The Mindset and Lead System That Took Ray Full-Time in Real Estate

Today we’re breaking down exactly how Ray built momentum fast getting multiple deals in escrow, active listings on deck, and a pipeline rolling after going all in.

Time Stamps:
0:00 – Why "Every No Leads to a Bigger Yes"
0:35 – Ray's Current Numbers: Escrows, Listings & Pipeline
1:12 – The Story Behind Quitting His 9–5
2:04 – How He Got Started in Real Estate
8:40 – The Lead Strategy That Fuels His Business
12:30 – The ABC Calling System & Best Times to Dial
18:40 – First Contact Scripts: What to Say
29:55 – Mental Toughness, Discipline & Overcoming Rejection

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Every no leads you to a bigger guest. Frage to get on the phone because I'm afraid we don't know. Part of the game.

SPEAKER_02 0:07

Alright, guys, welcome to another episode of Alan K Show. Today we have a very special guest. Uh our homegrown someone that uh been with our company for a little bit of time, but in the last seven or eight months, he just blew it up, right? So we got Ray. How do you pronounce your last name, Ray? Ruvalcava. Ruvalcava. There you go. Ruvalcava. All right. It's a it's a fancy Latino heat last name. I think Spanish. It's Spanish. It's Spanish, right? But let's let's talk about a Ray today. Uh Ray, dude, you're you're crushing it, right? Everything started rolling in June, right? Deals closed, right? You have three in escrow. Yep. You have six active listings. Yes. You have probably about a pipeline of about 10 buyers, active buyers that you're working with, right? And you have how many more listings that are coming up? So working on those. That's that's over $250,000 in GCI altogether. Yeah. Right. Now, before I ask you how were you able to accomplish this in such a short period of time, walk us through your journey because you got licensed, correct me if I'm wrong, in 2020.

SPEAKER_01 1:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Yeah? Yes. Right. So this has been already for like five five and a half years in the making, right? Yes. How you progress. How you progress. Right. So you progress. We're not done. So the first five years, like what were you doing the first five years? Uh, you know, what did you think of real estate, I guess, before you started and when you started, right? And uh what made you to say, you know what, eff it, I'm gonna go all in, I'm gonna get into the real estate, I'm gonna do this full time. And I know you were working full-time doing something else, yeah, and you decided to quit in March. Correct. Right? Quit in June. June. Yeah. Right. Quit in June, right? Burn all the bridges and say, that's it, this is what I'm gonna do. So walk us through your journey in the last five years.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

So the last five years, I would say it all started with wholesaling. So that's how I originally got into real estate was wholesaling, right? I originally got my license just to have MLS access. Originally, it wasn't like, oh, I'm going to go ahead and sell on market. It was like, okay, let me figure this wholesaling thing out, get online, you know, access to the MLS and then see where it goes. Yeah. So originally I had joined a different, you know, brokerage and team, and they were still doing things the old-fashioned way, right? Open houses for leads. So it wasn't something that I saw a lot of momentum in. Yeah. So I wasn't able to fully go into my real estate journey very early on. Um, so was you know working 905, worked with some people doing wholesaling and you know, appointment setting and whatnot. And it just came to a point where I'm gonna give you an analogy, and I'm glad that we have these water bottles. How much does this water bottle cost at a regular store?

SPEAKER_02 3:10

About $1.50. Okay. Yeah. Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 3:13

And then you go to an event and you get it for free, right? Yeah. Okay. You go to an airport, how much does it cost you? Four dollars. Four or five, even six dollars sometimes, right? So I came to realize that it's not that I wasn't given my value or I wasn't given what I was outputting in the situations I was in, but rather I said, let me put myself in a position where I can show my value and actually get what I'm supposed to. So all I did was change the environment I was in, bet it on myself, and now we're here.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

So why did you choose best homes? And I'm sure you had other options out there, right? Yeah. Just out of curiosity, I don't think I even asked you this question before. It's like, what made you to decide to roll with Best Homes versus like so many other brokerages out there? I mean, there are like 24, 2,500 brokerages in in the state of Arizona, I think, just MLS alone. So yeah, so what excited you about us versus everybody else?

SPEAKER_00 4:20

I'll be honest, the way I was brought into Best Homes was via a an older colleague. She's like, hey, I'm in Best Tom, you should try it out.

SPEAKER_01 4:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

I saw that she had you know good success being here. So I joined. Um, I think later on she left, yeah, but I stayed, and the reason why was the support overall. Support from you. Anytime I bump into you and I ask you a question, you're always open to you know, dot having that conversation, the dialogue, and providing me the best feedback from your experience as well. Uh, we got Celine, you know, great support with marketing. We got Melissa, one of the best. She's always, always, always been available after work hours or before, you know, to be able to answer my questions or help me in any way possible. Beth has always got my back and has helped me avoid situations.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Beth, the the transaction coordinator.

SPEAKER_00 5:16

Yeah. RTC. She's lovely. Shout out, Beth. And then, of course, David. Don't forget about David. That's how it's going. Best for last. And he's like, call me, and he's, you know, on it. So Kristen Gabby. Tristan Gabby. Um, with helping me with the marketing, which has propelled me into what we have now, and we're just scratching the surface.

SPEAKER_02 5:36

Got it. Right. Uh, how was that process? What did it look like? Like, because you know, you we we have agents in in the company that that have full-time jobs, right? And they have those full-time jobs, they do real estate part-time, right? Uh, quit that full-time job and get into the real estate full-time. Man, that's that's a huge decision. It is, right? It's a big change, right? And like in life, there are three certainties, right? And change. But for some people or most people, they're just risk averse when it comes to change. Right. Man, what am I gonna do? I got a family, I got kids, right? I got a mortgage, I got car payments, I'm comfortable where I'm at right now, and I'm doing real estate part-time, which is fine. I'm not, I'm not judging, right? In your situation, you're like, man, you know what? I'm gonna go all in, I'm gonna quit my job. I'm sure it was a well-paying job for you, you were making pretty good money, and decided to go into full-time real estate. What did it look like? Well, yeah, kind of walk us through that particular process.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

It came to a point, and I'll go back to the analogy with the water bottle. I came to a point where I was tired of being told, oh, you're only worth this, right? And I had this feeling inside of me saying, No, you're you're not worth that. You're worth a lot more, right? And so the way I saw it was I've never gone all in on something like this. I know there's gonna be jobs available no matter when. I'm still young. Um still young. I don't have you know a family to take care of. I don't have kids. Yeah, in the future, God willing, I look to have a family. So I said, I'm gonna go all in, even though it's not guaranteed, if things don't work out for whatever reason, I know they are, I had that confidence in me that I'm gonna put everything into it. But if for whatever reason it doesn't work out, I could just go get a job.

SPEAKER_02 7:39

I mean, what's the worst thing that can happen?

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Go go get a job.

SPEAKER_02 7:42

Go get a job. Exactly. Right. So so you do you mind giving some examples of when they told you maybe you're worth X versus you were thinking uh worth Y?

SPEAKER_00 7:51

I mean, for you know, for the appointment setting, you would get a base pay, right? And then X amount per you know client that you set up.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Uh it came to a point where I was analyzing the deals and everything. I knew what was coming in, and there was a point where I was told, oh no, you know what, because of one, two, three, it it we're not generating that amount. We're generating not even half. And I started to question a lot of things on the integrity side of the business side with you know, certain people, and nothing against them, you know. They're they're great people, but I just wasn't in the right vehicle at the time to be able to fulfill my God-given potential, you know? So, and yeah, I I did burn the bridge. I I left, went, you know, my own way, and it's been phenomenal ever since.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Got it. All right, so you committed to this in March, started getting going in June so quickly, in such a short period of time, get so many deals on escrow, close seven transactions, currently three in escrow, six active listings. Did you have like a big SOI, past clients, referrals? What did you do? What'd you focus on?

SPEAKER_00 9:04

So, on the contrary, I didn't have none of that. So I have an SOI, but I didn't depend on that. I went all in with FastLead and you know started putting money on towards that. I didn't see it as ad spent, but more like betting on myself.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

So FastLead is is paid paid leads. Yeah. Uh most of them are buyer leads, although I think well, with 20% of them, 20 to 25% of them are going to be sellers as well. Yeah. Right. Got it. So you decided to invest in in marketing, yeah. Um versus just purely relying on the people that you know in your world, which is fine, by the way. And a lot of agents I know they focus on the people that they know, that they trust, that they like, right? But like in your situation, you're you're you're 26 years old. Like most of the people probably in your world, uh, they're not they're not homeowners, right? Right. And they probably are not looking to buy, right? Right now, the average age of a of a homeowner or the new home buyer, I think, is like close to 40 years old. Yeah, 40, 45. Yeah, so something along those lines, right? So, like in your situation, you made that decision like, all right, I gotta get in front of potential buyers, I gotta get in front of potential sellers, right? And how do I do that? Well, let me pay for these leads. Yeah, right. Uh, I mean, on average, what do you what are you paying for these leads? Five to eight bucks. Five to eight bucks, right? What are the conversion rates for these leads?

SPEAKER_00 10:29

For me, I would say, and these are numbers for this week, yeah. Um it's been about, I would say out of 50 calls, yeah, I book minimum seven to ten appointments.

SPEAKER_02 10:42

So out of 50 conversations or calls? Calls. Calls, how many conversations?

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Probably like half, if not 40%, are conversations.

SPEAKER_02 10:51

So half of them answer their phone. So about 25 were them answer their phone. Yeah. Out of those 25, 10 of them book a call with you. Yeah. And when you say book a call with you, you're talking about like a buyer consult.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Um, yes, buyer consult or uh an appointment to be able to go over either home set, check in on progress with a lender, check in on paperwork that they need to be able to move forward. So these appointments are either buyer consultations, first touch, or we're moving the needle forward with a lead that does want to buy in the next 60 to 90 days.

SPEAKER_02 11:26

So for for viewers that are watching this, right? Like they're like, so these are these are these are Facebook and Instagram leads, right? So meta, right? So like there are agents out there that that that tell me, like, Alan, these are not good leads, they're not really high quality leads, most of them don't answer their phone, most of them not not ready to transact. It takes a long time to get them going and everything like that. Like what you're telling me, right, in the last six, seven months, what you're telling me, especially like in the last two weeks or so, you're like, hey, I make 50 dials, I talk to half of those people, and eight to ten of them are in some sort of an action stage. Yep. Right? Some of them are ready to go, most of them need to speak to the lender, you know, some of them are going to be in a nurturing process and all of that stuff. So you are talking to people. Yeah. So how are you accomplishing that? How are you able to connect with almost 50% of people that you're dialing from the leads that supposedly don't answer their phone?

SPEAKER_00 12:28

That's funny. Yeah. Um, I follow a simple rule, the ABC rule. ABC.

SPEAKER_02 12:33

So what does it stand for?

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Always be closing. So to those people out there, those leads that are telling you one thing or another, a sale is made on every call. Yeah. Right? Either the prospect sells you on why they're not ready, or you sell the prospect on the situation, right? So to those people, I say figure out the best way to overcome that objection, redirect them towards the end goal of that call, whether it's the first point of contact, the second point of contact, or a third point of contact. And so, and make sure that your value proposition is big enough for that lead to actually want to continue having a conversation with you or agree to actually meet you and commit and follow through with that meeting.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

Okay, so so let's unpack that, right? Let's get a little bit more on a tactical side of things, right? So when you call that lead, right? Let's say they answer their phone. Well, first of all, when do you call them? Because that's another question that I constantly get from the agents, like, okay, Ellen, when is the best time to call? Right? And my response, and maybe that's different from your response, like, look, it doesn't really matter. Just find a time during the day when you are intentional, when you're focused, you don't have any distractions, you're just focusing on making dials or messaging, whatever, right? Um, what about you? How do you approach these calls? When do you make these calls? Like, walk us through the process.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

So at first, it was like you said, whenever I could, right? Yeah. So, but over time, you have to really pay attention to your database and figure out the most tactical way to call them, right? For instance, uh, the way I've seen it is like the type of buyer I'm dealing with, right? What price point are they in? Uh what do they do for work, right? What hours are they working? What hours may they not be working? Or either on lunch, break, or driving home or whatnot, right? So it gets to a point where you have to, after so many calls, figure out the best way to call John, right? Bob, whatever the case may be. So it's either for me really early in the morning before nine, during lunch, from like 11 to 1, or from 4 to 8. And I know most people don't like that because they're like, oh, I gotta go hang out with friends, I gotta go be with my girlfriend, I gotta go do this, do that, socialize. And that's fine. But that lead you're not calling, I'm calling. Or somebody else is calling.

SPEAKER_02 15:05

Because if you think about it, right, what as soon as that leads that lead up up uh up 10 into your you know, let's say your your ad, right? The way the meta works, they're gonna start showing very similar ads to them from that second on.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

So if you're not reaching out to that lead, if you're not talking to that lead, somebody else will do it as quickly as possible, right? And the lead to speed is the most important part of it. Yeah, right. So I remember when I was making calls to buyer leads, uh, for me it was after four o'clock.

SPEAKER_00 15:39

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 15:40

Right. So from four to six, from five to six or seven o'clock, that's when I had the probably the most pickups of the day. Exactly. And usually they're coming from work or they're already home, right? Maybe they're getting ready for dinner, maybe they're already done with dinner. And typically those conversations are much much easier to have, they're more extended, versus when you catch them at work, you know, most of the people at work they will not be answering their phone. But even if they do, it's going to be a very short, yeah, very brief conversation.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Which is okay though. I've used that as leverage to be able to book that appointment for later on. Hey, I'm at work. Okay, no worries, so it's a better time, you know. And then I give them away.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

And then you've also send them a quick text, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Well, I do. I tell them, hey, after this call, I'll send you a text about a call later. Okay. Book the appointment, they get the text, they get the email.

SPEAKER_02 16:29

Right. So uh segments per day, right? So either before 9 a.m., which probably most of the time you're not calling somebody. I am. You are. Okay. Then right, and then from four to six or seven. Four to eight. Four to eight. So you call people after seven o'clock.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:47

And you're cool with that.

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Some are, some aren't, but it's just overcoming that.

SPEAKER_02 16:52

Yeah. It's interesting because uh you send me a picture, or Eddie sent me a picture of you guys both making calls of Thanksgiving Day. And I was like, man, that's that's a commitment right there. So so what would you say then? Like, I know there are other agents that are getting these type of leads, right? Again, they may not be the high-quality leads. Again, they're not sphere, they're not past clients, right? They may not be like a Zillow lead, but I have a big opinion about the whole Zillow kill. They're getting sued, by the way. Yeah, but they are getting their ass kicked. Because of the lead situation. They are getting their ass kicked. Yeah, absolutely. That can be a major one. Yeah. And by the way, that's not only gonna be like Zillow. Man, attorneys, they love to cast the huge wide web. Yeah, I would not be surprised if the brokerages are gonna be involved, if the team leaders are gonna be involved, even the agents that are part of the team are gonna be involved as well eventually. But that's that's a different topic, that's a different conversation. But the thing is, I'm trying to say, is the fact that man, there are so many agents out there like, oh, you know, these leads don't work, or these leads are low quality. And granted, if you think about it, like like we measure this, the conversion rates are around 2%. So for every hundred leads that that you you generate that you pay for, let's say, for example, those 100 leads are gonna run you anywhere between 500 to 1,000, you're gonna close one to two transactions.

SPEAKER_00 18:09

But that one transaction pays for everything.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Right. So like the average commission is gonna be around 10 grand. Yeah. Right? So that pays pretty much for the entire year. But if you close two deals, that's 20 grand. That's a 20x return on your money. Exactly. Right? And you still have 98 leads in your system to work through. To work through. Exactly. Right? Okay. So walk us now to in terms of what you're doing when you're calling these leads, right? You said, you know, you know, leading with value, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Uh to a certain extent.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Let well, let let's let's do a quick role play. Let's say you're calling somebody for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 18:48

Oh, you're trying to give these people some sauce today, huh?

SPEAKER_02 18:50

It has to be. We cannot just talk in periphery, right? I mean, people like I'm sure there are gonna be people are like, man, I got a bunch of these leads, or I generated these leads in the past, right? Or I'm gonna lead generally like what do I do? How do I get the most out of them, right?

SPEAKER_00 19:04

In all reality, I would say if you have leads in Arizona you can't close, reach out to me and we'll figure something out.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Okay. All right. But let's say they're not in Arizona. Because you will have people all over the world. I mean Washington. I should close anybody in any part of the world. I know you can't, right? But that's for exactly why we want to hear exactly what do you do, like what do you say, what your approach is. Right? So this way they can take notes, yeah, right, and and and learn from you.

SPEAKER_00 19:30

So I think this is across the board with a lot of people, is they tried to sell off the bat, right? Oh, this is Bob with one, two, three company. We're the best in this, we're this, we're this, we're that. You're giving them all this thing, but you're not realizing that you haven't even asked what they want. So I think that's first thing that most people tend to do, and is why they can't connect with the person aspect of things. The they're humans at the end of the day, right? Yeah, behind every lead, there's an individual. Well, the thing is you have to treat the person with a certain respect and attention to their persona way before you sell them. Because people only buy from people they like, trust, and can build that bond with, right? To a certain extent, right? Business-wise. So ask before you sell.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

Okay, so again, what does it look like? Let's say, for example, I'm a lead, right? I'm looking to buy in Phoenix. Okay, my budget is about $500,000, or at least that's what I'm clicking on, $500,000. Yeah. And you're calling me for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Okay, gotcha. So I saw you were looking to get some more info on our new homes, Alan. You just looking to see what's out there, or you know I'm just looking.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Okay. Yeah, I saw something uh I think on Facebook, it said I can get a loan for like 3.5% or something like that, or 3.99%.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Yeah, I mean certain communities have that. If you don't mind me asking, like right now, are you currently renting or living with family?

SPEAKER_02 21:13

I'm renting right now. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 21:15

Yeah, nice. Central Phoenix. How long have you guys been renting twice?

SPEAKER_02 21:18

Oh, for five years now. Wow. Yeah. It's a long time.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Why don't you just keep renting?

SPEAKER_02 21:23

I don't know, it's just convenience thing. What do you mean? Well, you know what? We don't have to take care of the backyard, the front yard. It's just two of us. Although my my wife is pregnant right now. Oh.

SPEAKER_00 21:35

Congratulations. A boy or a girl? A boy. Boy? Boy, yeah. When's the baby shower so I could get my tucks ready?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Not sure yet, but she's doing something with her mom and her her sister, you know, probably in about two months. Two months. Yeah, she's five months pregnant right now.

SPEAKER_00 21:49

Okay. So the ladies got some plan. What are us?

SPEAKER_02 21:52

They're always got something plan. They're always got something going on. They're always spending on something. For something.

SPEAKER_00 21:57

What are we gonna do for the boys, you know? You gotta celebrate that.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

Uh I don't know yet. I don't know, but probably Vegas for a few days.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

Can I get an invite? Oh man.

SPEAKER_02 22:05

Uh well we'll see.

SPEAKER_00 22:06

We'll see. We'll see. Okay, okay. Gotcha. Well, congrats on your new baby. Um, are you looking to stay central or were you looking to move to whether east or West Valley?

SPEAKER_02 22:16

I don't know. We're open to it, right? So we're in central Phoenix right now, uh, because you know I work uh from the office, but I can work hybrid or can work remotely. You know, we're probably looking for something uh either like Scottsdale, if not Scottsdale, maybe like North Phoenix area.

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Okay. What do you do for a living?

SPEAKER_02 22:35

IT.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

IT. Okay. For how long? Oh uh 10 years now. Oh man. Okay. So you're you definitely know what you're doing, huh?

SPEAKER_02 22:42

Hopefully, yeah, but with this AI thing, who knows if I'm gonna have a job in five years. Hey man, we just hope. Maybe I'll be like you, like a real estate agent.

SPEAKER_00 22:50

I mean, if we get along, I don't mind bringing you on my team. Really? Yeah, how much money do you think I can make? I mean, it's up to you. How hard are you willing to work?

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Oh, pretty hard.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

We'll have to we'll have to see that in first.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

When I'm in, I'm in. I'm all in, I'm all in, man.

SPEAKER_00 23:06

Okay. Well, we'll definitely see for that. So you do IT, why don't you work remote?

SPEAKER_02 23:10

I can. It's just, you know, right now I work from the office because it's only like five-minute drive for me. Okay. Right. But I can work remotely or hybrid.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Makes sense. Okay. So 500, you got a kid coming in, you know, in the next couple of months. Would you want to settle with like three bedrooms or like four?

SPEAKER_02 23:28

Probably three, minimum three. We need to have some sort of like an office as well where I can work out of it.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Would you be against doing like a four or like three with like a den?

SPEAKER_02 23:37

No, not at all.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:38

Not at all.

SPEAKER_00 23:39

Makes sense. Three or four. And then are you opposed to like a two-story? No, not really. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 23:44

Yeah, I mean, we're we're young, we're vibrant. We can, you know, move up, downstairs, no issues.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Fair enough. Okay. Now you've been renting for five years. You still under a contract or in a month to month?

SPEAKER_02 23:56

Uh our contract, I think, is up like in three months, three or four months. But again, we're kind of debating whether to renew the lease or not. Um, you know, we've been paying $1,900 per month, you know, plus some taxes and everything. So about $2,000 a month now.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

Gotcha. Okay. What has you on the fence on whether you should, you know, renew or not?

SPEAKER_02 24:19

We're not sure. We just, you know, keep hearing all these stories about, you know, uh home prices are gonna come down, you know, the the rates are being pretty pretty high. You know, and that's what really attracted me to your ad was the fact that it said like I can buy a house for as little as like three and a half percent interest rate. Yeah, yeah. So I was like, wait a minute, like man, if I can find something with three and a half percent interest rate, you know.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Then what do you feel like would hold you back?

SPEAKER_02 24:48

I don't know. I obviously have to have that conversation with my wife, right?

SPEAKER_00 24:52

I mean, house aside, uh Alan. How long have you guys been married? Oh, we've been married for about six years now. Wow, yeah, phenomenal. How'd you know she was the one? By default, I'm you know, not married yet. Well, hinder their decision. What do you feel like was that one thing for you? Because you had a lot of options, right? What was that one thing they were like, this is the one?

SPEAKER_02 25:12

I she always uh always supported my dreams and what I wanted in life, and uh I felt always good with her, you know, which is very important, I think. Um somebody told me this in the past. Um, probably one of the most important decisions you're gonna make in your life is choosing your your partner, your spouse.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:31

So I felt like uh I've done the right job when it comes to that. Um but sometimes you have to kiss multiple frogs, and I'm not calling my exes frogs. It's okay, you know, to to pick a princess. And so that's that's the way I look at it. So let's stop here, okay?

SPEAKER_00 25:49

But you see what I did there?

SPEAKER_02 25:51

So like I diverted away from the house. And exactly. I mean, you you went like opposite almost, right? Like like you're having a conversation with me like you would let would have probably with one of your neighbors or one of your buddies, right? Now, is this something that you do with pretty much every call? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:10

I just have a conversation. I was having a conversation with that. There's people that that don't let you push on certain things or ask certain things, and that's okay. But I'd rather knock on that door and be told no than not to knock on it, and then later on be like, wow, if I would have maybe done this different, I would have been able to get this that I could use as leverage to close, you know.

SPEAKER_02 26:31

Right. Let's say you are someone that is calling these leads. So this is your approach, and I love your approach. But obviously, it took some time to develop, right? The skill that's required because you're you're very, very confident, um, yeah, almost kind of like comfortable when you're you're making these calls and having these conversations, right?

SPEAKER_00 26:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:54

Um what would you say to someone that maybe just starting, right? Or maybe been calling these leads, and by the way, it doesn't have to be paid leads, could be like any leads. Any leads, dude. For sale by owners, expired, even sphere, right? Like, like I feel like most of the agents, they're just like so hesitant, right? They worry way too much about hearing no or getting a rejection, right? Like, man, it takes like some people like an hour off listening to Tony Robbins before they pick up the phone and start calling, right? So what would you suggest to them? What would be your feedback to them, your your insights in terms of like like how can they really approach the situation in a way where like they're more confident? More confident, you know. Um if you're just talking to somebody who again is just like you know, needs to get themselves like like pumped up for this, what would you tell them?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Uh hesitation or like fear of being on the phones, so that way you feel first yourself and comfortable to be on the phone. But the truth of the reality is like anything, it's just repetition, right? Uh I personally, you know, the first time I got on the phones was doing collections uh for Amex uh when I was like 18. So it will for me was like, okay, I either figure it out or I get fired, right? And I don't have a job or source of income. So that's how I was kind of pushed to do things. I feel like for me in life, I've always been pushed to do things, like always learned in the fire, always forged in chaos, right? Baptized by fire. Yeah, still doing all those things. Baptized by fire. So I've always been put in situations where there was a lot of pressure on it, and I either performed or folded, right? At first, obviously, you you fold because you're new to the situation, but after a while, you look for that. Like, that's my same approach. So how do we closures too?

SPEAKER_02 28:55

Right. So, how do you overcome, you know, those those right? Because like if you think about it, like everyone, when they start something new, right, you're uncomfortable. Right? Uh things uh at times you even get discouraged, and then like you give up. Like their agents, unfortunately, I feel like they try a lead source, doesn't really work according to the script or doesn't work according to the plan. They're not really seeing the progress, they're not seeing the results, and they just a few months later they just give up. And you said that I had to go through that process as well with Amex, and I'm sure with the wholesaling company, and I'm sure even right, when you started this like in March, April timeframe, I'm sure not every single phone call was like the best phone call, right? Not every conversation led to you meeting with them and ultimately securing your business, right? So, how are you able to overcome all the mental blocks, self-doubt, limiting beliefs, just questioning whether this is actually the right path for you in the first place?

SPEAKER_00 29:58

I would say something I learned early on with collections was um every no leads you to a bigger yes.

SPEAKER_02 30:05

If you're an agent listening to this, let me ask you something. How predictable is your pipeline? Because most agents aren't struggling with the skill, they're struggling with the opportunity. You can be the best agent in the world, but if you don't have conversations with buyers and sellers, you're not closing deals. That's where fastly.io comes in. We help agents create consistent opportunities. No random leads, no guessing where the next deal is coming from, a real pipeline that turns conversations into closings. That's what we're here to build. If you want my playbook to increase your business without burning out, book a call below.

SPEAKER_00 30:40

And then as well, like for people that are afraid of making the calls, the worst thing that could happen is you'll be in the same exact position you're in now, or you have a lead. So it's like, okay, I'm afraid to get on the phone because I'm afraid to be told no. It's part of the game. If you don't want to be told no, I I don't know what profession in this world, you know, you don't get told no. So it's okay, I make the call, I either have two outcomes. I either get a lead or I get some type of contact, right? A rep.

unknown 31:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Or I'm in the same position I'm in now.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

And I'm gonna pay a little, play a little devil's advocate, and I'm gonna say, but Ray, like there's so many different jobs out there, there's so many different industries out there, so many different roles and positions out there where you don't have to do this, you don't have to hear rejections, yeah. You don't have to constantly hear no just to get to yes, right? Why not just do something else? You're young, you're good looking. Well, I mean, you can probably do different things, many different things. I stick to this for the past six years, seven years.

SPEAKER_00 31:50

It's gonna be funny. I've always been able to take no and run with it. I think I had a lot of practice in high school meeting girls. It wasn't like I would do a cold approach or anything, but if I saw, you know, a beautiful girl and I, you know, was attracted to her to a certain extent, I'd approach, you know, and try to have just a genuine conversation and not lead with, oh, you know, you're very beautiful, like most a lot of people men try to do, you know, oh, you're very beautiful or anything. But the simplest way I can remember was uh, hey, I'm sorry, I'm kind of new here. Do you know where X is at? You know? And they'll either say yes or no and just build off of that. So I I got a lot of practice in high school with, you know, approaching women in the nicest is most respectful way possible, because a lot of people may take that the wrong way. I was always very, you know, respectful and read social cues, right? I said, all right, thank you, have a good day. And I did leave, you know, gracefully, because you who never knows, you know, maybe she changes her mind about me later in the year or you know, whatever, and she may want to talk to me, but if you leave and you leave a bad impression, there's never going to be something better because she has that impression of you, or that person has that impression on you, right? Yeah. So I had a lot of practice uh growing up doing that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

Interesting. I feel like anything in life, especially when it comes to sales, right? Uh, yes, you know, having scripts is important, having books are important, sales books, reading those, right? But ultimately, what's gonna get you to the next level and more levels to come. Performance is is the repetitions, performance, right? The way we're gonna get better is by doing more and more of it. Exactly. Right? Where those repetitions come to place is is is really the discipline component. I really believe that the bridge between your goals and and the results is discipline, right? You coming in pretty much every day to the office, you're making dials, you're having conversations, even not in the office, you're making calls and everything like that. That's that's that's discipline. Yeah, right. And I'm sure there are days when you were like, dude, like I don't feel like doing this.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

90% of the days.

SPEAKER_02 34:10

So how how how do you how do you how do you continue to like push through, right? Because I just I remember myself, right? Like, dude, I I was a C plus student. I was not really disciplined in school. Um I got bored in school. Me too. Like I went to college for the most part because I wanted to meet a bunch of girls. And after about a year or so, year and a half, I said, I'm good, I'm done. Yeah. I mean, that's really the reason, right? I don't remember when I got into a real estate, uh, I decided to focus primarily on expired listings and cancel listings. Well, like you need to have a discipline. Yeah. Like coming to the office early in the morning, 7-7 30 in the morning every day, that's a discipline. It is. Right. Uh making these calls and hearing a lot of no's, right, just to get to that one, right? That's a discipline, right? Going on a listing appointment and and getting every single objection in a book, right? Because they met with four other agents, right? And they had a listing on the market for eight months with the previous agent, and not getting that listing because they don't really trust you, right? Because you're a brand new agent, you know, and for you to continue doing that over and over again, that's discipline, right? So, like in your situation, plow through and push through and make sure that, like, man, I gotta do this because without it, there are no closings. Yeah. Like everything that you're doing right now, like today, the results are gonna be apparent in like 60 to 90 days. Like all of the prospecting, all of the meetings, all the conversations you're having today, it's 60, 90 days out.

SPEAKER_00 35:45

Right.

SPEAKER_02 35:46

So, how to continue pushing yourself through, especially right now, you know, they're doing other things, they're not really prospecting, they're not coming to the office, and you hear every single day. Walk us through that.

SPEAKER_00 35:57

I thought about the same thing the other day on my way home after a long day of no's, right? I realized that it's great not having a boss micromanage you, it's great not being told no, you can't, you know, leave whenever you want, no, you can't take lunch whenever you want, no, you can't go on a vacation this day. And very early on in my 905 career or journey, like, what do you mean? I I do my best, and you're telling me no. So I realized the other day that the discipline that it takes to go through the nose is the cost of being able to have the freedom to the yeses that I want.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

Yeah, yeah. There's that there's that quote, and I'm probably gonna butcher it, right? From Jim Rohn. He talks about the pain of of of discipline, right? Uh there are two types of pains, right? There's uh pain of discipline and pain of regret. Right? But the pain of discipline weighs ounces in comparison to the pain of regret.

SPEAKER_00 37:05

I think where that's where I'm different. I don't think there's pain and discipline only reward. And that's the mental motto I had to really grasp and implement my daily routine because discipline only has reward, like discipline, you know, in your life. You go to the gym, it's it may seem hard, but the reward is a lot better. You feel good after, you know. The calls may make you feel uncomfortable, you may not like someone telling you no, or hey, I'm already under contract, or I'm already working with an agent, but then you get to that client and they're like, Yeah, we'll work together, and it becomes a deal, and it's like, good. So I've tried my best ever since I've gone full-time to switch every possible negative quote or reference to something positive to rewire my perspective on a lot of things, and instead of seeing problems or challenges as a bad thing, seeing them as a way for me to figure out how I can become better to be able to figure it out and move forward. Yeah, love that.

SPEAKER_02 38:16

So, what do you say to someone that is uh currently maybe not doing that well? They're struggling. Everybody goes through seasons, right? Let's say they're in a season where you know the sun is not really out or it's only out for a short period of time, it's cold, it's winter wintery, right? Um, they're not doing well financially. What is your recommendation to them? How can they really turn things around in their business, in their life?

SPEAKER_00 38:46

They got their based on daily habits. I would say really write down what those habits are that they do currently and see which ones they could flip because there's always a way to from going on a downward spiral to figure out how you can have an upward spiral, right? But as well use whatever you're going through as as fuel, right? You guys may see like the closings and this and that, but the truth of the reality is I don't have my best friend to be able to share it with, you know?

SPEAKER_02 39:22

When you say you don't have a best friend to share it away, I don't have my best friend. Who's your best friend?

SPEAKER_00 39:28

My best friend is uh my brother Joseph.

SPEAKER_02 39:31

And what happened to Joseph?

SPEAKER_00 39:32

He fought cancer very early on in his life, and unfortunately, didn't make it.

SPEAKER_02 39:38

How old was he?

SPEAKER_00 39:40

11.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

He was 11 years old. Oh well.

SPEAKER_00 39:43

So anytime I either get like out of the day or get something on a contract. I go and share it with him, but not in the way I would want.

SPEAKER_02 39:57

I can't imagine that. But it's more like I bet he's watching over you. Yeah. Right. He's pushing you forward. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:06

Yeah, of course, because like the way I see that, it's like we sit all day and talk on the phone, right? Some people may see it as hard to try doing some type of laborist job and see how hard it is. But at the same time, how I see it, it's like, okay, he went through all these things as a young kid, and he always had a smile on his face. He was always happy. Nothing really fazed him. So every day I feel like that.

SPEAKER_02 40:40

Yeah, it's it's it's it's what you said about a few and a few minutes ago, looking at all the things in a positive light. Like, you know, I think there's that there's a there's that phrase or there's that quote, I see my feet and I have holes in my shoes until I see a person without shoes. Without feet. Exactly. Yeah. And it puts a lot of things in perspective. Right? Like, man, like here we are talking about making calls, hearing nose, getting rejected.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

There's someone in the hospital, in the hospital right now fighting for their life.

SPEAKER_02 41:18

It puts a lot of things in perspective.

SPEAKER_00 41:20

And that's what I I tell Celine and uh Odessa sometimes, and they're like, oh, they saw that. And I'll say, Well, you could be dead, you could be a vegetable.

SPEAKER_02 41:29

Yeah, absolutely. Alright, brother. Um, this has been really enlightening so many different levels. Let's say we have another podcast, I don't know, maybe a year from now. 2026. What does it look like for you business-wise, personally, relationship-wise, financially?

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Uh gotta keep just making the calls. Look for people to leverage, you know, the clients that I have so that way I can help more people. Because at the end of the day, that's that's the way I approach things. I I'm here to help people. I always ask God to put people in my path and need my help. Not to waste my time with tire kickers. So just continue to help people with the same intention. No matter how much money I make. Money's not really the the goal here.

SPEAKER_02 42:22

What what is the goal?

SPEAKER_00 42:23

Excuse my French, but truly the goal is to become the baddest motherfucker my bloodline has ever seen. What?

SPEAKER_02 42:33

So in every aspect of your life, become the best version of yourself. Yep. That's that. Love that. Alright, if somebody wants to connect with you, link up with you as well. Uh, or they can find you.

SPEAKER_00 42:46

So my Instagram is uh E L underscore D-O-N underscore R-E-Y. Hold on, Ray. Or you can on Facebook? No, I don't use Facebook. They can reach out, you know, to what, you, and we could get connected.

SPEAKER_02 43:04

I don't think it'd be okay to Yeah, just DM me uh and I'll I'll I'll connect you with Ray. Yeah. Um and uh he'll he'll help you out. Alright, dude. Well listen, I appreciate you. Thanks for coming in, and uh we're definitely gonna do it again.

SPEAKER_00 43:18

Yeah. Next time we'll probably do it from like like top suite and like Cancun.

SPEAKER_02 43:24

Well, man. Yeah. And if if you like this content, uh just make sure you like it. But more importantly, make sure you subscribe it. All right, guys. See you next time.