Shortcuts vs Systems: Why Most Agents Never Build Wealth : Real estate business mistakes

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Shortcuts vs Systems: Why Most Agents Never Build Wealth : Real estate business mistakes

Most real estate agents think success comes from more deals, more leads, and more hustle.

But what if that growth is actually making your business weaker?

In this episode, we break down the dangerous shortcuts agents fall into from shiny object syndrome to the hero leader trap and why so many teams grow income but never build a real business.

If your business still depends on you for everything, you're not scaling you're just upgrading your stress level.

In this conversation, we cover:
• Why agents chase shortcuts that stall real growth
• The “pipeline dopamine” trap many agents fall into
• Why being the hero leader actually weakens your team
• The difference between income growth vs business strength
• Why systems and processes create real business value
• How to start thinking like a CEO instead of a producer
• The simple time audit exercise that reveals your biggest bottlenecks

If you want to build a real estate business that grows without you being involved in every deal, this episode will change how you think about leadership, systems, and scale.

And stay tuned for the next episode where we break down why real estate teams collapse even after rapid growth.


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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

I think the problem is looking for the shortcuts or even maybe even finding them. I think it's keeping them from actually building well. Some of these are are like traps that they fall into. And the first one is is like pipeline dopamine. The hero leader, right me, stays involved in everything. I'm touching it all. I'm writing the remarks. I'm approving this because obviously I can do it faster. I know more than everybody.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

So let's get into let's get into fixes like upgrade to CEO thinking. And let's get specific. Instead of like just build systems, like what will actually move the the needle.

SPEAKER_00 0:36

All right, Wayne. I think I found something that you and I might agree on. I think it's a strong, strong possibility. I think most agents think there's a shortcut to success. Like I think they do. But I think here's the thing.

SPEAKER_02 0:50

Well, here, let me push back. I think they're taught to look for shortcuts. They're taught and they're sold shortcuts, right? So so let's get into them be like, oh, like we're business. Is there a better, faster way? So you know, I just I I was like they're taught that there are shortcuts in some places there are, some places there aren't. So I think that's what what leads into this.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

Yeah, no, I agree. I think the problem is looking for those shortcuts or even maybe even finding them, I think it's keeping them from actually building wealth. I think it's yes, I think it's the shiny object syndrome. We know how that goes, and it's just it's it's taking them off their game. And so I think today we need to answer the hard question are you actually growing or are you just upgrading your stress level? Here's the reality growth it comes in different forms, but it doesn't mean that growth in business equals income. And most in most agents, we've seen it, they increase their earnings, they can do that, but they're decreasing their business strength, meaning they are the business. So sure, I can do more because I'm doing more, but my business isn't worth more because it's only me doing it at the exact same time.

SPEAKER_02 1:48

Right. Yeah. Yep. Well, and I do, I think I think there's some of these are are like traps that they fall into. And the first one is is like pipeline dopamine, right? Which is like we're we're taught to like chase the new lead, chase the new listing, go get the new thing, and it feels like momentum. The problem is, is if you're not building a sustainable way to do that over and over and over, you're you're doing it's like you're doing it for the first time every time. So and you see people do this, whether it's recruiting with uh leadership, whatever it is, it's like I need an agent. So they go recruit real hard for for for a week or two, uh, and then they they're like, oh, found one, and they come back, but they didn't have a system or process to it, so they're doing it for the same thing, same time every year, right? And it's it's like you're doing it for the first time every time, and you're not building a pipeline, it's all just grunt force.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Yeah, no, I agree. I think the other one is the other shortcut I think people try and do, and this is the blowback, is it's the hero leader shortcut, where you know, the hero leader, right me, stays involved in everything. I'm touching it all, I'm writing the remarks, I'm approving this because obviously I can do it faster, I know more than everybody. But like, think of the dependency that creates in your team. Like, they're not gonna be able to go to the bathroom without asking you, like, hey, should I go this way? Like toilet paper under or toilet paper over. Like, how's that gonna make? And like, we need more decision makers around us, not less, right? And I think that's really what people aren't looking at. It's like there's leadership and there's not, like, there's no second layer. And so your business becomes a high-paying job if you do not have decision makers around you. And I think that's where people got to gather around way and stop being the hero. Like, that's not cool. Let other people be the heroes.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

And and teach people how to make those decisions. And then I think the third one is the dashboards in front of them. Like a lot of us struggle with any dashboards at all. But then, you know, we talk about our success path when when you and I are working with a client, and one of the steps in the success path is is build your dashboards, build your your cockpit. And most people are looking at just like the the the one on the wall, right? How many deals, how many pinnings, whatever is that's great. But are you also looking at a profit margin and your time um and and scalability? It's like, hey, can't is so I think you gotta have multiple scoreboards. And most people have, you know, maybe have one score, but they probably don't have a couple.

SPEAKER_00 3:55

I think the main thing you hit on there, and I have this discussion all the time, is your time. I talk to agents all the time, and like our thing is like we help streamline processes and help you save time. They never factor in that their time has a cost. And I think until people realize your time actually has a dollar value, you're not really leading.

SPEAKER_02 4:15

Yeah, yeah. Well, and and I think there's there's three real costs here, right? And the first cost is if you're not doing, and I know we talked about this in a lot of the other episodes, but if you're not building assets, SOPs, processes, systems, your business really doesn't have any value, right? Like, think about when you buy a dentist to practice, you're not just you're not necessarily buying the equipment. The equipment's cool, but the equipment's gonna wear out and and and be different, you know, you know, like two years now, but you're buying the processes. How do they get people to remind people to come in for their cleaning? What's the process for getting stuff done? How do they get the supplies? Like all those things. The second one is like operational drag. Like, if you're the person that has to do it all, right, you're you're not able to go fast, right? You're not able to scale anything, and then and you're really you're delaying real wealth um by chasing the the dollar tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

Hey, really quick, you know how YouTube works. Like and subscribe so we know this is working and it keeps pushing the content out.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yeah, this is what we do as a passion project. Wayne got his own coaching, I got my real estate, but we've come together because we want y'all to learn from all our scars and mistakes. So that like and subscribe means the world to us because it means you care and it means we can keep giving, and also it makes us look cool with my mom.

SPEAKER_02 5:23

Absolutely. So let's get into let's get into fixes, like upgrade to CEO thinking, and let's get specific instead of like just build systems, like what will actually move the the need of forward for a whole lot of people. So so give us some of the steps and what that looks like in a real world scenario.

SPEAKER_00 5:38

Yeah, no, I think it's that's a really good question. And so I think the first step is what you have to do is you have to like replace your production goals with dependency goals. And what I mean by that is like stop asking, like, how many deals can we close this quarter? That's that's cool. That's the very basic way of looking at it. But also what you need to look at is what must my business be doing for me to stop needing me this quarter? So, like, how can you replace yourself? Because, you know, again, closing deals, great, but if your goal is not to be in the deals or to do more, how can you get out of it? What can you give away? And so maybe it's client communication. That's a that's a strong one. Some people don't like that. Maybe it's listing coordination. Do you really need to be running lockboxes to a house and cutting keys? Do you really like super important? But do you? Uh uh maybe it's the transaction oversight. Like, do you really need to read the like once you get somebody trained? Do you really need to read every remark or every photo, review every photo that goes out? And that's quality control. I hear you, but let somebody else do quality control. So I think you can grow by reducing, not increasing.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

Yeah, yep, I I agree. And I think the second one is I haven't really assigned a job to somebody unless I've also given them responsibility. And that's a new way of thinking about it. Like it's one to like give somebody a, hey, I want you to do this thing, or it's like it's your job to get this result. If you need my help, you can come to me for things, but but it's like, hey, do I want somebody to put out videos? Or is it going like, hey, I expect us to get this many act interactions a month through our videos? This is your thing. So I think it's giving them responsibility, helping them become responsible for the outcome, not just responsible for doing the task. And for me, that's been a big shift. It's like, how do I get people not just to do the task, but to be more responsible for the outcome I expect of that task? And and that's a it's a different way of looking at stuff for me.

SPEAKER_00 7:30

Yeah, no, yeah. You give somebody ownership, like they have a whole new kind of lease on life and they're excited and they want to take care of it. But you give them a task, they don't care about the outcome. So I think you're a hundred percent right. Um, the third one I think we can agree on is I would track going from the C going to the CEO route is what we're talking about, is track your feeder freedom metrics, right? So while most people are looking at GCI units, kind of like I was talking earlier, but like what you should also be looking at is like how many hours a week did you work? The number of issues escalated to you, the deals closed without your involvement. There's a cool book I'm reading right now, and I'm not gonna go into a tie right now, but it's like the five types of wealth. And it talks about financial, but also time, but also emotional and friends, and it's so I kind of look at it the same way is like my running myself into a ground, or is this one of the five emotion the five ways of wealth? And that's obviously deals, and the other one is time. So I think if you know the deal is closed without your involvement, that's great, but those numbers don't improve if your growth is fake, right? So, like if you're doing real growth and doing real systems, your growth will take off without you, and that's what we all want.

SPEAKER_02 8:34

Yeah, yeah. And I think one great task that people could do, like you have people do their time audit, which I think is awesome. Another turn on that would be do the time audit and then go back through it with three highlighters, right? And like green is like awesome, dollar productive, best thing that I could have been doing during that time. Like, green is like absolutely I should be on the phone with that person doing that thing, right? And red is like, hmm, probably shouldn't be doing that, right? Like, I'm probably not the one that should be ordering business cards. I'm probably not the one that should have been dealing with this problem because I don't even know about that problem. Like, call the help desk, right? Whatever it is, right? So red is like, please, dear baby Jesus, stop. And then yellow is what are the things that maybe I can't give away today, but I probably could give away. Hey, if we if I had a decision tree for this, we could probably give that away. If we had a list of where we get all our supplies, people probably wouldn't have to come and ask for me where we where we get the staples because there's a list somewhere, right? So, like, I think it's a great thing to do. Do that timeline, they go back through and go like green, awesome. If I was running my business and I was working for me, I would say, absolutely you're doing the right thing at the right time. Sure. Red is I'm paying you a lot of money. Why the hell were you doing that? Please never do that ever again, right? Right. And and then yellow is, man, I think if I built some processes, I think if I built some decision trees, I think if I made a checklist for this, I don't know if I'd have to do that forever. And I think that's it's one really healthy little little step. And I think the last thing I'll say on this before we get into the next episode where we go deeper on some other things about teams collapsing, etc.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

But the last thing I'll say on this is you deserve the right to give something away if you don't like to do it, if you can. So look at it for joy and ROI and see if those can match up. So, all right, so here's the thing, guys. We're gonna wrap this bad boy up. But most agents chasing shortcuts are just rich on paper and they're poor in control. So, yeah, sure, they've built income. They've never built a business that could survive without them, though. So here's the scary part the agents chasing these shortcuts, they're the same ones building big teams right now. And that's that's scary. And what's gonna happen is you could build, like I said, like to say, you can build the tallest building in the world, but if there's no structure to it, it's gonna come crumbling down at some point. So that's exactly why you need to watch our next episode. Hey, real quick, if you're liking this content, imagine having a full day immersed with people that are on this, like us, that are learning from each other.

SPEAKER_01 10:51

Man, we do these kinds of events, these intensive, a couple times a year. And if you know that you are the smartest person in the room and you need to get in some other rooms, this is the place to be, right? So apply, send us a message right now. We'll send you the application link and see if you are the right fit to be in one of the rooms.