Let's first suggest that the public believes that most agents are the same, that we're all in this boat.

Speaker 2:

You know, as an industry, and you mentioned some of the changes that have gone on in your career One of the things that really good agents do is they adapt to the changes and they continue to speak confidently, competently and naturally about whatever it is that's going on. To expect that we wouldn't have changes is fool's gold, right. Fact that we wouldn't have changes is fool's gold, right. So one of the things that we're working on at Ninja is making sure that our customers, who are our agents, are speaking very clearly about what we call their value proposition. And you've had professionals in your life. You really don't care what the cost of doing business with them. That's your gal or that's your guy who's going to help you with those professional services. So, number one, we have to be clear about what it is that we're saying and then be so clear about it that the consumer has the confidence that, yes, you're going to take care of this, regardless of what the media is saying or what is pushing up against this.

Speaker 1:

How about this? Listeners, confident, competent and natural. I mean, think about that. You know, I had a guest on about a year ago, eric, talking about scripts, and he said I like to use the term planned response, which means that I know what I'm going to say, but it will sound different depending on who my audience is. I'm going to customize rather than be rote, and you just described it in the most concise way To everyone listening today go forward Confident, competent and natural, and I believe that, as I think of those three words, I've always said confidence is the key to success in the future. I think being natural in your demonstration of confidence and competence. So I love.

Speaker 1:

There's a lot that you have provided already in our short period of time together. I'm going to ask you to repeat one about the goal. There's a lot that you have provided already in our short period of time together. I'm going to ask you to repeat one about the goal when we first started To live the life. You know that one. I got it wrong. I'm going to write it down. Share one more time that sentence that you shared with one of the goals of Ninja.

Speaker 2:

Yes, so we're in the business of helping our people get from the life they have to the life that they dream about.

Speaker 1:

From the life I have to the life I dream about, which means what I have to dream Right. I have to dream and I also have to have an awareness of where I am Right.

Speaker 2:

It's so linear and logical, I mean, to most Right, and that's, that's how it works.

Speaker 1:

Eric, the other thing that really resonated with me back on May 16th was your acronym of Ford and really this concept of you. Know, we always talk about gosh. You got to be a great communicator and that means a great listener, and what you really shifted our team to was you've got to be great at asking questions. Like, listening is one thing, but I think you and I spoke for a moment about this concept of curiosity. You know, my word that I picked for the year of 2023 was just to be more curious. Now, that was asking more questions, but I left May 16th. I got to ask better questions, not just more, but better. So why don't you walk us through Ford? Because I think Ford is a playbook that everyone can insert into their playbook. That will help them become better at what I think they need to become better at, which is not just listening, but asking more and great questions.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, great, great lead in there, gary. You know most people enter a conversation not knowing that there could be a particular plan for the conversation. So I'm going to start at the end and say, when you have conversations, ask yourself at the end of those conversations what did I learn? And the only way to learn more about the person you're talking to is, number one talk less than the other person. And number two, ask great questions.

Speaker 2:

The moment we start talking, we actually are talking about a story that we already know and we're in the business of collecting other people's stories. So we have to do two things we have to ask really good questions and then be an excited listener. If you're an excited listener, people will keep talking about their story, which takes the pressure off you and allows you to figure out if and when you can help them with real estate or just life. So back to the servant's heart and helping people. So digging deep into these questions.

Speaker 2:

First of all, the number one question asked in today's society is how are you doing? And very rarely do you get an answer that it's different than something like fine or good. That is a dead end question because it doesn't create any depth or any long answer and, yes, people are being polite. So if you ask somebody how's work, guess what? The response is going to be Good fine, work. Guess what? The response is going to be Good fine. If you ask what has your attention at work these days, they could say something like well, if funny, you should ask. I'm working on my resume.

Speaker 2:

So you mentioned the word Ford. So let's break this down. Family is F, o is occupation. Family is F, o is occupation, r is recreation and D is dreams. Now, before you start freaking out, dreams are anything that can happen in the future. We're not laying people on the couch and saying what did you dream about last night? That's not what this is, and there's a progression of this. Do you have to go in the same order every time? No, sir, so catch me up with what's going on in your family would be a good question.

Speaker 1:

What are you?

Speaker 2:

and the family doing this summer? What's new with your three grandchildren right? And then occupation what has your attention at work these days? What's the direction of your organization? How do you see fitting into that organization in the future? Are you at your forever place, right? Recreation what are you doing for fun? What's on the agenda for the summer? What are your trips planned? And then finally D. You go deeper with D, but it can be kind of simple, like if you could have a dream to live anywhere. Where would that be? What are your long-term plans for? Your house would be a dream question If this family situation were to go exactly how you want it to.

Speaker 2:

What does that look like? If you could wave a magic wand and have the next 20 years be how you want them to be, what does that look like? And the other part of this is, if you want to get really good at it, make your next question embedded in the answer of the previous question. So what would be the first step with that? How would you like to do that? What are the specifics? Tell me more about that so we stay away from how's it going and we stay away from yes or no questions If you watch other people talk or listen to other people talk.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot of yes or no questions and those answers are either two letters or three, and then it's back to the question asker to come up with something. So ask good questions and then listen. Now we have to have a system to remember all of those things and for most people it's called writing it down somewhere like in your CRM, right Relationship manager. Contact relationship management system. Manager contact relationship management system. We're suggesting to agents today that they have 50 conversations a week and you run into 50 people without a problem. The challenge is they're not necessarily conversations, they are what we call interviews, and if you want to find out if you're interviewing or not, then again take inventory of what you collect from people and their stories, and if you get things related to their family, their occupation, their recreation and dreams, then you know you're on to something. And, by the way, as an aside, ford conversations, ford questioning, is free ah.

Speaker 1:

So one of the things that you will, if you haven't gone through Ninja or you will be reminded for those who have is so much of the plan is about a discipline and a consistency. You know it's interesting, Eric. I think about the 10 minutes we spent before we went on air and you know we talked about your 20 and 23 year old children. You made mention about my three grandchildren, I made mention of my 15 year old and you know my point is that everything you said is true, Like, and we did it unofficially, inadvertently, is true, and we did it unofficially, inadvertently, but with great care and concern. But here's the takeaway that I get from that last segment I met a guy yesterday and his son and I spent an hour with this guy. I'd never met him, talked to him. Super interesting guy, I know where he works, I know about his three kids, I know where he came from, I know that he's having lunch next week with a guy that I know very well, and so I just think to myself okay, I remember that because it was yesterday, but a week from today, I may not remember what I did the day before, a week from today, and so I want to just remind our listeners that it is critical to have your CRM in play. It's your process and your system. And then Gary Scott needs to leave that conversation.

Speaker 1:

Yesterday put something in my notes on my phone or my CRM is an app, but I could absolutely create five or six touches with this guy over the next 12 months. I just thought about it. From how was the lunch with the guy? Your son plays a sport here and a sport here, Going to be a junior, Thinking about colleges? I could ask him has he thought about my alma mater? I'm not going to call it the gamification of relationship building, but it is to some degree. Would you agree in a positive light?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and the opportunities that come out of that, the quality of that meeting and the potential touches and the quality of the relationship. You're demonstrating firsthand, gary, that you don't need thousands of people, you don't need to be carpet bombing neighborhoods with paraphernalia that says go with the 40. Absolutely, and you could tell by the tone of your voice that you with them and you're learning what they care about. And if you help them care about what they care about or pay attention to what they care about, this is this lifelong goal.

Speaker 1:

So a couple of minutes ago you used another statement that you talked about the next question, the answer embedded. I got it wrong, but I want to write it down. So just remind our listeners of that statement because I think that, as I've listened to you, eric, twice, that becomes. I think the key pillar to the great relationship building is that next question yes.

Speaker 2:

So the line is your next question is embedded in the answer of the previous question. Do we have time for a live demonstration?

Speaker 1:

Let's do it. Hey, you and I got time. Here's the good news this podcast, I'm in control. So, Eric, you and I are going to take whatever, because I'm fascinated by the role play. I was actually going to ask you to we could role play forward in a way that would be really cool. If not today, another day. So let's role play.

Speaker 2:

Okay so this will be a quick demonstration. You mentioned before that your grandson plays lacrosse. Okay, so I would say to you what's going on with your grandson and you would say he's six foot three, he's a burner and just loving lacrosse. The follow-up question is how long?

Speaker 1:

has he been playing? And I would say you know the irony, eric, is he's only been playing two weeks. He just got started, which is super exciting. And what did he do previously? So he was thinking about playing tennis in the spring, but he changed to lacrosse because it's much more like basketball which he plays. Ok, great and what year is he? He will be a rising freshman. He'll be in the ninth grade.

Speaker 2:

OK, and where does he live?

Speaker 1:

He lives in Charlotte but he attends school up in Massachusetts. Ok, great, and tell me about the rest of his family, Siblings. So he is an only child, okay, child of a single mother, which would be my daughter. Yep, and yeah.

Speaker 2:

That's great. What position does he play?

Speaker 1:

So only at three weeks. He's in the middle, but he wants to play midfield. That's what he wants to play, because he wants to be able to play both sides of the field sure, and when will there be an opportunity for you to see him?

Speaker 1:

uh, so I'm going to see him tomorrow afternoon in a one-on-one session that he's got, and my first game will obviously be next spring. Uh so, and then next week I'll get to go see him at camp here around the corner. So I'm excited about that. And then next week I'll get to go see him at camp here around the corner, so I'm excited about that.

Speaker 2:

And then your two other grandchildren are twins.

Speaker 1:

They're. They're twins and, at one month old, they're not playing any sports at this moment.

Speaker 2:

But but keeping their, their parents, on the on call Right.

Speaker 1:

Exactly.

Speaker 2:

That's fantastic. Well, congratulations on all three of them, and I know from our previous conversation how important family is to you, so I would embrace it all and have some fun with it.

Speaker 1:

He listened and I think you also said this with excitement, like you were very. I could tell so to our listeners. Eric and I can see each other. We have a platform which is a video, albeit our podcast is audio only, so Eric and I can see each other, and everyone knows that when you talk to somebody who's passionate and excited and enthusiastic, you see it in their eyes, you kind of feel it in their shoulders and their voice tells you everything you need Beautiful.

Speaker 2:

And you can absent of video. You can do this on the phone too, so we get into all the details about make your phone calls. Standing up, smile. When you make your phone calls Are people going to be delighted to hear from you because you have such interest in what's going on in their life.

Speaker 1:

Eric, I'm going to tell you a story you will love. So I think you know I grew up in a real estate family. Father had a real estate company that he started in 1961 in Wilmington, delaware, and when he had six offices he would, every single Saturday morning, he would call every office to talk to the duty agent and his whole reason for calling was he wanted to find out if they were smiling when they answered the phone. And he would call. And he would call each of the shifts on Saturday and he would say Eric, you're not smiling, you're not smiling because he could hear it on their voice Right, and you love that.

Speaker 1:

And I think you know the other thing that that he really stressed to me, eric, as I was growing up, and you alluded to it, that the the people that embrace Ninja. It's a journey and my dad always used to say you know the journey is what counts, you know the destination. He pushed the destination off because nine out of 10 times you get there and it's a little disappointing because we've stopped the journey. The journey is the reward. You know, the journey is the growth. The journey is when we expand our ability to be better communicators, better listeners, better question askers. I want to talk about overcoming obstacles and, if it's all right, can I ask a personal question? Sure, so, eric, you have a condition that you've had for a long time, and there are people that have conditions and they let the condition dominate their life. So I think it's really interesting, if you're good, to share a little bit of that story with us today.

Speaker 2:

I think it's really interesting, if you're good, to share a little bit of that story with us today. Sure, I'm glad we got quality conversations and questions handled before we got into this subject. But yeah, I was born with, with cerebral palsy and you know it's, it's been been a part of my life, but it hasn't dominated my life and call it an inconvenience, an extra challenge. It's made me tougher, it's made me more passionate. It's provided some opportunities for my own self-awareness that I don't think I would probably have. It's allowed me to ask for help when I need help.

Speaker 2:

But I grew up a sports fan. I am very competitive, I'm driven and it's just who I am. I haven't ever had a life without it. So in some ways it would be like what would it be like for you to have blonde hair? It's hard to even imagine. And I have the good fortune of having family members who have a brother that's 14 months older than I and growing up being a sports fan. I was part of the playground in the neighborhood game Somewhere. Somehow I was going to be a part of those things and that just continues.

Speaker 2:

Today I am on a very strict regimen of physical activity, taking care of myself. I have what I call a wellness team, and one of the takeaways that I hope people can pick up is that that part of my life is as systematized as anything else is. I don't have options. If I want a quality of life, I have to do the things that have been recommended to me by professionals using my wellness team, and so I'm doing something every day that have been recommended to me by professionals using my wellness team, and so I'm doing something every day, and it occurred to me not that many years ago that I will be in rehab every day for the rest of my life. But isn't that kind of what life is? Aren't we? Aren't we all trying to get better on a daily basis? And if you want the quality of life, you have to do the things, necessarily on a daily and weekly basis, to have that life.

Speaker 1:

Well, so I hope it was okay to bring it up, but I think you know, I watched you on May 16th and the energy and I knew that and I had never met you, eric, and I knew that this situation that you had was not a detriment to opportunity. And I think about all of us struggle at times with perspective. We think that what just happened to us was like this really awful, terrible thing, and maybe it's not. And I think that it's so critical today to keep everything in perspective. I think it's critical today, eric, that if something, if there's a pothole and we fall in it and we struggle with some of the changes in our industry, that that's just a growth opportunity. And I think the other thing that you mentioned which is critical is discipline and consistency and systematize. And I think that we have to remember that it's not just about our business. And you know, I know that if people are feeling better about themselves and themselves physically and emotionally and spiritually, they're going to be better real estate professionals. And so you know it's really important as people in our business and our listeners who are going to embark on this business, make sure that we take care of us, and I think it's just so darn critically important. We've got a little bit of time, let's shift some gears.

Speaker 1:

I think and I'll get it wrong, but I think there's the Ninja Nine. You've touched on a couple of them today. I think two of them, and I think it's one and two resonate. I think it's gratitude and show up. You want to just expand on that because those seem so easier, like really the 50 meaningful conversations. I got to go do that and then I got to take notes and then I got to put it in my CRM. But gratitude and show up, just maybe can you expand on that.

Speaker 2:

We really need number one showing up physically and mentally right. One of the things that we've noticed since COVID is there's been fewer people coming to the office, and our suggestion is to go where the conversations are about real estate. Our suggestion is to go where the conversations are about real estate. Get involved with your people. You mentioned what you're picking up on video, right, what you're picking up there. Get face-to-face with your people people in your database and your colleagues, because that's where the deals happen.

Speaker 2:

But the reason why we have showing up and gratitudes and we also have affirmations and writing two notes this is all about setting up your mindset to go out and be attracting business rather than being down things happening to you. You know and it's interesting, we're tying this conversation with your previous question If I act like a victim, I am probably not going to attract people that I can serve. So where is our focus? Is our focus on things that we can control, or is our focus on things we can't control? But we can complain about it and we've all met those people that there's always things happening to them.

Speaker 2:

We like to believe that things are happening for our people and I like to dig deep with this and say what causes you to skip to the shower in the morning, right, what causes you to get out of bed and say I can't wait to do blank today? Well, one of the things we do with Ninja is we develop those habits that are easy to do. Every morning it's just we call it the morning routine and then it's a means of travel. You travel throughout your day. We suggest having a couple of gratitudes before your feet hit the floor in the morning. Stay off the device, give thanks for what you have and see if the, if the path of your life over time changes and you have just a little bit of a different perspective.

Speaker 1:

One of the things that I added a couple of years ago was adding some gratitudes at the end of the day too. You know, intentionally, you know you start with, but you know we so often, you know, we have our to-do list, our systematized to-do list, and our day gets crazy. We go home at night we're wondering if we got anything done. And yet we got a ton done. Just might not have been all on the list. And I think that it's really important, and you and I have talked about this, eric. You know this, this concept celebrate the victories, celebrate the victories. I think it's so important to do that.

Speaker 1:

You know I'm sitting here thinking about a day in our life and I'm thinking about this gentleman I met yesterday and I'm thinking about the ninja write two notes. And I'm wondering why Gary Scott today didn't write that gentleman a note. Right, and I think everybody on this call has that moment Like gosh, what an easy note to write. And would that guy be shocked if he got? You know he'd be shocked. I think he would be shocked. He may not be shocked, he would certainly be surprised. He certainly wouldn't expect it. And this gentleman, eric, bought a home in Charlotte four years ago, not from our company, but in four years. If you know, if I build a meaningful, caring, servant-driven relationship, it doesn't mean we'll get the business. It does mean we'll probably have a shot at the business. Is that a safe?

Speaker 2:

assessment. Absolutely, we call it. You're in flow with that person, right? That person probably knows 12 real estate agents 12 real estate agents, ones that he never talks to, one that he sometimes gets stuff in the mail from and one that he's in relationship with, and it's your job to stay in relationship with him. So when real estate happens, you're already there. That's the beauty of this. Stop thinking about selling real estate and get in relationships. You're already going to be in their life. It's going to be natural, when the time comes for them to transact or refer the four people that they will know that will move in the next year, they'll think of you.

Speaker 1:

I go back about 20 minutes ago, eric, when you said about the 50 meaningful conversations versus 500 mailers, and I'm reminded of this three-step I don't know what you call it an axiom that I believe in, which is the first one I took from Steve Jobs less is more. Do fewer things better. Less is more, you know, do fewer things better. Simplify the complicated. We can make this thing really complicated and always put people first. Now you can switch those orders, but it really speaks to everything you believe in. You know, do?

Speaker 1:

I was interviewing one of our top folks from South Carolina and they have 10 people are in there on their A-list and they are relentlessly relational with those 10. Right, the other thing I was talking to a gentleman, a good friend of mine, and he's got his top 10 and then he's got his farm team. I'm thinking now he might have gone through Ninja. He's not in the real estate business. He was a top sales guy at Oracle and, eric, he said I got 10 people that I have meaningful conversations with every single month. Then I have 40 that are my farm team, which will become my, and I connect with them in a meaningful way every quarter, right? So the point to that is. That is his system. Whether it's a good system or a bad system, as you and I might define it, he's got a system and it works for him. Yeah Right, and I think that's where our industry, I think, falls short often.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So he's chosen a system that works for him and that's all that really matters, and we don't have to focus on it. But our industry. You don't have to have a system. Nobody ever asks you the people that license you, in whatever state. They don't ask you what systems you're using and the moment you pass a couple of tests and have taken the education, now you're uniquely qualified to handle the most significant investment in someone's life, and it doesn't say you have to do it with any system.

Speaker 1:

So we're going to wrap a bow around today. It was amazing. I'm going to encourage everyone listening. If you're walking, if you're driving, if you're working out, I would encourage you to listen to this guest, eric Zimmerman. I would sit down where you've got a pad and a paper. It's interesting, eric.

Speaker 1:

When I first began recording these podcasts and interviewing, I would take copious notes, and then I would forget my next question and I decided you know, I've there's six to eight phrases that you have shared with us today that are worthy of being put in a place that reminds us every day of it, and so I'm going to encourage every one of our listeners to listen again when you've got a pad and a paper and you can hit the pause button, so you can make sure that you take the takeaways and bring them to life. Our goal, eric, of this podcast is for everybody to take three things that they actually execute tomorrow to change the trajectory of their life and their business. That's our goal. Not 10 things, not 20 things. Just take three. You've given them about 30 to think about, which is great. So my final question may be my favorite. You've probably given it, through the course of our 45 minutes, the one piece of advice for every listener to help them achieve personal and professional goals and objectives over the next six to 12 months.

Speaker 2:

So, number one if you are walking or you are working out, just go another block. Just do a couple more reps, make yourself a little more uncomfortable than you did yesterday, because that is where the growth will happen. And, to follow Gary's advice, listen a second time with a pad and paper, and then I would encourage people to get real specific about their goals and then say what is the system I'm going to use to get after my goals, regardless of anything that I'm being challenged with, regardless of the things that I don't have control over. This is not a dress rehearsal. This is the story of this thing called your life. You are the author and the main character. It's a wonderful opportunity to write a story that has a wonderful journey and it's a great life, so let's go live it.

Speaker 1:

And Eric, I think I'm confident that you're going to be in Asheville in September. Is that true? I?

Speaker 2:

am Labor Day week. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to encourage anyone who is not registered to strongly consider registering. I think it's September 3 to September 6 in Asheville, north Carolina. I can't imagine a nicer place to be in September Maybe New England, but I think Asheville is pretty doggone nice and I want to just say thank you, thank you, thank you, eric Zimmerman, for being here, thank you for your giving to our company back in May and all the things that I know you do to impact and influence positively lives of people around this country and in this great industry that you and I are so passionate about. So, eric, thank you so much. I can't tell you how much we appreciate it and to our listeners, we love it when you tune into Reality Podcast.

Speaker 2:

Great Thank you.

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Gary Scott

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