Bellator Blueprint
Bellator Blueprint is a podcast that celebrates the full spectrum of human experience through the stories of our guests. From the peaks of success to the valleys of failure, we delve into the raw and real narratives that shape individuals.
Bellator Blueprint
Ep. 10 - Dakota Coburn - How this Agent Went From 25 to 50 deals in 12 Months
Unlock the secrets to mastering the real estate game with Dakota Coburn! Imagine closing nearly 50 real estate deals in a year and setting your sights on a hundred. Dakota takes us through his inspiring journey of growth, from strategic lead generation and networking to expanding the Coburn Collective. Discover how open houses turned into a goldmine of unassisted buyers and gain insights into balancing a rapidly growing business with family life. Dakota also shares his bold plans for 2024, including hiring an assistant, starting a team, and changing brokerages.
The episode unfolds a treasure trove of strategies for managing real estate commissions and the delicate act of investing in lead generation versus paying for referrals. Dakota spills the beans on leveraging platforms like Facebook and Google to capture direct leads, emphasizing their value over traditional referrals. As he plans to extend his business reach from New Hampshire to Colorado, Dakota underscores the crucial role of systems, processes, and accountability in achieving sustainable growth. The conversation also touches on the challenge of maintaining leadership from afar and the ongoing commitment to business development.
Listeners will be inspired by Dakota's disciplined weekly routine that maximizes productivity and ensures success. From time-blocking critical tasks to balancing work and life, Dakota reveals how planning ahead can enhance both professional and personal fulfillment. Learn the art of setting clear boundaries, saying no to unaligned deals, and dedicating quality time to loved ones. Dakota's insights on client relationships offer a powerful reminder of the importance of being a knowledgeable guide in the real estate journey.
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Dakota Colburn. Thank you again for being on. Appreciate it Super stoked to have you on a second time, Heck yeah. Because from last year to now you've elevated greatly and I'm super excited to hear how you did that 25 deals to 46 or 45, 40, 46 and 50.
Speaker 2:If you count all my half deals as actual transactions, Okay, yeah, still amazing Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so, yeah. So I wanted to basically kind of pick off. Pick up off last year. You know you're, you're through off, pick up off last year. You know your year through 2024, your systems, your processes, what you did differently, what changed mindset, all that stuff, time blocking, I'm sure, schedules. You know how you what, what you did, what you changed to go from 25 to 50, really the double your business you know in a year and uh, yeah, so if you just want to kind of start from the beginning, I guess 2024 up until now- yeah, Um so last time we talked was spring of last year of 2024.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I was in the middle of a of a broken leg, so that was fun, Um yeah, I drove you around to your uh yeah, that's right.
Speaker 2:That's right. Um, the beginning of 2024 was actually pretty slow start. I think I closed zero deals in January and um, so to do what I did without closing any in January feels pretty, pretty incredible. Yeah, what I did without closing any in January feels pretty incredible. Yeah, I think so much of success from last year was a lot of work in 2023. Okay, so much of it was leads that you know, to build a pipeline properly, you're always looking at six to 12 months out.
Speaker 2:Yeah exactly Because anything that wants to close in three months or less is kind of a fluke and it's kind of lucky, you know, if you get a lead that's like, hey, I need to buy a house tomorrow, like. And you're hustling it like, yeah, those ones pay the bills, but the the built of the building of the pipeline for the long haul is really where good agents thrive and making sure that you're keeping all those people in your system Right. So I look at it and I like I actually try to think back, like how did I do that much? How was I that successful? And where did all these leads come from? And I would look back on it and probably say at least a third of them came from work done in 2023 or even be even prior to that 2022, 2023 and as well as just networking and like building that database of people that I was regularly connecting with um. But like so much of just my fundamental business for last year, for 2024, came from a lot of really hard work in 2023 putting all these places, our systems in place, um and different legion sources. Like I, looking back on it, I think um, and I don't have it in front of me and I probably should have for this, but, um, I think I had six or seven different places where I would say my business came from in 2024.
Speaker 2:Okay, and then a good chunk of it just came from getting listings. Like I put a lot of weight into getting listings last year as opposed to in 2023. I think I did Well. I was like 12 of my 26 were listings as opposed to buyers. So a little less than half, and I think last year was pretty close to 50, 50. I don't have my numbers in front of me, but so many of my buyer clients last year came from just having my sign in the yard and getting phone calls from people that were looking for the house and then I went and worked with them as a buyer. So you know, like just the emphasis alone on like putting that weight into getting more listings and making sure my signs in the yard as many places as I possibly could.
Speaker 1:So when you say your signs in the yard is like at your listing, at my listing, yeah, yeah, getting those phone calls directly to seller or to the listing agent.
Speaker 2:Yeah, to get both sides. Yeah, yeah, and I most of the time I actually didn't get both sides. I didn't sell that house to that person that called me, but we went and found something else they might have.
Speaker 1:Oh, they didn't have an agent. If you're looking for something else, Right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, right, I had more success in 2024 from unassisted open houses houses for people coming to look that didn't have agents.
Speaker 1:Okay, would you say that was 10 X.
Speaker 2:Really the like in 2022, 2023, if I held an open house, I never had opportunities where people were coming in unassisted. And in 2024, like 80% of the people coming to my open houses were unassisted.
Speaker 1:Well, here I think, the kind of uncover why that houses were unassisted. Yeah, well, here I think, the kind of uncover why that? Why from 2022 to 2024, you still had those clients follow up, I imagine. Yeah, maintaining contact, right, yeah, yeah, so, yeah.
Speaker 2:So that was really like circling back around. That was so much of my business last year was just opportunities from 2022 and 2023 that you just keep them in your pipeline and you've just follow up. And I said this last time on on the um the podcast is like you just keep following up until you're annoying, Like and and I think that's really what it took this year is um, just staying in front of those people, and that's kind of my number one emphasis point going into 2025 is now I've hired an assistant and I've started a team and I've changed brokerages, all in hopes to once again double my business, to go from 50 sales to a hundred. And I know what. I can't do that myself. I like physically like 50 sales was hard, as it was to still have a family and have a life to then go okay, well, I want to double my business. How do I do that? Well, I can't do it on my own.
Speaker 2:So now it's like all right, I need better systems, I need better tracking, I need better follow-up. So I hired an assistant to help me track everything and to constantly be in front of not only the new leads I have but also client retention, Because it worked so well last year, my client retention level. I want to just double, going into 2025 and beyond, and figure out how do I get more from the almost 100 transactions I've done in the last two and a half years. So where do I push more into better referrals, Because that's one I didn't have a lot of last year. I didn't have a lot of client referrals Okay, I had a few. Probably four or five of my closings last year were from past client or sphere referrals, whatever you'd call that.
Speaker 1:What was your biggest lead gen source or biggest lead source for 24?
Speaker 2:A combination of realtor and Zillow leads, okay, opcity, really I think I closed seven or eight from OpCity, I think four or five from zillow and then, um, like really I guess on the the in general, if you kind of captured that whole thing of like paid online leads, realtor, zillow, op city, um and uh, counted all that as like one bucket because they're kind of all the same, yeah, same that was half of my business.
Speaker 1:Okay, would you recommend, like a newer agent, get into that, because these were leads that were was this your own, paying your own, or from the broker, a combination of both?
Speaker 2:So I mean so much of it was. You know, working through the referral leads through the office, when I was with RealtyOne and that program was great for me to get going, you know, but like Op City. So I mean Op City is huge for me, even though I'm trying to get away from it because it's just so expensive to pay it out.
Speaker 2:But at the same time, it doesn't cost me anything. So now I put up 40% of your commission, Exactly, Exactly, Except 40% of my commission. So in the end of the day, yes, it costs me a lot, and so when you look at my sales versus what I took home, it's a lot less than maybe somebody else that sold 50 houses, depending on you know how. But. But at the same time, it's money I wouldn't have had otherwise. It's leads I wouldn't have had. So are we good?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I don't know, the red turned off on that one and that one, but it seems to still be working, okay, so whatever.
Speaker 2:So I'm putting a lot more emphasis this year on direct paid leads, as opposed to trying to pay out referrals just cause I, I hate giving up half my commission.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's not not fun.
Speaker 2:It's. It's just not fun, so I'm I'm putting more, more emphasis on on Facebook leads, on Google leads um and direct paid realtorcom leads as opposed to referral.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that big one Amy and I had that unfortunately didn't close like almost 4 million 40, giving away 40% of that commission's unreal and that hurts, yeah, but fortunately we didn't have to do that. But unfortunately we didn't have to do that, yeah for sure, yeah, so when you have a big, you know a-priced home that you're trying to sell, I mean that 35%, 40% can hurt but you wouldn't have had it otherwise. So you know Exactly. That's sort of how you look at it.
Speaker 2:If you always look at it that way, that it's a lead that otherwise I wouldn't have had, and 9 out of 10 times, at least last year, actually maybe not nine out of 10, seven out of 10, I've gotten other business from that business.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, that's where the focal point, I think, is okay, I got to pay 40%, but if I do a good job, they're going to refer to friends, family, what have you? So that's where really the money is, so to speak.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it really is, and that's like a big focal point. Last year was like sure I'll take every lead I get, because if it gives me an opportunity to put my sign in the yard or get in front of more people, then I paid 40% here once, but I got two new clients over here that I paid nothing, so like that, that was just. That was maybe eyeopening last year, or maybe lucky, I don't know. You know, we'll see if I can duplicate it again this year, and last year was either lucky or a lot of hard work, I don't know. I think a combination of both.
Speaker 1:Okay, what's your focus for 2025? I know you'd switch brokerages. You hired that assistant. You have Brittany on your team. Do you plan on adding any more people or are you like? Okay, this is my team now. Now I'm going to focus more on systems and processes and then, once I have that down better, then I can add another person to the team.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the um. The focus right now is really making sure all the systems in place and do very duplicatable and figuring out how I can add as much value as possible to others and have them replicate what I'm doing in so that I can get more, more agents in the team. You know the Coburn collective is is something that I can get more agents in the team. The Coburn Collective is something that I want to grow, not only in New Hampshire but eventually in Colorado as well as I transition out there.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:So the goal really for this year is at least two more agents in New Hampshire working in the Coburn Collective in New Hampshire and then eventually in Colorado, growing dual-sided. So definitely its agent attraction is a big one for me this year, but not right off the bat. It's a six-month goal to have two more agents in the team within six months.
Speaker 1:Okay, and you're going to Colorado in the fall of this year, is that right?
Speaker 2:Late summer early fall. Late summer.
Speaker 1:Okay, so back here, obviously you're going to be, you're like the team leader, so to speak. Yeah Well, not so to speak, you are, you are the team leader. So when you go to Colorado you're going to leave like a team leader here, or you kind of just kind of manage.
Speaker 2:I'll continue to be team leader here, at least for another year or two. Okay, and fly back and help my clients and help guide and oh so they'll keep your license here too.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, you know, fly back and yeah, it'd be cool. Yeah, back and forth, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's okay to you know, spend a couple hundred dollars to make A commission $2,000, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So I continue to emphasize that, because of my success, I have the knowledge and also the financial ability to grow the business where a lot of other agents might not and it's expensive. I put a lot of money and it's expensive. Like I put a lot of money, you know, 30%, 40% of my business always rolls back into lead generation and the growth of the brand and the business. So you know, a lot of agents can't afford to do that and so that's where I really feel like I can help people, you know, if they want to come on and learn and develop my systems. And I'm not looking for agents that don't know how to close deals because, like any good leader would say, like I'll, I'll lead you to the water.
Speaker 2:But you know, I can't make you drink Exactly, if you can't close deals, then you're not really a whole lot of good. But you know, there are some systems and processes I think I can teach people to to get there. But really I think the number one thing where I like to emphasize, where I work with Brittany a lot, is just the accountability piece. Just show up and do the work, because that's really, if I had a secret sauce, that's really the secret sauce for me is just waking up every day and just putting the work in. I think if you put in the work and you make sure that you're actively getting out there and connecting with the people and keeping in touch like circling back to the beginning of this conversation if I wouldn't have just been putting in the work the last two years, all those people would have just gone and worked with someone else because they had to buy a house, I think of why there's such a um, what's the word?
Speaker 1:Why a lot of agents get out of the business or don't last is because they can't think of man, I'm going to have to work these clients for two years before I get a deal. I mean, it's not necessarily going to work like that.
Speaker 2:You get deals beforehand, but you're going to have to work these clients one, two, three years and not get paid.
Speaker 1:Then anybody who stays in long enough knows it's bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam bam just happens, you know, because all those people you nurture all of them for that long and now they're all ready to buy, yeah, or sell, yeah, um, yeah. So I think that's hard for people to have that foresight. God man, I can't work these people for two years. I'm not gonna last you for For sure.
Speaker 2:So once you have, that mindset, you know.
Speaker 1:then you're kind of done, yeah. But yeah, I wanted to talk about too, like you talked about getting up and just doing the work. So what is it like? Take us through a day of Dakota Colburn working on his business.
Speaker 2:Sure, I mean, it's a little different now with a four-month-old at home. Oh, congratulations again by the way and trying to like have that drive a little bit to put in. That work now is different. So I really rely on my systems now more. But standard operating procedure for me really starts on Sunday, getting a couple hours on Sunday to lay out my week and be like what are the most important tasks for me to accomplish this week?
Speaker 2:Do I have closings? Do I have inspections? Do I have appraisals? Do I have actual appointments I physically have to be that are going to put money in my pocket. You know the money-making activities and then finding that time and I worked with a coach last year. Pretty much all year I worked with an individual coach and then some coaching programs and it's really just having that time blocking where you're saying, okay, you know, sometime this week I need to spend X amount of hours based on however many calls you have to make to get your business. To figure out when I'm going to actually call people and get new business, because my goal every week is to write four offers, because if I can write four offers I'm going to get probably one accepted. That's just my conversion rate.
Speaker 1:Is that what you've seen?
Speaker 2:For you personally, that's about what that tends to be what works or just what converts. If I write four, I typically can get one, because on the other three I either get beat out, something didn't work out, whatever, you know, some negotiation didn't work on a really good week. I get four out of four, but that's doesn't always happen. My goal is always write for, get one accepted. Uh, because if I can close one deal a week then that's 50 a year, right, you know, with two weeks off. So so it's really like all right, how, where am I scheduling my time? All right, so a day in my life is like I wake up, I hang out with my family. What time do you get up? I get up in between five and six o'clock, okay, and I typically take my first hour to to stretch or exercise and just wake up, have coffee and then get, get the kids ready and the wife and make sure everyone's up moving.
Speaker 2:At eight o'clock I really start my work day. Every once in a while, if I have really hard deadlines, I'll spend my first hour not exercising, which that I regret, and I spend it organizing, which happens a lot, probably once or twice a week. I'm spending that first hour just organizing my emails in my brain to focus on what's happening that week, because when you close, you know I didn't close one deal a week. Some weeks I would close none, but then another week I'd close five. Right, and those weeks are really stressful, yeah for sure. So it's like 8 o'clock hits and then it's all right, I'm going to spend 30 to 45 minutes just going through my email making sure there's no deadlines or things Miss anything Exactly what happened between 8 o'clock last night and 8 o'clock this morning?
Speaker 2:Yeah, Because you know nobody sleeps in real estate. You get leads at freaking midnight, at 1 o'clock. It's stupid.
Speaker 1:What is that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know what is sleep, excuse me. And so the first 30 to 45 minutes, ideally, if I'm time blocking correctly is just email catch up, and then after that then I tend to spend probably 45 minutes just checking the market and seeing what's new. That was something my original broker taught me is like every single morning and every single night, look at the MLS, see what new has hit the market, because ideally if you're busy you have a couple active clients that need to buy right away. So those are the times where you have to prove your worth to those clients.
Speaker 1:They want you to be able to hey, what's available? Oh, this, this and this Exactly.
Speaker 2:And if I get a phone call for a lead at 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I've already looked at the market that morning, I'd be like, oh yeah, great, I already know that house you're looking at. I looked at it this morning.
Speaker 1:Here's all the details. I don't know. Let me check. Yeah, not really.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly so on the mornings I miss that step tends to really backlash in my entire week. And so I think that you know, for newer agents especially, you know that initial 30, 40 minutes it doesn't take long, especially if you have your MLS set up correctly, to just see what's on the market and what's new, and I, I, I don't look in depth at any of them unless it hits for a client in my database. So out of 50 new listings that morning I might look at two. You know, um, cause very rarely are many more of them actual hits. Uh, cause I look at most of the state All right, so, um. So then after that, then I typically try to schedule an hour to two hour of client followup. If it is either people that you know are last week I didn't check in with, did I get them set up on searches, did I? You know how's your mother? Whatever, like you know, trying to either call new leads or just following up with people I spoke to last week or yesterday or whatever. That needs some interaction.
Speaker 2:Um and that's really kind of where the money makers are is. Is that two hours of kind of client interactions? Um, and that's really kind of where the money makers are is. Is that two hours of kind of client interactions? Um, and then I tend to, you know, obviously try to find some time to eat in the middle of the day, um, and then my afternoon I try to leave open for going out and doing showings or or getting out in front of people.
Speaker 2:Um and I try to pretty much have all of my you know minutia, my my just computer or or admin tasks done by noon so that the afternoon is is whatever it needs to be, um, and that's usually running out and doing showings and and inspections and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:How do you deal with like having a schedule like that in the discipline, super helpful. A lot of the times, as you know, the day just goes sideways because of whatever issue problem, maybe the baby's sick or whatever. So how do you, how do you deal with that? And and to get, then get back on track after your whole day is just thrown sideways how do you deal with that? And and to get, then get back on track after your whole day just thrown sideways? How do you deal with that?
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean, that's what I'm. I'm really struggling. Slash learning how to do now over the last couple months with the baby is two, two plus days a week. I'm I'm just dad and so I. I have the baby with me and, um, you know, based on her sleep schedule and whatever it's kind of like, I have a plan and then it all goes sideways almost every single day now.
Speaker 1:Well, let's, let's rewind for, like you know, agents who don't have kids, you know, obviously that's a special circumstance. You know, taking care of your family first and foremost, always Um. So let's rewind before you had the baby, you know, in your day got thrown sideways. How did you deal with that?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I think for for the majority of people, and even like, as I get back into the swing of my business, I think every single day I actually hope it goes sideways. I think every single day I'm actually trying to anticipate that I'm going to get a lead. The night before that I had a plan for four hours in the morning to get all my business stuff done. And then you know, I get a lead and they're like hey, I want to go see this house tomorrow morning at nine. I'm like, all right, well, they're, scratch off my three hours because I'm in that hour. Drive over there 30 minutes with the client, an hour drive back. All of a sudden my morning's toast yeah, happens every time.
Speaker 2:So rarely does my week pan out the way I want it to yeah, almost never. And so really, you know and I kind of breached on this a little bit in our initial podcast last spring is like the daily activities are kind of meaningless as long as you look at it on a weekly basis. And like the micromanaging and I talked a little bit about this before it's something I've really tried to focus on, just the micromanaging of your goals, and like little sprints and so many people talk about this like a 90-day sprint of what are you trying to accomplish and you, you know what you want to get to by the end of the year. But what am I trying to accomplish in the next 90 days and how do I do that? And so, like every month, I try to look at what my next 90 days look like. And how do I get that? What do I need to get done this week or this month to be able to, to stay within my goals?
Speaker 2:You know so, I, you know I need to close. What is it? 15, 15, no 12, 12 a quarter, right, four deals, four deals a month, 12 a quarter. So how do I close 12 a quarter? And so, like you know, going into February, right, I know I have three closing in February but none in March. So my goal is always like okay, well, I know I need to get four hours a week of phone calls done. So if my day gets thrown in a wrench tomorrow, then that means I need to find time somewhere in the rest of the week to fill the void of whatever I missed. And it's really the money-making activities, the little minutia of just running the business, will get worked out when it gets worked out, and sometimes that's at 10 o'clock at night and I can't sleep and you're, like, hardly awake and you're trying to write an email or make a podcast. You know a podcast.
Speaker 2:You're trying to make a video to put on social media or something and you're just struggling. And so those tend to be the days where the next morning I have to wake up and spend that first hour of my day getting caught up as opposed to doing the extra. As opposed to doing the extra, you know, like it tends to fall to the next day and have to be like, okay, first thing in the morning. I have to focus on that hour. I missed the day before because I got my, you know, a wrench thrown in the plants. So I don't know, I've kind of rambled there.
Speaker 1:I think it would be easier to. So your wrench gets thrown in your plans. You're not able to complete x for the day. Obviously you want to want to make it up at some point, but there might be you know where you, where you can't now. For me, that kind of like gives me anxiety and stresses me out. So sometimes I'm just like forget it, I didn't get it done, I get done some other, some other, maybe maybe next week, yeah, unless there's something super important, obviously. But do you stress out and get anxiety when you don't finish the task that you, that you wanted to do or would you like or do? Sometimes you just say you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it depends what the task is and how important it really is to me. If it's like something I wanted to do versus something I need to do. If it's something I need to do, then I definitely get anxious and I'm like, oh my God, and that's again like that pre-planning on Sunday of knowing what has to get done that week. Then my second most important check-in with myself is Thursday night. And my second most important check-in with myself is Thursday night because I know that Friday is a very wish-washed day for me and I either can accomplish a lot or accomplish almost nothing on Fridays.
Speaker 2:Saturdays are kind of I tend to be doing a lot of showings on Saturdays or open houses or like a very busy day, and then Sunday I try not to work at all, um, but like, if I'm looking at Thursday night and I'm like man, I haven't accomplished any of the things I set myself out on Sunday to do, then at that point I am either anxious or I'm like, okay, what actually had to happen? Like I get myself a lot of goals for each week and I'm like I want to do this, I want to do this, I want to do this. If I get to Thursday and like I'm like man, I haven't accomplished, you know, a through W, and I'm like, all right, x, y, z, like all right, um, well, really, I don't max only ever give myself 10 things to do because you just can't accomplish that much. Right, I can get those done. So that's really like I feel your anxiety when you say like God, all right, I'm just going to throw it in the muck. And that's when I really just try to prioritize.
Speaker 2:Of the five or ten things that I feel like I have to do each week, what can I still accomplish, that I'm going to feel good come Sunday and what can I just push to next week, and you know, probably most weeks, especially now, you know I tend to push 30 to 40% of my to-do list off on a weekly basis, but then if it didn't accomplish this week, it's all of a sudden priority number one for next week.
Speaker 2:So that's kind of how I manage that anxiety of accomplishments is, if I know that it's not like if it's within the confines of that 90 day window of I had to accomplish these goals to, or these tasks I'm sorry to, to reach the goals on on a daily or weekly basis, like it's only so important as long as, like, the really important things aren't pushed off forever. Um, you know, cause most, most of what we do is, you know, is kind of just like you're kind of just running around and you're like, you know, you're going to showings, you're helping people, you're doing this and that Okay, you post a video, you post a picture on Instagram, you know, make some calls, whatever, like there's only a few actual hours of a realtor's life in a weekly basis that really truly move the needle. And those are the ones that you kind of got to pay the most attention to.
Speaker 1:Right, what was my next question? I just had it. Oh, how important is it for agents to treat their business like a business? And is that something you did better in 2024? Learned how to do better? What's your take on that?
Speaker 2:Yeah for sure. I mean it's still a work in progress for me and it's why I hired an assistant this year and developed a team. And you know, last year I hired a tax accountant services that pretty much manages all of my bookkeeping and all of that stuff. And this year my assistant's really going to kind of take on so much of that and it's like kind of an administrative assistant Like they. Like I want them to do all of it because I want to build it as a business right, like just one agent running around being an agent it's not really building a business.
Speaker 2:So the importance of that and I saw it last year, like, even though I say that I probably couldn't really do 50 more than 50 by myself, I probably easily could have done 75, um, if I was a little more organized, a little better at follow-up, a little better on not letting leads slip between the the cracks, um, a little bit better at that organization piece.
Speaker 2:And so the importance of treating your business like a business, waking up every day, clocking in, you know like knowing what you're going to do from whatever your hours are going to be, you know if it's eight to four, eight to five, like be like know when to cut it off too. Like I got really good last year at at just stopping at five, six o'clock, like just shutting it off. And if I had time, like if we were just sitting around watching TV in the evening, I would work a little bit, but I would try not to. And it helps because the next day you feel more recharged, you feel more like okay, like I have a life, like my whole life is not just where's my next deal coming from, where's my next client coming from's my next client coming from, and that's very hard.
Speaker 2:As a new agent, you know, my first year, every single night was like putting stamps on postcards, um, and trying to find, trying to find that next deal because, um, you know it's stressful and so I think, like knowing to check out and treating like no one. Running a business works 24-7 like a realtor does, unless you're Elon Musk, right, but you still, like you know, every good entrepreneur out there and business leader and all these influencers are all still talking about the importance of your time management and time Setting your schedule and not letting your schedule run. You, you running your schedule, or whatever that saying is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, what was it? I listened to a massive Asian podcast. It was a Dustin Brougham, right? Yeah, he was talking about that. You know similar saying you have to create, don't create you around your business, your business around you, and having that balance. Yeah, he talks about that a lot, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think and so many other people do too that I listened to is like focusing on just scheduling the time, like if you want to, you know, have that time with your kid, or the date night with your wife or whatever, like putting that stuff on your calendar. And I don't do it very well, but I still make a point now where it's like, you know, in the evening you just put your phone away and you know it's not the end of the world, everyone can wait until tomorrow yeah, that was something I had to.
Speaker 1:It took me a while, even. Sometimes still, I'm like what if a lead calls me and it's a good one? Yeah, what if they want to buy or sell a two million dollar house? You know I'll miss it. You know it's like fomo, right if you're missing out, but I think it's really important obviously to you know, give that time back to your family, friends, wife, you know kids because they don't always want to see you work. What's the saying is uh, they're not going to remember how much money you made. They're gonna remember how much time you didn't spend with them yeah, you know for sure, I just saw that one again yesterday, yeah.
Speaker 1:So I always think about that when I'm working my ass off and I'm just like up till 10, 11 midnight just doing whatever real estate related things. You know, I remember that, like my kids are not going to care about how much money I made.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't shit.
Speaker 2:I'm so much better for everyone my clients myself, my family If I just cut it off and I go to bed at 10, like if I'm not in bed now at 10, 10, 30, like that extra hour and a half that I used to spend on my business between 10 and 12, spend on my business between 10 and 12.
Speaker 2:Just, I haven't lost any productivity. You know, now I get better sleep so I wake up more recharged for the next day and I wasn't doing anything other than just meaningless tasks at those hours. It's not like I was calling clients, right, so it wasn't money-making activities that I was ever doing. It was like, oh God, did I perfect my seller guide or did I perfect this post I wanted to make? Like none of it's important, like I give you that advice to all those people listening out there. Like that little extra stuff that you're doing and like not sleeping and like stressing out, just let it go till the next day, like put it on the calendar for later, because that sleep is more important and that feeling recharged and not feeling like every minute of your day as a realtor has to be consumed with stuff.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, yeah, and I've heard clients to say or other, you know people looking for, uh, or have worked with a real estate agent, oh, they other. You know people looking for or have worked with a real estate agent? Oh, they were. You know they didn't answer their phone after five or six, or they didn't do this or that. And like they're, they're humans too. They're people too. We are people too. We have regular lives. You know, just because you're a client doesn't mean I have to work for you 24, seven. Yeah, you know, and if I have a client that wants me to do that, then sayonara.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, no, no saying saying that was the most important.
Speaker 1:Oh, wicked I just turned down a freaking almost million dollar listing today on the way here. Yeah, cause they. You know like it's important to know your worth, what your value is and what kind of value you bring to a transaction, bring to a client. And we just couldn't agree on what my value was worth. And you know, I said, you know, we're firm. I said, well, I'm firm too, because X, y and Z. And I said it doesn't work for you guys. And we had a similar conversation last week. But they were like, well, I don't know, we don't know, we don't know yet, we'll give you an answer next week. So today I was like what did I say? I said I take you guys finding a realtor. They said no, no, we're doing this. X, y and Z. Then I said, well, what's your? I said, well, did you make it? Did you come to a decision on the commission?
Speaker 2:You know, oh well, they're firm, you know, appreciate the opportunity, but we just can't. We just can't do it, yeah, and that's, you know, better off, I mean you're, you're just better off sometimes saying no and finding like I, I said a lot of yeses in the last couple years just to get as much business as humanly possible. Um, but the importance of no now for me is so important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I started realizing that what happened through 2024 and I was dealing with some pretty interesting people, you know, I actually fired my first client, not just stop working with a customer. I fired a client, you know which was, which was super awkward, yeah, but it had to be done, yeah, anyway.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you just didn't, couldn't agree, or it was a time sucker that and the the client was unique, if you will. I'm not going to talk bad about Clarence, that's not what I do, but he was not a good fit. When you show someone exactly what they want what they tell you they want and they keep saying, no, I don't like it, I don't like it, I don't like it. There's a point where it's like we're not on the same page here. At this point I'm losing money. At this point, yeah, so, like you said, you got to say no and say sorry. You know, I can refer you to another agent if you'd like. Yeah, you know, but he wasn't interested in that.
Speaker 2:So yeah, and you're better off, man, yeah good luck to you.
Speaker 1:I guess, yeah, you know I'm just not the one. That's all, it's okay. It's okay. I think new agents need to. I wish I realized that sooner than later. Yeah, every new agent wants the business. Yes, yes, yes. They want the transactions, they want the deals. You know you can have someone buying a manufactured home. That's more of a pain in the ass than someone buying a two million dollar house most of the time. You know it's. You know what I'm saying?
Speaker 2:yeah yeah, it's all there. I think, like in those first couple interactions with people, like how much time is this person going to take from me and how worth it is it? And that's really hard because, like my, in my natural inherent, um, like level one of like it's just help people. So someone calls me and they're like, oh man, I really need this, and I can tell it's gonna be a tough one. It's hard, that's a hard like. I just got one now that's way up, can tell it's going to be a tough one. It's hard, that's a hard like. I just got one now that's way up north and it's not an area I normally go and I it's going to be a tough one and it's going to take more time and I'm probably not going to make any money. Um, but they're good people and so so it's not a no for me. It's just like I have to be very careful with every interaction because now and I think more people respect me actually over the last year, since I've put my hours on my signature, since I'm like people call me and I'm like I did that too, I actually took that from you. Yeah, and I'm just like I'm not available during these times, like I will do Sunday showings if it's absolutely necessary, and I do, but don't call me after 7 o'clock. You know, sometimes I get text messages and whatnot in the middle of the night or leads in the middle of the night or whatever, and I will respond in the morning when I wake up and I say, hey, great, like I will be with you first thing after eight o'clock. Um, and I had more people respect me last year from just saying, okay, great, like I know you don't work Sunday, would you mind doing this or when can you do it? Like I had more people that respected that last year, I think, and this year than not. And so that importance of.
Speaker 2:But then, circling back, I just kind of ramble a little bit. I think when I get those really tough clients I have to just set the expectations right up front and be like, like I'm not gonna travel this far unless it's really important, so let's make sure that you have your your ducks in a row, you know, let's, let's make sure that you have your ducks in a row, let's make sure that you actually like this. I'm way better now than I was. And again, this is really good advice for young agents have those conversations with your clients of what is really important to them, paint the picture of that perfect house for them and then also make sure that it's within the means of what they can buy. Um, because I think we just chase around and and waste everyone's time like you're wasting both realtors time, you're wasting your clients time if you're just chasing around to stuff that that is not in, not possible yeah, I have clients now where I got a swore, a swore they were going to fire me because they kept looking at houses.
Speaker 1:I was like, no, no, no, no, no, because of these reasons. And that's they. They hire you for that. You know, they might not like you. You're the guide. Yeah, like, be a guide. Do you want me this house? I know you can't buy with the loan product you're using. Yeah, yeah, it's great you can do this, you love it, but you'd have to use this loan product or do this in order to get that house. And what your current situation is, you can't get it. I'm sorry, but yeah, you know, I don't want to waste your time. You want me to bullshit you and waste your time? Yeah, absolutely not, you know. So that I mean that's how I kind of operate. It's my clients and uh, I told them no, like four or five times in a row. Yeah, and I'm like they're gonna fire me, but no, they appreciate it, you know. And uh, knock on wood, we're closing in 12 days after a couple, after a couple extensions.
Speaker 2:It's been a tricky one, if you will, but uh, I think the more, the more you say no and kind of show your clients that you know what you're talking about and you're going to help guide them and you're looking out for their best interest, I think that makes a huge difference in in their ability to trust you as their guide, because being a realtor is you know, it's not just opening the door.
Speaker 1:So Definitely not, and some people think so yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's usually when I get myself in trouble, when I rush, when I when I rushed to a showing for somebody and I didn't look at it and then all of a sudden we get there and it. You know it's a teardown or something and you didn't pay attention to the listing or whatever, and you know that's where I get myself in trouble when I rush.
Speaker 2:If you just take the minute and you know, do the job and don't just be a door opener, then you're 10 times more valuable and you can get 10 times you know, better relationships with clients if you guide them and not just yeah. Yeah, I had a thought earlier. I want to make sure I didn't skip it.
Speaker 1:Relationships with clients, if you, if you guide them and not just yeah, yeah into I hadn't. I had a thought earlier, I don't want to make sure I didn't uh, skip it. But back to where you're saying people respect you for saying no and respecting your own time. I think people are going to respect you more when you respect yourself, with your time, with your priorities. You say no because they they might still work with you, you know. But they recognize that you have those qualities and attributes about yourself and they know that okay. Well, if they're gonna tell me you know these things, they're probably gonna be a good agent when we go into negotiations, you know he's not gonna let somebody else walk all over me when he doesn't let me walk on him or her. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's one of the number one things that I learned in negotiating class. Is you if I just let you walk all over me, how's that going to work when we get into negotiations to buy or sell your house? And I think you know to the client you said you fired or whatever, or even this one today. You know you stand tough on what you believe in and what you know your worth is Um, and the people that are going to work with you are going to work with you.
Speaker 1:I still did the math to what they wanted to pay me and I was like, ooh, but I already put my foot down and what am I doing? Negotiating against myself? I didn't know. So it is what it is, you know? Yeah for sure. So maybe they'll come back later and be like all right, you know, and I was recommended not by one, but multiple people. Um little back story, kind of off topic. I guess it was a guy in a sub-two Facebook group looking for someone to do an ovation deal that not many agents in New Hampshire know how to do so yeah, I'm going to charge a little bit of a premium for that.
Speaker 1:It's a complex deal. There's more people involved.
Speaker 2:It's an hour away from me.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I'm going to charge you a premium for that. I think that's good value, I on providing because you might go hire this agent who's cheaper. Yeah, fucks the whole thing up, cause they have no idea how to operate this transaction, right Anyway?
Speaker 2:I don't think that's super important.
Speaker 1:We got to wrap it up, yeah, so let's wrap it up. So give me three things that you think really, um elevated your business in 2024. And then give me one piece of advice to newer agents, or one, whatever one, two, three, sure.
Speaker 2:I mean the three things that that elevated my business last year. I, I would say one, just putting in the work always is number one for me. I think you know, show up and do the job. And, as they say, like the, what is it? The money's in the follow up or the?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Whatever that is like that played so true for me last last year. Um and um, and really my biggest thing like I, I get so much business and win so many deals just be just from being a good person, um, and making great connections with the other realtors that I work with. I think that, more often than not, has proven to be. Maybe, you know, one of the most successful things for me is just having great relationships with realtors all around the state and people wanting to work with me. Um and like just being good at communication and being good at like staying in touch and like getting getting complimented regularly from other agents, being like hey, dakota, thanks for picking up your phone. Like thanks for calling and talking, talking to me about your offer, or whatever, I'm just super stoked to hear from you following up.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, how you doing, yeah, giving feedback after a showing, giving you know, giving feedback after an offer, calling people saying, hey, this is the worst phone call to call you and say your offer didn't get accepted, but like just having those good relationships. So that's like really one of my big things. And if I can say this to every realtor in the state, like, let's all you know, we all work together. We're all in here to you, know, to help our clients and be better at providing a good service.
Speaker 2:And so many people not to shit on other agents but so many agents like don't pick up their phone, like if you're trying to sell a house, pick up your phone, um, and they don't return phone calls, they don't, they don't follow up, they don't. You know, you're just like left there waiting and so you're, you look like an ass trying to help a client and it's like, hey, I'm sorry, like I'm literally just waiting for a call like a pickup um, so I mean that's like just be a good communicator and be a good person, um, so more that would. Yeah, that was a lot sorry. So, uh, number one thing for me for for 2025 would be, um, just continuing to master the systems, really just like continuing to run my business as a business and being like super laser, focused on organization and time management. Is it like probably my number one goal every single year? Okay, is being better at that okay.
Speaker 1:so a good communicator, be good person. Master your systems and processes, yeah, okay. So one piece of advice to either this, one piece of advice to newer agents, or what you wish. You knew in the beginning that you know now that also another agent could take you know with them that also another agent could take, you know, with them.
Speaker 2:Well, my piece of advice would just be, like, just put yourself out there, like, don't be afraid. You know, don't be afraid to try things. You know, I throw a lot of mud at the wall and kind of figure out what sticks, which is kind of a crazy, a crazy strategy. I like it, I do the same thing, but I, I do, I throw a lot of mud at the wall. Um, I'm, you know, I'm not really afraid to like, give something a try for a little while, see if it works.
Speaker 2:Um, but I would honestly actually say my number one advice, even if you can't afford it, is hire a coach, get a mentor, get somebody that is going to hold you accountable, like, not even even if you feel like you know how to do the tasks, um, having that person that can just hold you accountable every week to push you in the right direction If you get off track, is a game changer, a hundred percent game changer.
Speaker 2:Um, and right now I don't have, I don't have a coach per se, but I have a couple of mentors that are just helping, you know, steer me in the right direction. And you know, that's the number one thing I always want to provide to the people I bring in on my team and other agents. I'm always always trying to help, just talk to other people and be like hey, what are you doing this week? What do you do, like, what are you doing to push your business forward or backwards or somewhere, um, you know, just to keep the ball rolling down the field? I think is the number one thing. And when you're a new agent and you don't know what to do, I think so many people get lost in waking up every day saying what do I do?
Speaker 1:That's what I did.
Speaker 2:Right, it is. It's like I think we talked about it at the last podcast.
Speaker 2:It's like what do you do every day to keep the ball rolling down the field? And you know, even if you don't think you can afford it, you can. You just have to budget for it. Like, everything you can afford anything as long as you figure out how to budget for it. Like, okay, a coach costs X, how many deals do I need to close to afford my coach? Or just maybe a coaching program where you're going to help you close those, yeah. Or if you can't afford a coach, find an agent.
Speaker 2:Find someone that you know people say this all the time like, find an agent you look up to and see if you can provide them value. Maybe you go show houses for them or help make phone calls or pick up their kids after school, I don't care. Like, find somebody that you want to mimic and call them and be like, hey, like will you just call me every week or every month and make sure I'm doing the things I need to do? Cause that's really all it takes. You know I try to check in with people and I have people not even in the industry that you know once a quarter at least we're checking in on each other, just being like, how's it going?
Speaker 1:Like from a personal standpoint and a business, yeah, cool.
Speaker 2:Awesome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so let's wrap it up A long winded. This is about to die on me, okay, and yeah, I mean, I think that was a good conversation A lot of value was provided there.
Speaker 2:That was great, yeah, so sweet.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and we'll wrap it up oh yeah, buddy.