From Intention To Execution: How To Do Much Less, Much Better with Mike Staver

The goals are solid. The calendar is full. Yet the results don’t quite match the promise. We dig into the real reason—and the fix—with leadership coach Mike Staver, unpacking why the gap between intention and execution is the most expensive space in our careers and how to narrow it with practical, human moves that compound.

We start with a reframe: you won’t “close” the gap overnight, but you can relentlessly shrink it. Mike lays out three levers that actually stick: do much less, much better; pair your commitments with someone you rigorously trust to hold you accountable; and run a fearless, facts-only inventory at least monthly. No judgment. No fluff. Just a clear compass that puts your energy where it pays off. From there, we explore how ordinary days become the launchpad for extraordinary outcomes. Most client experiences aren’t bad—they’re forgettable. The cure is operational basics done right and one small, human surprise that makes people feel seen.

If you work in real estate or any client business, this part hits hard: a vast majority of customers say they’d use their agent again, but only a sliver actually do. That’s the execution gap in bright lights. Instead of buying more leads, mine the living equity in your database. We share stories of agents generating listings with 15 focused minutes of outreach a day, plus simple scripts that feel natural even if you’ve been quiet for a while. Curiosity becomes your superpower—interest followed by inquiry—and noticing people becomes a cultural advantage that nourishes morale and drives referrals.

You’ll leave with an operating system for 2026 and beyond: fewer priorities done right, courageous reviews that keep you honest, hospitality moments that turn “fine” into unforgettable, and daily outreach that compounds trust. If you’re ready to align your actions with your aims and make ordinary days count, hit play, take notes, and try five calls today. If this conversation helps, subscribe, share it with a colleague, and leave a review so we can reach more people who want to do less, much better.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Word Game Setup

Gary Scott 0:00

Welcome to Reality Podcast. I am Gary Scott pumped today to be with one of my very best friends in the world, Mr. Mike Staver. Mike, welcome to reality.

SPEAKER_02 0:10

I can't even believe you had me back, man. I, you know, there is no accounting for bad taste. I really appreciate it.

Gary Scott 0:19

So Mike is the first, third time guest of the reality podcast. And I got to say, the first two, when we evaluated at the end of the year, I call it the top hits. Uh, you're always in in like, you know, I do 28. So you're in like the top 28 every year, Mike. That's so awesome.

SPEAKER_02 0:42

It's great. I thought you were gonna say every year we look at the top 28 and you finish 29th every day.

Gary Scott 0:48

No, of course, Mike. We go way back, partner. Like, I'm not gonna leave you out to dry, but we are pumped today. Uh, you know, we're in the first part of 2026, uh, you know, and uh I thought I'd have some fun today uh because uh, you know, I think sometimes I get uh in a routine and I think I want to shake it up a little bit. And if there's anybody in in this uh podcast that I've interviewed or might interview in the future that will play the word association game with me, and without incredible preparation, they'll go boom. So I got about five, four words and a concept. So we got about 45 minutes. So one of the words that I have been sharing with our team probably for the last 18 months is this concept of intentionality, being very intentional in everything we do every single day. When I share that word with Mike Staver, what comes to your mind?

Intentionality Defined: On Purpose Living

SPEAKER_02 1:46

On purpose. That's what comes to my mind is that we in our industry, all industries, but in our industry in particular, we can do this. This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes, wash our clothes. And so we just keep going through those motions, but we don't really set the flag on the hill and go, that's where I'm headed, and this is what I'm gonna do to get there, and that's what I need to do. So I think intentions on purpose as opposed to by accident, which is what a lot of us do, right? We, we, we let things come to us, we sort of we're a little bit like that sea an enemy waiting for something to drift by in the ocean so we can close on it. Uh, and I think that's really the most important thing is the more on purpose we can be today. I am doing this on purpose. What is that purpose? To accomplish that. That's what I would say.

Gary Scott 2:34

And one of the things that we talked about a little bit earlier was this concept. It was interesting because we were having a conversation of two friends who haven't talked for a while saying, How are we doing? And I shared with Mike we're gonna do the word association game. And interestingly enough, he said, Gary, you know, there's one thing I really like to talk about. I'd love to talk about there's a gap. And there's a gap that exists between intention and execution. And I said, I'm saying to myself, Oh, he's gonna love this tea up on the word. Uh so that came about, I call it karma more than anything else. So uh I got really interested in our preliminary conversation about this this passion you have about what do I do with the gap between my intention and my execution. Help our audience navigate it because everyone listening will be able to relate to this. I'm highly confident.

The Costly Gap Between Intention And Action

SPEAKER_02 3:26

I assume three things, uh Gary. I assume people are generally smart. I assume people have good intentions, and I assume most of us have a gap between our intention and our execution. Um, most of your listeners set some goals. Most of your listeners have an outcome they want. Most of your listeners are good at intention. Most of us get up in the morning with good intentions. Most of us get in our car with good intentions, most of us have good intentions. But I believe the most expensive, caustic, corrosive, dangerous gap we face, both personally and professionally, is that gap between our intention and what actually occurs. And then people come along, largely in my business, and they say, we need to close the gap. You're not going to close the gap. If you were going to close the gap, you would already close the gap. But what if we got committed to narrowing the gap? What if we got committed to, using intentionality? What if we got committed to intentionally narrowing that gap by five to 10% and we sustain that closure? You know, if you and I had gotten a boat and we left the harbor in San Diego, California, heading for Catalina Island, which is about 30 miles offshore, and we set our compass wrong and got about two degrees off course, we'd miss Catalina by tens of miles, maybe more. My belief is that if we can if we can narrow that gap by being intentional, by being really focused, I call it by by being relentless, which is I think the cousin of intentionality, being relentless in our focus, then we're gonna be a whole lot better. And I, my whole 2026 is committed to that narrowing of that gap. And a lot of people are gonna tell you, well, as long as your outcome's defined and as long as your intentions are defined, you'll be okay. No, you won't. And if you would be okay, we would all be okay, right? I mean, I can intend to work out, I can have a goal to reduce body fat. That is it, and if I'm at a Dunkin', if I'm face down in a Dunkin' Donuts every weekend, then gonna help me, right? The other day, man, I ate 15 donut holes in one sitting. And you know why, Gary Scott? Let me just share this with your listeners. This is a moment of wisdom. I hope all of you are taking notes. If you hang out at a gym long enough, an ambulance is gonna be in front of that gym. You hang out at a Dunkin' Donuts long enough, you'll never see an ambulance. I'm just leaving that right here.

Gary Scott 5:51

It's funny. I I I parallel the thing about Mike and I having a conversation is we'll go into uh a place that is not intended for reality, but I laugh about the donut hole because I always say when you go to a cocktail party and they have finger sandwiches, the little ones, like that doesn't count. You can have like 50. So, like to me, I have to go have dinner after I eat 50 little uh finger sandwiches or whatever, whatever. So Dunkin' holes, like there's no calorie in 15 dunkin' holes. Like that, but uh probably doesn't even add up to a donut. Yeah. Well, all those sandwiches I ate was like a half, right? What's interesting, and and and you know, I want to talk a little bit about uh well, I want to come back and see are are there one, two, or three tips you can give our listener who says, Mike, I get it. I've got these intentions and I and I I'm I'm out of denial of a gap. Like I would say, you know, the 12 steps to recovery, I gotta get out of denial. So I've accepted the gap. What can you help me do? And I love I love this. You're not gonna close the gap. Let's narrow the gap. Yeah, Mike's watching. I'm taking note. Like I wrote down that. Relentless is the cousin of intention. I love that. So help give us one, two, or three tips that we could do tomorrow to begin narrowing that gap.

Three Tactics To Narrow The Gap

SPEAKER_02 7:18

Yeah, this is gonna make most of your listeners, because we're all in real estate, quiver a little bit. Number one thing to narrow the gap. Do much less, much better. Um, do much less, much better. Most the definition of focus is not what you say yes to. It's what you say no to. So, number one, do much less, much better. Uh, every yes must inform a no. Let me say that again. Every yes must inform a no. And what that means is if you're gonna say yes to this, what are you willing to say no to? Our industry is built on bolting things on, right? Uh, agents believe that we add more, add more, add more. Brokers believe more programs, more services, more this. And I think we need to do much, less, much better. And if we do much, less, much better, we're gonna accomplish, we're gonna narrow that gap better. Number two, make sure that you have somebody around you that you trust that you can be vulnerable enough with to hold you rigorously accountable for the much less you're gonna do, much better. And then number three, the third thing is make sure that you're doing a fearless, speaking of 12 steps, doing a fearless inventory at the end of every month into how well you were intentional and how well you were relentless this month. Now, I am not very bright, as you're painfully aware, and so I do these every week. Um, tomorrow I'm driving to Palm Springs uh to meet with a client. To meet with a client, and uh, I'll do an inventory in the vehicle on the way there because what I know is our brains, Gary, are not our friends. They they want to run around and play games and get us distracted and make excuses. They're not our friend, our brain is not our friend. So we have to harness all of that massive energy between our ears, and we we harness that energy by doing those things I mentioned.

Gary Scott 9:12

So you and I have had a conversation for the 25 years that we've known each other. The importance of words and words matter. And so uh, you know, one of the things I love about interviewing the guests of of reality is, you know, I take notes because every day I I want to learn how to be better at my craft. And so so there are two words you use. You know, it's so interesting to me, and and you and I could talk for hours and hours and hours. You know, I love much less, much better. Uh I will tell you that uh recently throughout our organization, we've kind of adopted the book Science of Scaling.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

Yeah, so good.

Gary Scott 9:51

And we've identified impossible goals, you know, less it's less is more. It's Steve Jobs, it's what you just said, it's what you just said tight timelines, you know. Uh and so what's interesting is my coach works for the author of that book. Really?

SPEAKER_02 10:07

Yeah, yeah.

Gary Scott 10:08

I mean, we have taken it across the enterprise and and the acceptance and the understanding of it has been remarkable. Now, again, but I love it. That's our intention. Yeah, I'll report back next year. Did we execute what we need to do? Uh here's the other one. In your number two point was rigorously. It was uh the first word was trust, right? Find someone you you trust, not just trust. Right. So I trust them rigorously. Like that's a different person.

SPEAKER_02 10:45

That's right.

Gary Scott 10:46

I love that. I love that. And Mike knows this. Uh Mike today is not my everyday coach, but in a moment of need, I'll ping Mike and he'll be in Hawaii and he'll ping me back. And like I trust Mike rigorously. Now, I know he would love to have the weekly deal because that would be a great deal for us.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

I wish your credit card trusted me rigorously.

Gary Scott 11:06

But the point is, and then the other one is fearless inventory. And that's what you said, not just take inventory. Yeah, it was it was the word for I'm I think I I can't recognize my own writing. It was fearlessly, right? Yeah, fearlessly take inventory. Not it's not do more, it's not, hey guys, here's my three tips. Do less, find somebody you trust, and take inventory. Ah, that feels like another that feels like a day in the park. Yeah. So anyway, I just I wanted to highlight.

Do Less, Much Better And Accountability

SPEAKER_02 11:43

But if you find somebody that you rigorously trust and you do a fearless inventory, then you're gonna be telling yourself the truth. And look, let's let them off the hook, right? Let's let some people off the hook. Let's say, oh, I'm scared to look in the mirror. I'm I I have fear. Okay. Remember that the definition of courage is not the, and maybe we should change it to a courageous inventory, because the the presence of courage does not equal the absence of fear. In fact, I would I would propose that the presence of courage means we have to move forward despite whatever fear we have. The power is in the acceptance of reality. Uh, somebody once said to me, Mike, I feel like I'm going crazy. And I said, You are definitely not going crazy. They said, How do you know? I said, Because one of the definitions of people that go crazy is they don't think they're crazy. So the work is about saying, I've got to look in the mirror. You know, I just said with an executive right before the podcast, Gary, they said, Um, what was Mike, what's one of the greatest lessons, most freeing things you ever learned? And I said, I think one of the most freeing things I ever learned was that I realized that every day when I look in the mirror, 95% of my problems are staring back at me. And the moment I realized that was the moment freedom descended on me because I no longer was waiting for Gary to change or the market to change or my spouse to change or anything. If I know the problems are, I don't have to beat myself up, but I have to do an inventory because if I don't, I could go whistling through the park thinking, uh, everything's great. And by the way, when you do a rigorous or when you do a courageous or fearless inventory, that's not the bad stuff. You get to go, wow, I really killed it here, and I missed it there. And and put that out in front of us so that it isn't so personal. Because all of us, and you and I have had more than one occasion breaking bread together where we were like, man, I that just wasn't good, or man, I'm really struggling here. Wow, that that's where that's where the humanity comes in, which so so many people in my business, in my industry, want to say, you know, just put on a happy face and say great things to yourself. Well, some days are just not that great. But that's where courageous inventory comes in, without judging, by the way. A courageous inventory is stating the facts, not stating the feelings associated with the facts. And what I mean by that is if I say, wow, I had a month where I did three units and I wanted to do five units, that's a fact. If I say, wow, I had a bad month because I did three instead of five, that isn't where an inventory shifts from an inventory to judgment. Judgment never helps. The more judgmental we are, the more our energy is drained.

Gary Scott 14:34

So I I love that. That's uh that's a high-level class that you could teach for a couple of hours. That that's that's pretty deep. But again, I think that we talked earlier about some static, some statistics and metrics. Numbers are really important. And if you understand the number and you can do something with the numbers, you can probably be impactful. Two two things strike me. Number one, you mentioned this word earlier in our interview, which is the word vulnerability, which really speaks to what you just talked about. Uh, and then the other thing, and I'm reminded you remind me of my father as a young man growing up, and I would go talk to my dad about anything. He would listen, he was the greatest listener, and uh, I you know, people called him a salesman. I would say sometimes he was the manipulator, decide which one you chose on the next one.

SPEAKER_00 15:18

The fine one.

Gary Scott 15:19

Mike Saver, no matter what he would say to me, says, I want you to go into that bathroom and look in the mirror. That is where everything that you need to know is. Wow.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

That's awesome.

Fearless Monthly Inventory And Truth

Gary Scott 15:32

Mike is like five years old. So I've been doing this for my dad. That that it was the mirror tells that's the game film. That's it. That's the game film. And so I love that you shared the same thing that your moment of freedom was when I understood that 95% of it like in and it's funny. I talked into a group today, and I said, You can't wait for anything, you can't wait for interest rates, you can't wait for inventory, you can't wait for permission at the snow to melt in Charlotte, North Carolina. Who would who would who would think, right? And and so I I think that's such an interesting concept. So, anyway, we talked about intentionality, we talked about execution. Uh, one quick story, I'll tell you that our company came up, and I'm not going to be too specific. We had this incredible strategy that I thought was great. We had great intention. And when we did our courageous inventory, we did not execute the plan we had developed. So the nice thing about business plan 2026 was we don't have to build a new plan. We just have to execute the one we got. That's it. And and make sure that there's that we do fewer things much, much better. So the book has helped provide that it's a compass, it's a rudder, it's above the line versus below the line, right? It's uh it's awesome, as as you know. Uh the other thing you and I talked about uh as we thought about what would be super interesting for our listeners is you know this concept of uh ordinary and extra, you know, I would say I I say it extraordinary, and I know most people just say extraordinary. So I say ordinary and extraordinary. So we had a brief conversation, and I got intrigued by you know how how passionate you are about this concept of like what does move us from this to this, yeah and and why this is okay, but this might be better.

Ordinary Versus Extraordinary Service

SPEAKER_02 17:32

You want to take our our our listeners and myself down the I have a very friend who is an athlete, was an athlete, and is an athlete, thankfully, who uh ended up unknowingly with a dissected aorta, which your listeners may or may not know that about 97, 98% of people with a dissected aorta don't survive. She was a high-altitude athlete. Her doctor tells her that's probably the only reason she survived. I saw her a few months after her surgery, and I said, Terry, uh, what have you learned from this? I mean, 13 hours of surgery, died twice on the operating table, complete organ failure the next day. They rewired her organs and brought her back to life. And I said, What have you learned? And she said this, and it really changed my whole filter for the world. She said, Mike, the day before your life changes forever will be just an ordinary day. Don't waste ordinary days. I mean, I was a fork drop moment sitting at that in Salt Lake City, and I was like, oh my God, that's so good. Either way, the way either changes for the worse or changes for the better, the day before your life changes forever will be an ordinary day. Don't waste ordinary days. That's number one. Number two, most problems that we face in real estate aren't because the experiences that we provide are bad. It's because they're forgettable. And when we create experiences that are forgettable, not because they weren't good, not because they were bad, then we become commoditized because they don't remember it. Because why? This is the way we wash our clothes, wash our clothes. And if it's a second, third time home buyer, they're like, oh yeah, that's what we do. We look at houses, we make an offer, we write a contract, we argue about the light switches, we find out the sump pump's not working, and we're everyone screaming, keep the deal together. But what if, what if we decided that we were going to go through the ordinary steps we take, the ordinary way we deal with clients, the way we wash our clothes, and we say, What could I do that's extraordinary? You know, uh Ghidara that wrote Unreasonable Hospitality, I'm a huge fan. I've listened to his book twice. And he says, the way to be in his business, you know, he owned the number one restaurant in the world, and when you know you want to be extraordinary or extraordinary, is when you are nominated as one of the top 170 restaurants in the world, and you get to go to this banquet with, I mean, how many restaurants are in Charlotte? I mean, hundreds. And he's in the top 170, and he reports sitting in the room, and they announced the 170th best restaurant in the world that was his, and he was furious. 170 in the world. Some years later, several years later, he's number one. And this is what he says. If you want to be, he doesn't use the word extraordinary, but you and I'll use it. You have to be more human than the person next door. You have to be more connected, and you have to continually surprise them with things they didn't expect in the place that they are, as an example. Uh couple is visiting New York. How was your trip? Uh, it was great. Anything you didn't do? Yeah, we're leaving tomorrow morning. Thing we didn't do was we wanted one of those New York hot dogs from a street vendor, right? And the server's like, oh wow. Now, this is a five-star restaurant. Waiter leaves the restaurant, goes down the street to a hot dog vendor, buys a hot dog with all the fixings, takes it to the chef, they slice it in bite-sized pieces for enough people at the restaurant, put it on a plate, bring it out, and say, this will complete your experience in New York. That's crazy. So I don't want your listeners to hear me say that it's about giving better service, because everybody's trying to give better service. Remember, I said most of the ordinary things we do are acceptable and people will recommend us, and that's all great. But how do we take the ordinary and make it extraordinary? And you know what it takes, Gary? Just one more step, just one more piece of humanity, just one more thing. Our whole brand is built on that. The more we can flawlessly execute on the notion of being more human and more connected, so that people are like, wow, I didn't see that coming. In a good way, better we're all gonna be. And so I encourage your listeners to ask themselves what are the ordinary things I do every day that could be extraordinary in nature? And it doesn't have to be big, just a few things. So we're not battling good service versus bad service. What we're battling is forgettable. We want to be memorable in the most positive way. So people go tell the stories. Can I share one quick anecdote from Extraordinary? So I'm asked to speak in Texas for a great company, and they're gonna do this two hours south of the Dallas Fort Worth Airport. So I fly in nine o'clock. I got to drive. I'm driving to the middle of nowhere. The middle of nowhere. I mean nowhere. Two hours south. And you know, no lights. My GPS says the you're gonna turn left at the next light. There's no light, Gary. There's no light. I mean, there's nothing. All of a sudden, a spot, uh, a uh, what do you call it? A street light, stoplight, says turn left. I turn left. There's a big sign, the sign's tilted, it's flickering like this movie from Psycho, and it says, I think it's Interstate Motel. And I'm like, really? This company makes a lot of money. It's the best they could do. I pull in, it's 11 o'clock at night. There is a pink 1964 convertible Cadillac in the portacochet. So I can't pull up there. I'm like, that's the coolest car I've ever seen. Do you remember when you were a kid and you your parents would take you to those roadside motels where you'd pull up in front of the room? They had the pool, the kids, we all jump in. That's this place. And I'm like, wow, that's so interesting. I walk in, I expect some lady, what time are you checking in? No. I walk in, the lobby is beautiful. There's artwork on the walls. I mean, it's gorgeous. There's a college, turns out she's a college student. She says, Mr. Staver, welcome to the interstate in. We're so glad you're here. We've been tracking your flight to make sure it was on time. We're so glad you're here. Can I get you something to drink before you get to your room? I go, nope, just want to get to my room. She had my keys ready. She goes, You're going to park around the back because they filled in the courtyard with a pool, et cetera. She goes, In the morning, we'll deliver your room service for your breakfast between seven and eight. I go, no, no, I've got coaching sessions. Don't need to do it. They go, no, we'll just put it outside your room because it's an enter from the outside hotel. I walk in the room, there's a pencil. It's sitting right here in the studio. It says, please plant this pencil when you're finished so that you will never forget your experience at the Interstate Motel. It's a pencil with seeds in the eraser that grows forget me nots. What? The next morning I wake up, I open my door, there's one of those old Stanley metal toolbox uh lunch boxes. I open it up. There's an apple, a cheese stick, a muffin, a full thermos of coffee, and it says, Welcome to your next best day. With my ow. I have told that story a thousand times about the Interstate Motel in Stephenville, Texas. Why? I stay in hotels every night, brother. Why? Because their attention to detail was extraordinary, but the way they handled me from the moment I pulled up till the moment I left was off the charts. And it took no additional effort. It just took paying attention.

Gary Scott 25:23

So, Mike, uh not this is not to one-up you, but I I stayed in a hotel the other night in Hiltonhead. And when you turned the shower on, there was no hot water.

SPEAKER_00 25:32

Oh.

Gary Scott 25:33

So I went down, talked to Lady, and Lady says, We're we're not having a problem. I said, Well, we may not have.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

I am.

Gary Scott 25:39

But but I am. Oh no, it's fine. Okay. I'm I'm just going on the record. It's really not fine. And so the funny thing is, it was literally, she believed that there was no problem. And I and I just I kept saying to her, but there's no problem. I'm not really complaining. Like I'm not coming down here. I don't have hot water. And she was in denial. My point is think about the story Mike shared. Think about the story I shared. And we all have them.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

That's right.

Unreasonable Hospitality Stories That Stick

Gary Scott 26:11

We all have them. It's interesting. I sent out, I think you received a I sent out a bunch of quotes the other day. And then, you know, I think it was Rockefeller. I'll probably get it wrong. But he said the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is just simply doing the common things better than anybody else. Exactly right. Like it's it's very, very similar.

SPEAKER_02 26:30

So uh you know what Bill Marriott said, speaking of hotels? I just love this so much because it speaks to executing on the hot water as well as making sure I have a pencil, little girl, forget me nuts. Bill Marriott once said, I'll probably get it wrong as well, but Bill Marriott once said, there's not enough chocolate you can put on the pillow to make up for a dirty bathroom. It's so perfect, right? You can't you can't make this good enough to make up for that. It doesn't matter what happened at that hotel. You didn't have hot water.

unknown 27:03

Simple.

Gary Scott 27:04

Yeah, the restaurant could have been great. Uh yeah, it's I'll never go back there. Had they said, you know what, we got a problem. I'm sorry, you know, I I can you we'll let you leave without paying. Like I will, you know, I would have stayed because it was way inconvenient to put my stuff back in the bag. It's just it's so interesting when you do a deep stuff uh deep analysis on life's experiences, both good and good and bad and great. And and I would charge our listener, it's an exercise I think Mike has had us do in the past, is take a minute and think about that bad experience. Yeah, think about the great one.

SPEAKER_02 27:42

What's the difference?

Gary Scott 27:42

Where are you? Yep, the continuum. And can you make your client feel the way you did when Mike went to his hotel? Yeah, or are you saying, you know, I can't really.

SPEAKER_02 27:55

That's just the way it is here. That's the way that yeah, that's the way transactions go in real estate.

unknown 28:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Well, fortunately, you and I only take showers once a month, so that hot water didn't really.

Gary Scott 28:05

Yeah, I mean, and you know, a five-minute cold shower never hurt anybody. But uh the uh I I I do want everybody to know at the awards event that I was at the next day that I did shower. I mean, it's going on the record. Like I didn't let a little adversity get in the way of progress. That's right. Uh I'm gonna share some numbers, and then I'm gonna share a number that I'm highly confident drives Mike Staber absolutely crazy. So I'm ready for it. I know you are, brother. I love did you know? So I'll give you a couple fun did you know. Did you know that 82 percent of the people will pay for whatever the price is if they deem it a value? 82. 82% will pay if they think it's of value. Yeah, right? That makes all the sense in the world. You know, you and I drive different cars, we buy different like that. Makes all the sense in the world. We we go to Starbucks, we don't go to Starbucks, we go to Neiman Marcus, we go to Joseph Bank. Like, if 82% of the population, if it's of value to them, will pay it. I think that's an interesting step. Yeah. The other one, I don't know if it's fact or fiction, 76% of the people who try to negotiate with you will accept no for an answer. They just feel compelled that they need to. Yeah, they have to get it. Yeah, yeah. And so I share that to our listener as they get out there in the world. Like everyone's gonna take a shot at the negotiation. I was talking to a guy the other day, and he said, Well, if I didn't ask for it, I wouldn't get it. I'm thinking that guy just anti-negotiated. Uh I I shared the other one earlier about the sphere of influence. 88% don't add to to the uh to their to their uh sphere of influence. Uh the other one, it's interesting, uh, not necessarily related to anything, but uh there are more six, there are more mortgages today over six than under three. More mortgages today over six than under three. Oh, wow. And I think that's really fascinating. And that just happened.

SPEAKER_02 29:57

I didn't know that. That's amazing.

Gary Scott 29:59

Uh and I saw a grid yesterday which showed where they are. And so it's it's it just shows that the market is is moving to normal and balance. Now, this is the one that drives you crazy. And I just saw a most recent number out of KCM. So again, uh, it is 30 days after buy or sell, consumer gets surveyed. Question is, would you use your agent again? And the answer is yes. The latest stat I saw was the truth of the matter is only 8% do. Now, whether that's the right number or the wrong number, let's just say 80% say I will, but only 20% do. Mike, I know for the two decades you and I have been friends, whatever those numbers are. I remember the first one I saw was like 73 and 19. Yeah. Whatever the numbers are, drive you and I crazy.

SPEAKER_00 30:53

Yeah.

Gary Scott 30:53

Help our listeners bridge that gap, take advantage of that opportunity, and don't let you be that percentage.

Value, Negotiation, And Memorable Service

The Database Gap: Use Again Vs Do

SPEAKER_02 31:03

Yeah. You know, speaking of gaps and speaking of narrowing the gap between intention and execution, is there a better example? I might have a stroke. I mean, I can't believe it. Think about this. I all of you who are listening, I want you to think about how many real estate transactions you have done or your team has done, or some or you have your group has done in the last, let's say, what do you think, Gary? Five years. Let's just say, right? And let's say you do 10 a year. I mean, which, you know, that's whatever, whatever it is. That's 50 in five years. That means of those 50, 80% of those people say, I love this person so much. By the way, uh, even if they were moving out of town, they say, I love you so much, I'd use you again the next real estate uh transaction. And yeah, and less than, let's just go with 20, less than 20% actually do. Now I know what some of the listeners are thinking. They're thinking, yeah, but people die, people go, people move, you know. Okay, what percentage? Another 20? Another 30. Now we've got 80% say they will, 50% um actually ever do. That means you have 30%, 30% locked in income in your database right now. 30% of your database right now is saying, I would write you a check. I would get in a car on Sunday and go to open houses with you. I would do this. But we don't narrow that gap. Why? We're buying leads, we're we're we're doing all this stuff to generate new business. You know, an economist will tell you it is easier to sell something new to an existing customer than to sell something uh existing to a new customer. So let's think about this for just a minute. Let me give you a practical example. I've got a client in Florida, sales manager of sales office. She went to Profit Power and she got all the transactional information for all the agents in her office. And at sales meeting, she handed out a file with the names, contact information for every single agent's transactions for the last several years. She challenged them to take 15 minutes, call five people on that list during the sales meeting. They did. Multiple appointments came out of that, and every agent said, if you'd have told me to do this, I would have never believed it. Case in point, in California, 70, 80 million dollar agent. I challenge her. Let's open up your database and let's just do dialing, let's just spin the roulette wheel and let's just find people at random. I go, how much you willing to do? She goes, I do so much business, I don't have time for this. I'm like, eh, let's just try it. How much are you willing to commit? 15 minutes a day. All right, 15 minutes a day for two weeks between now and our next. She wrote$5 million in listings in two and a half weeks. Now, uh, oh, is that that easy? People leave, I've got bad. Whatever it is, do a fearless inventory. If you're out there looking for ways to prospect, if you're out there looking for ways to get more business, most of it's in your database. Oh, but Mike, I'm a new agent. I just started. Okay, great. There are people in your sphere of influence right now who either don't know they are looking for a house or do know who don't really want to ask you because it's never occurred to them. Do you know, Gary? I have people in my personal life, friends, who are in a difficult situation at work who never one time ask me a single question. And I said, you know, it would be great if you had a friend who was a coach, and they're like, we never even thought about it. Okay, let's chat. So um here's the deal. The reason that gap makes me so crazy is it's what I call the gap of inefficiency and laziness. And this is fundamentally the problem. The problem is the mindset we have about what business we're in. If you believe that you are in the transaction business, then you will become a transaction junkie and you will only care about the next transaction. You will say, Is it gonna close? Is it gonna close? What's my next one? When's my next one? And after a while, you're just like that pigeon hitting the bell to get the seed, hit the bell, get the seed. And it's like a see an enemy, something like drifts past us and we close on it. But what if you took 30 minutes every single morning and you said, I'm gonna connect with every single person I possibly can? Oh, I'm embarrassed, I haven't talked to them in a long time. Then say that. Say, hey, I'm embarrassed. I should have reached out to you a long time ago. I just got challenged by some dude on a podcast to reach out and touch someone, like ATT used to say, and I'm just calling to say hello and I hope you're doing well. And are you still in the same house you were in at 123 Mockingbird Lane? Just call my bluff, everybody. Just start digging deeper into the people who already know, love, and trust you and see what happens.

Gary Scott 36:02

Hey, Mike, I have a story that'll that'll drive you increasingly crazy. Somewhere along the line, I'm I must have done a social media post that basically said, pick five people you haven't talked to in three years and call. Well, a guy, a friend of mine I used to work with, and now I'm gonna put him in the witness protection program, but the guy is a great agent that does like over 100 million. He responds to my social media post, what would I say to them? Right to our listeners who aren't viewers, I'm like about to like and so I called him. I called him, I said, Joe, his name's not Joe. I said, Joe, like, you are an incredible, like what? I said, try this. I was driving down the road, I heard a song, and it reminded me of when we were in school together. Like, I said, it's it's like not that hard. So one of my favorite Mike Staver uh quotes is I think you talk about Martin Luther King. Well, I had a dream, and you say something like, probably would have been different if you said I had a hunch of that one. Like, like, you know, if he you know, it would have it would have lost some of its its uh flavor if he just had a hunch.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Right.

Gary Scott 37:19

And and and I share this, and I'm gonna piggyback off you. So I do have a dream on a Tuesday afternoon from three to four, that every one of our agents in the southeast part of Howard Hannah, which includes Virginia, 2,100 agents, called five people. Can you imagine?

SPEAKER_02 37:37

Like we would hit every goal. Oh, 10,000 people contacted in three hours. I mean, that'd be crazy.

Gary Scott 37:45

Right? And and think of like it, it's so interesting to think about that, right? Uh, and so I I just I'm gonna piggyback on your challenge. Uh, you know, I did a little uh video today that said, you know, I believe, and I'll piggyback off of your commentary, your database in 26 and beyond is the most significant currency you have or will ever have. Yeah, it is your retirement, it is your current. It it is and and I just think we miss it.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

I do too. And and and let's talk about the rookies. Let's let's talk about the new agents that are listed. I don't have a database, what am I supposed to do? You do have a database. You know people, you're connected to people, you go to the grocery store, you're involved in your church, your community, your gym. I'm not saying start selling real estate because it drives me crazy. People wear their name tags of the gym or whatever they do. What I'm saying is every opportunity. I've got a client in Texas, an agent, she's a phenomenal agent. She's involved in everything just because she likes doing it. And she says, I just did this deal the other day in one, two, three, mockingbird lane. And yeah, it was really awesome when they're talking. Pretty soon someone's like, Oh, yeah, I forget you do real estate. You'd be shocked how many of your friends and family and colleagues that are laying around town forget, right? I mean, how many of our how many of your listeners have had an experience where a family member hired somebody else? My family. My mom, we were my mom wanted to sell her house because she wanted to move into this fancy assisted living. And uh my brother called and said, Yeah, we're not sure we're gonna list it. We may do a for sale by owner, and blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, I said to my mom, wouldn't it be awesome if your daughter-in-law ran a real estate company in Arizona? And wouldn't it be awesome if your son was one of the leading coaches in the country for real estate? Oh, yeah, that's right. You are I'm like, oh my God. So what you want to think about, there is gold on the ground around us. We just have to pick it up. Now, Gary, I'm gonna be honest, you and I tend to be oversimplifiers. I'm not saying it's easy. I'm saying it will be easier than you think it will be. And by the way, if if you don't have something to say, just say, hey, I made a commitment this year to reach out and say hello to people I haven't talked to in a while. And you were on my mind, and I decided to give you a call. How are you? How are things going? What's happening? I feel like I was terrible not to reach out sooner.

Prospecting Gold In Your Past Clients

Gary Scott 40:08

I I I I I think that uh you know, you hit such uh a nail on the head. I I think about where we are in the market area. Yeah, and I think you know, I uh did a session yesterday with our brand new to the business. And you know, here's what's interesting. In 1986, Mike, when I got in the business, if I did not turn in my 100 names, numbers, there was no email back then. And now self, okay. Now we're dating myself. So anybody who was around in 1986, at my at the company at my father's company, if I didn't have a hundred, no phone duty, no open houses, no touring buyers. That's it. Period. Simple. So I said to these guys, I said to these guys yesterday, I said, if you're not willing in the next three weeks to put 250 names in, I'm not convinced you're gonna be successful. Like I've decided that I'm not holding back anymore. No, I am not gonna hold back. So think about this, Mike. I don't mean to interrupt you, but think about this. We live in the Carolinas, North and South Carolina. A lot of us are not from the Carolinas. I'm from Delaware. So I've got a lot of friends who went to high school, college. Like, think about calling people you know that live there and calling and saying, hey, just reaching out, you know, we've got this, you know, we got this influx of people into the Carolinas. You know, a lot of people aren't going to Florida, they're coming to the Carolinas. And, you know, I just I just thought about you. I know, you know, you're my age, you're thinking about repair. Have you ever thought, yep, are you or your family thinking about the Carolinas? Yeah, you know what they're gonna say? You know what? I heard about Wrightsville Beach. What do you think? You know what? We don't have an office there, but I've got I'm part of the leading RE network.

SPEAKER_02 41:52

Think about, and here's the And even if they said they were interested in Florida, you're still a part of the leading RE network.

Gary Scott 42:00

And I might not have talked to that person for 30 years. Here's the other part that I will guarantee everybody the call will be fun and and beneficial to you, the caller. That's right. Because half of the people, Mike Staver, will say to you, you know, I kind of needed this call.

SPEAKER_02 42:23

Yeah.

Gary Scott 42:24

Am I right? Yeah, because you and I do it. You and I do it. Right. And so uh that database is your currency, knock it out of the park. All right, Mike, we're coming to a close. I'm gonna have some more fun. Uh, our good friend Mike Staver has written a book which we talk about a lot in our emerging leader program called Leadership Isn't for Cowards. And I found the little quote book that came out before the book. So I thought we'd put a little uh a lot of times my rapid fire is X, Y, or Z. I'm gonna give a little home cooking, home game, rapid fire. I'm gonna read one of your quotes from your book. Yay, either expand on it or say, I don't know where I got that, but it's a good one. I stole it. Go to the next one. Yeah, exactly. I I didn't give credit where credit. Great questions. Always start with a mindset of authentic curiosity. You have to want good answers in order to ask good questions. I opened up to that one. I'm not sure I could have picked a better one, Mike.

SPEAKER_02 43:25

That's the best one. I love that. Um, and here's why. I, you know, you know, Gary, and some of your listeners know me and know I am not very smart. And so I can barely find my way into the kitchen in the morning. So I decide I look up words, and one of the words I looked up was curiosity. And the definition of curiosity, it's dictionary.com or one of them, says the definition of curiosity is interest followed by inquiry. Listen to that. Interest followed by inquiry, which means if you're just asking a lot of questions for

New Agents, Real Networks, Real Calls

Gary Scott 44:00

question say you're just obnoxious you're just obnoxious but what if you were really interested what if you were really interested then that interest is going to lead you to ask good questions and those good questions are going to lead you to good conversation so that's the way I feel you know I even if it's something negative I'm like that's I'm so curious about how that happened so that you can work it's a muscle it's a it's a neurological muscle that you have to create interesting story I had dinner last weekend and or last week and I knew the wife I knew the couple I was with I didn't know the husband of this couple and we got talking he was sitting across from me and you know I I always will ask about kids he was about my age you know five kids the last two were twins that's a whole other conversation you know I I don't drink but I almost started thinking just at the thought of it well long story short they he says where'd you go to school they went to the University of Delaware I said oh geez you know my family's had season tickets at Delaware for 58 years always wanted to go play football there didn't get recruited there I said yeah when did you graduate he said 1985 I said well I was 1986 i went to high school in Delaware and where'd you go to high school and their kids went to St. Joe and it's a great conversation so all of a sudden he says where'd you go to high school and I said I went to Wilmington Friend School dead silence he says my college roommate went to Wilmington Friend School and he said do you know Adam Balick I said Adam Ballock was one year ahead of me dah dah dah da and then I said you know his father was a well known attorney in town and named a guy named Sid Ballock and I said you do know his father would go to the YMCA the Central Y in in Wilmington Delaware every day at 10 1150 and run five miles. And he said he did it every single day. So all of a sudden there's a connection and and now it's way more right uh Rich Gannon who played quarterback at Delaware and for the Oakland Raiders went to his high school and yesterday I'm watching something on TV and there's Gruden and Gannon and you know I I tell this story all the time my freshman year Mike uh Bucknell was playing Dayton and the backup quarterback for Dayton was John Gruden. The backup quarterback was John Gruden yeah and and and the backup running back at Bucknell was me but again our stories actually went separate ways after that game I think yeah but it's your point how amazing was that conversation because you were curious and and I said you know we played Delaware twice while you were there and he said I was at both of those games crazy. But you couldn't make it up no to your point authentic let's go one more okay no and it really again I just opened it up and it speaks to a comment you made earlier. Noticing matters because your people your leaders need to feel significant really speaks to your last comment it matters you've used this word a couple times today human it matters because acknowledging a human being and their presence or contribution and contribution either more right nourishes the soul and energizes the spirit that's it brother enough said right yeah nurtures the soul and energizes the spirit isn't that what we should be doing every day nurturing souls and energizing spirits that's what we should be doing uh you know we uh when we look at our core values uh the last one is just remember we make a difference in people's lives in a big way let's never underestimate uh uh reaching out a helping hand and something random and unexpected and uh what we do is super important I remind ourselves you know we're helping people in this incredibly complex transaction and and I I want every one of us to get better at our craft so that the world looks at our industry in a different light at some time in the future.

SPEAKER_02 47:58

How about remember Gary, what let's put a bow on the package the day before your life changes forever is just an ordinary day. And every time you reach out to somebody might be the day before their life changes forever. And so never hesitate when a person comes to mind when you're thinking about a person pick up that phone call them do something to reach out I usually like to close but we're closing on that.

Gary Scott 48:22

My good friend Mike Staver always great to see you buddy thank you man thousand takeaways let's get caught up soon take care