Lab Coat Agents Podcast

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer speaks with Jim Remley, a broker-owner and coach. Jim understands how to start a conversation and go beyond the basics. He is a great teacher who shares his secrets to understanding aspirational and experiential marketing and how it can help you convert more in 2020. If you are struggling to talk to enough people every day to achieve your goals, you need to tune into this podcast episode. Episode Highlights:  Jim Remley had a dream of getting into the real estate business. He dropped out of college, walked into a Century 21 office, and began his career. Within twelve months he took 150 listings and got into the top 1% in his region. At 24, he opened an office that he grew to 17 offices over a 15 year period. He sold that business in 2006. Jim’s strategy about how to overcome your age is that you can win with enthusiasm and authenticity. His secret to success was that he outworked his competition and was completely authentic while doing so. It's really important to have your goals set. Have written goals and an action plan behind the goals. If you want to do 20 million dollars, what does that boil down to in terms of a daily action plan? Use the "act as if" approach. Jim is currently using this approach with a weight loss goal. What does a 160-pound person do when they get up in the morning? What does a 20 million dollar producer do with their day? It really is about setting priorities. The difference between successful agents and those who do not succeed is always their daily action plan. Think about your business like you just got a medical license. You have a 2-3 year period where you are essentially an intern. When his agents first go out, Jim teaches them to go after FSBOs and expired listings, learn how to farm, and then at the end of that tunnel he wants his agents to be 80-90% sphere-based within 2-3 years. Your personal life carries into your professional life. Aspirational marketing means we're going to touch on what really drives people to make any kind of housing decision. Housing changes are based on lifestyle changes. One version of aspirational marketing is asking someone about their dream home. When you ask people that question, you're accessing a dream center of their brain. Often people will tell you something local. He will set up a dream search for them. Then every month you send them their aspirational goals. At some point, no question they'll do business with you. The dream search is a fun way to do business with people and have fun conversations. People default to writing an amenities list when writing ads. Jim focuses ads not on the amenities list but on the features that the amenities give you. This way he's selling a lifestyle. Ask if your ads paint a lifestyle picture. Do they create an aspirational goal for someone to be living in the house? Ads should drive curiosity. Hand curation is when the agent handpicks properties that their buyers should absolutely see. This is experiential marketing. Experiential marketing is really only for buyers who are A+ buyers who will be buying in the next 30-60 days. If you're closing 24 deals per year, you're in the top 4% of agents nationwide. The average American has 27 conversations per day. If you could just insert the dream house question into 5 of those conversations each day, your career will transform. The problem is that most agents are afraid of rejection. Everybody likes to talk about real estate. 30 conversations leads to one transaction. You just don't know where transactions will come from. You've got to be outside the box and thinking all the time. Once you get in the habit of turning conversations to real estate, it will become self-reinforcing. Jim provides a starter for easing the conversation into real estate. Tell someone you're in real estate and that you're showing two properties today. Ask them which one they like better. You need excuses to engage people. If you're not taking risks every day, what you want to become is an employee. What you're really providing is an experience. You have to rethink your business as an experience. Create a drip system of videos. This is especially helpful for out of town buyers to help them get to know an area. Provide recommendations that help build a lifestyle experience. When you're in escrow, creating a drip series of process videos. Ask yourself if you've updated your listing and selling presentations recently. When agents start basing their business on referrals, they start phoning in their listing presentations. Every time you're with a seller, even if it's your best friend, you do the full experience. Real time videos can be scaled out to your entire database. A lot of agents get caught up in being perfect. It's good to be perfectly imperfect on video. Jim built a coaching platform based on how he trains his own agents. When a student comes into their path performance coaching, they have hundreds of videos they can tap into. As they watch a video, they can download scripts, letters, and drip systems. Students also receive live coaching every Monday. Jim wants to get agents to a place where they are not worried about where their next sale is going to come from. Most coaching systems fail because the coach is pushing you on a path that you don't want to go down. With Jim’s coaching program, you choose your path. 3 Key Points:   Start asking people about their dream homes and help them find them.   Rethink your business as providing not a service, but an experience.   Be authentic and imperfect in live videos. Going live is an opportunity to connect at scale. Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Jim Remley LinkedIn, Facebook erealestatecoach website, Instagram, Facebook BombBomb video platform Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer speaks with Michael Burke, an author, coach, and motivational speaker, who will inspire you to be better. Michael has lived with cystic fibrosis for almost fifty years and gives us insight into mindset, drive, gratitude, and personal motivation that leads to living your best life. This podcast is for anyone seeking to accomplish anything in 2020. Episode Highlights:  By the numbers, Michael Burke is not supposed to be around. When he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, the general life expectancy was five. He didn't know he was different as a child but understood that when he was a teen. Michael tells a story about how his father came to terms with letting him participate fully in his childhood despite his disease. He takes 13,340 pills a year and spends 500 hours in therapy. Setting big goals carries into all areas of your life. One of the best ways to clear his lungs was always to be active. At one point Michael got really sick in his twenties because he worked himself too hard. He stopped waiting for the worst things to happen. He got focused on his health and started running. He asked himself what the hardest thing he could do would be and decided to run a marathon. It's scary in the beginning, sometimes you feel like you don't want to do it, but when you see that it's remotely possible to achieve the big goal, it starts drawing you in and gets faster and faster. Mike ran 9 full marathons, 20 half marathons, he coached marathoners, and attempted an Iron Man. He decided to cycle 3,000 miles in one year, inspired by what Jeff had done and recently achieved that goal. Instead of letting other people's success create doubt in his mind, he let it create possibilities. When your mind says you're done, your body actually has 60% left in the tank. One of the big shifts is going from "I should" to "I want". Michael is always stretching for that thing that other people don't like to do. The long term pursuit of an avoidance goal creates depression. Everybody has a different bold motivation. Michael doesn’t have regrets. Don't be afraid to live fully. New medicine has recently come out that is very close to a functional cure for cystic fibrosis. He wants parents to know to never sink to that lower expectation. Never let your kid take the easy ride. Let them know you believe in them. The person you're leading needs to know you believe in them. Michael started looking for a way to help people who were feeling lost. Coaching helps you identify the best parts of yourself. One of the foundational principles of positive psychology is gratitude. Write down three things that happened today that you're grateful for and why they happened. You're teaching yourself how to get more of the things you're thankful for. You can lead with pride, gratitude, and compassion. Michael advises that agents may need two coaches at first. One process coach and one performance coach. Engaging in what will make you successful is different from knowing what will make you successful. Michael shares his plans for the coming year.  3 Key Points:   Setting big goals will positively influence all areas of your life.   Everyone has a different bold motivation.   When you practice gratitude, you’re teaching yourself to get more of the things you’re grateful for. Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Michael Burke Facebook, LinkedIn, phone (314-283-5985) Live Bold Coaching Facebook Waiting to Die, Running to Live (book) Five Feet Apart (movie) Grit (book) Triple Bypass Bicycle Race Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer has an impactful conversation with the realtor queen of Instagram, Tessabella Jelten, about the strategies that have helped her create a large following on social media. This podcast is a must for anyone who is focusing on adding or growing their social media presence in 2020. Episode Highlights:  Tessabella Jelten moved to AZ after high school. She had an internship at an event planning company. She made them a website and deployed a social media platform that doubled their business in just over 50 days. Tessabella started flipping houses and realized she could use social media to generate leads and build a personal brand. She breaks projects down to micro-level tasks to achieve big goals. Jeff and Tessa discuss age in the real estate industry. Age hasn't held her back because she found a way to create a competitive advantage. As she has learned to bring more people into her business, a lot of her time now is spent creating value for others and coaching. Confidence is important. If you walk in and own the room and know what you have is valuable then people really pick up on the energy that you put off. A great manager takes the knowledge and skill sets of everyone in the room and finds a way to channel that to be most effective. Only 14% of people are utilizing Instagram for business. Try to think about ways to use IG to elevate your business and add on to the things you're already doing. The majority of her time is spent progressing her business in some way. It’s important to have a strategy from the beginning. Focus on producing content rather than consuming it. Most of your posts should be about you as a person. Look for things that make people feel something. Posting regularly on social media is the fastest way to establish yourself as an expert. Focus on the things that allow people to get to know you. Utilize different lead magnets such as webinars, video series, and more to capture leads for your database. The biggest way to create opportunities in your business is through connection. Time block for 20-30 minutes to start 20-30 genuine conversations. Look at social media as a networking event. You're building up a community of people who really engage with what you share. Running targeted ads is the most effective way to generate leads online but you also have to know the difference between leads online and leads in person. Know how to use your social media before monetizing it. The best copywriter you can hire is your ideal customer. The biggest thing that has been powerful for her is storytelling. You get to be in total control with your sharing. One of Tessabella's coaching students was brave enough to tell the story of losing her home in the downturn and how that inspired her to do what she does now. Share relatable experiences. If you're not willing to be uncomfortable then you're not willing to grow. She is happy to share any tools she uses but the one thing she can't give other people is the work ethic to just do it themselves. Every tool and resource is out there for you if you're willing to put in the work. If you want to be good at anything you have to put time into it. Lead with a great strategy. Take the initiative. Humans reciprocate what's given to them. Hiring someone to do it for you has limitations. Look at the strengths you have and the elements that make you who you are. Try to think about the consumer's point of view. Focus on what people want to see. Tessabella recommends having just one account where you share personal stuff and business stuff and tie it all together. Think about whether someone will save the post when you're creating it. All of Tessabella’s growth on social media has been organic. 3 Key Points:   Think about ways to use Instagram to elevate your business and add on to the things you're already doing.   Focus on sharing the things that will allow people to get to know you.    Valuing connection will create opportunities for your business. Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Tessabella Jelten website, Instagram, tb digital Instagram Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Tristan Ahumada has a great conversation with Krista Schrader about how she built an amazing business in less than two years by modifying expired and FSBO scripts to fit her personality. If you have been reluctant to call these leads in the past, listen in to hear how being authentic can create a profitable business strategy in 2020.  Episode Highlights:  Krista Schrader works with her husband Luke. She has been an agent for a year and a half and has built an amazing business in a short period of time. A lot of people get frustrated talking to expired and FSBOs because they can be quite emotional. FSBOs need their hands held and they need to be educated. It's your job to help them understand and answer their questions. Tristan discusses the benefits of using a soft approach. The script is there to lead you in a direction. You need to ask questions to find out what the problem is. If they're expired, you need to find out what disappointed them about their last agent. Scripts are there to guide you into possible things to say. Make sure you’re listening. Make it about having a real conversation. Krista’s opening line for expireds is, “I’m sure I’m not the first one to call you.” She asks if they're still interested in listing their homes in a curious way. Expireds are sick of it already. With them you want to get to the point. Sometimes you run into people that didn't know their listing was off-market. People get hung up when they hear no. This is when you're supposed to start asking questions. Tristan and Krista roleplay how to talk to an expired. Krista empathizes with the seller and emphasizes that she doesn't want to take up too much of their time. She asks when a good time would be to call.  Krista speaks from a place of curiosity. She asks lots of questions. She knows what to say, when to say it, and comes across as completely authentic and genuine. Be a problem solver. Follow the no. Ask questions about why they are saying no.  Tristan and Krista discuss how personality types play a part in these discussions. Krista’s approach is about the consumer. With FSBOs, she will also ask them more questions to better understand their problems. A lot of FSBOs don't want to talk to you. One thing Tristan discovered with FSBOs is identifying their personalities. They are usually drivers or analytical. When you ask more questions you also find out more about their personalities. Tristan and Krista roleplay a FSBO call. She asks what their plan is if their home doesn't sell. She fields common FSBO complaints or oppositions. In Krista’s strategy, they’re learning the benefits of listing with her along the way. The point is to get in front of the person. Krista does not keep commission a mystery. If you know how to handle the issues they’re having, then you can solve the problem and communicate that to them. Krista recommends Glover U and Borino’s system for scripts. The Schraders roleplay with people every morning. All the mess-ups tend to come out in the roleplay. One of them does expireds and one of them does FSBOs then they flip. Then they do follow-up. Follow-up is where you get the most people. It takes about 8 contacts before you convert somebody. They try to get 20 contacts a day. She calls people between 9-9:30 and stops calling around 11:30. Plan your business around your lifestyle. One of the time blocks in her day is spending time with her kids. She loves the Espresso Agent dialer. Using Espresso Agent she takes notes during the call and schedules followup. Krista follows up earlier than she says she will. She started with virtually no database and just got on the phones. She would just call expireds and FSBOs all day. Krista discusses the power of a strong Facebook group strategy. Learn the scripts so you know what direction you're going and then make them your own. 3 Key Points:   Use scripts as guidelines but modify them to fit your personal style.   When speaking with expireds and FSBOs, come from a place of curiosity and ask lots of questions.   As you ask questions, you will learn the problems they’re having that you can help solve. Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Krista Schrader website, Facebook, LinkedIn Espresso Agent Glover U Borino’s Expired Plus   Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer and guest Aaron Fragnito discuss the world of real estate investing. Hear about Aaron’s journey from being a New Jersey real estate agent specializing in distressed properties to growing a business that now manages a ten-figure portfolio of private real estate holdings for investors. This episode will give you several great ideas if you want to start investing in real estate in 2020.  Episode Highlights:  Aaron Fragnito became licensed in 2010 and initially worked with distressed properties. His license allowed him to develop a real estate investment company which is his passion. Aaron shares how he found his business partner and first investors. He buys some properties to hold and others to flip. Wholesaling is a great way to make cash. They did about 60 wholesales last year. Wholesaling is completely different from being a realtor. In wholesaling, it’s all about finding the right numbers for investors. They do direct mail marketing and auctions and they try to get a new deal every week. You can turn around neighborhoods over time where there are many abandoned properties. It took Aaron years to understand auctions and do well with them. The more units you have paying in, the better. Anything six units or over they will probably syndicate. He flips single-family homes and condos. They just bought a property for 60k, put about 50k into it, and it appraised for over 200k. They will pocket about 20-30k tax-free. They discuss tax strategy. A 1031 tax exchange is their exit strategy for all their big buy and holds.  1031 is something you have to understand as a realtor if you want to get into the investment side. Once you sell the property you have 90 days to identify the property you're going to buy after the sale of your original building and then you have 180 days after that to close on the real estate. Every property they get is a new LLC. Every loan they get is a commercial loan. By going to credit unions you can get more flexibility but may pay more for the money. Your bank relationship is everything. Once you have a good relationship it gets a lot easier. Aaron’s company uses mailers to find motivated sellers. He built his buyer's list through real estate networking events. On the investment side of the business, it's repeat buyers. Syndication is when you pool capital together and the investors in your LLC don't have a voting right. In syndication, real estate is a tool that you use to put their capital to work. Aaron started by being a realtor that was selling properties to investors with cash. To this day, he works with many of these investors. Refinancing is an exit strategy. Syndication gets you into an arena where very few people are playing. Relationships are critical. Don't let the guys who are doing huge syndications scare you. 3 Key Points:   Wholesaling is completely different from being a realtor. It’s working for yourself and finding the right deals for investors.   Hold properties that are 6+ units. Flip condos and single-family homes.   Syndication is an investment strategy in which you pool the capital with several investors to make a larger overall investment. Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com   Aaron Fragnito LinkedIn, Facebook   People’s Capital Group New Jersey Real Estate Network meetup    Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer and guest Bryan Bowles discuss transaction coordination. When faced with the challenge of hiring transaction coordinators and creating a workflow, Bryan developed Transactly to simplify the journey for both agent and client. Learn how transaction coordination can maximize your efficiency to help you scale your business. Episode Highlights:  Bryan Bowles became a realtor in 2006. He used to be an equities trader and then became a top listing agent in St. Louis. In 2012 he couldn’t juggle two jobs and took the leap to launch his own brokerage.  He led a flourishing brokerage during a difficult time in realty. When he asked what else he could provide his clients, that lead to Transactly. He created a dashboard and a service for his agents. Agents can use the technology themselves to be more efficient or they can use one of their transaction coordinators to be more efficient. Bryan has often asked how to scale things up. When he was a producing agent, he wanted his commission to go up, so he started delegating things. Many agents struggle getting past that plateau into the next step. Often you don’t need to spend more time generating leads, you need to spend more time in front of your existing network. Transaction coordinators help with the tasks you’d like to delegate. Bryan credits focus for making him a top-producing agent. He worked listings exclusively and focused on the grind of FSBOs. Focus on your lead source and work on it consistently every day.  Hire when it hurts. He judges a lot by how well someone writes when hiring. An email or a cover letter is more than a resume or even industry experience sometimes. Jeff asks what advice Bryan would give to realtors juggling two jobs. There’s always going to be risk involved. He started Worth Clark as a platform for agents. It was a flat-fee agent model. Another gap he saw was property management. He built a large property management company and sold it last year. Client experience and efficiency go hand-in-hand. A transaction coordinator handles all the non-revenue generating tasks for you to a degree. Once under contract they take all the documents, make sure they meet requirements, chase down signatures, and organize them. Transactly builds out a custom timeline. As the transaction coordinator proceeds through the timeline they keep the agents updated and have the option to keep the clients updated as well.  There are multiple points in the process when the transaction coordinator can come in. They don't get involved with presenting offers or negotiating Most of their transaction coordinators are licensed. It's hard to get agents to commit to the onboarding process although it would only take 30 minutes. Bryan explains how to sign up for Transactly. Bryan describes the backend of the Tranactly dashboard. Transactly is nationwide but they do not have a transaction coordinator in every state yet. 3 Key Points:   Focus allows you to thrive as an agent.   Transaction coordination can help you run your business more efficiently, which will also improve your client experience.   Transactly provides technology that will improve your efficiency and/or transaction coordinators that can assist you from contract to close.  Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Bryan Bowles LinkedIn, Facebook, Email: bryan@transactly.com Transactly website, Facebook Worth Clark Realty The E-Myth (book) Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Tristan Ahumada speaks with Mike Perna about all things expansion and the opportunity to maintain culture while creating the freedom to succeed at the highest potential. If you are considering creating a team, expanding into multiple markets, or as a single agent want to hear about the proven structure and behaviors that generate success, you will not want to miss this episode. Episode Highlights:  Mike Perna has had a team since 2000 that focuses on the Detroit area. He has over 700 reviews on Zillow. His number one challenge in hiring was the culture disconnect. His number one hiring source is Craigslist. Past clients help him find agents as well.  Right now it takes him 48 resumes to get to one hire. The first thing he looks at is the grammar on their resume. Job hoppers are a huge red flag to him. He generally calls twenty people for one position, will have three come in, and make one hire. Mike uses Gary Keller's six personal perspectives during his phone interviews. He looks for applicants that speak positively of their former employers. He has them sit through a team meeting. He asks them how much they want to make and explains how many properties they'll have to close. Agents go through a 90-day training program. On Day 1 they dump contacts and they're dialing through their contacts multiple times. Three out of four agents usually remain after that and then they become  rockstars. Next he trains them on open houses and then lead ponds and pre-set ISA appointments. Mike describes the structure of his team. They discuss working remotely vs. coming into the office. Mike describes how he goes about offering leads to his agents. Getting tight on his hiring has made the biggest difference in the growth of his business. It's the B and C players that need the systems because they need structure. You're forcing your A players out. Tristan and Mike lament A players they lost. The Perna Team will sustain consistent growth by hiring the right people and not forcing the growth. He makes three calls five days per week. They are half the size that they used to be but they're doing more deals. His team has a call day once a month. They also try to have a fun outing together monthly to maintain connection. One of the biggest struggles he had was getting the right leads to the right agents. Be particular about who you hire all around. 3 Key Points:   Be very particular about who you hire as you expand your team.   Provide your prospective agents with clear expectations from the outset.   Be willing to say no 49 times to get the right yes.  Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Mike Perna website, LinkedIn   Mindset by Carol Dweck (book) Contacts to Excel (app) MyOutDesk Good to Great (book) Firepoint  Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer speaks with John Moscillo, Founder of More GCI and GCI Academy, creator of Mega Agent Planner and the Agent Success Kit, and an 18-year real estate veteran. John guides us on how to set goals and create a plan to achieve them in 2020. This episode will help you break down the macro to micro and deliver simple strategies you can implement to achieve your goals.   Episode Highlights:  John began his career at a network engineer. He entered the real estate business in 2001.  When he began training other agents, he saw that many people were not running their businesses like businesses. He eventually found that he wanted to be working with people who were really in it. John breaks lead generation into four quadrants: Phone Calls, Networking, Online Strategy, and Traditional. Begin planning for 2020 with a personal budget. Then create a leisure budget. When you calculate how much money you need to make next year, that’s the macro goal. Make sure you pay your taxes! Plan on dividing your budget into 25% taxes, 20% business, 15% savings, and 40% personal. Get six months in the bank before you go buy a fancy car. Practice self-discipline so you’ll be ready for market shifts. The money you save is money you don’t need to make. You’ve got to know your numbers. Have 7-11 conversations about real estate per day. Businesses fail due to lack of business management experience. UPAD= Understand, Plan, Action, Discipline. Track your results through discipline. This creates accountability. Tracking goals also applies to your personal life. Jeff created his personal goals to show the people he leads what they are capable of and how you have to be disciplined to achieve your goals. John describes the process of quitting smoking. If you're new in business you should be on the phone or building relationships all day long. What are you good at? That's where the metamorphosis will happen.  Build out a community page or a community group on Facebook. The people who are doing things differently are seeing success. Stay in touch with your past clients. We all have a sphere of influence and should be using it. Know how much money you need to make. Know your big goals. Break that down to how many conversations you need to have per day. Make 5 calls to past clients, your sphere, and network partners daily. Write 5 handwritten note cards daily. Get 5 new introductions each week.  Have 10 two-way conversations about real estate every single day. 3 Key Points: Start your goal planning by creating a personal budget, a leisure budget, and a business budget. Focus on your big goal (the macro) but celebrate the small victories (the micro). Track your results and be disciplined in pursuing your goals. Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com John Moscillo Facebook, Instagram   GCI Academy The E Myth (book) The Millionaire Real Estate Agent (book) LCA Episode 27 with Nikki Klein  Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Jeff Pfitzer speaks with Sam Khorramian, the CEO and Co-Founder of Big Block Realty, about how attending mastermind events and surrounding yourself with successful business owners who freely share their strategies can lead to enhanced success and life-altering opportunities. Listen to new ideas about how to level up through building relationships with key people.   Episode Highlights:  Sam Khorramian is a college dropout who loves to learn in non-traditional ways, including attending seminars and mastermind groups. When you hang out with successful people at mastermind events, things will start happening that you never saw coming. Success starts and ends within the environment you put yourself in. The only shortcut to success is relationships. If you want to level up, you’ve got to level up with stronger relationships. When Sam attended mastermind sessions, he began learning things that weren’t being taught in other seminars until much later. Attending masterminds allows you to learn from someone who is doing something on a high level in their business, that you can apply to your business. Look outside your industry for innovation. Sam finds successful people outside his own arena that inspire him. The War Room gave Sam and his partners opportunities and hacks no one in their space were talking about. He believes in borrowing other people's success and credibility. You know you're in a good room when you start wondering what you're doing with your life. They follow up with an executive retreat to implement the things they learned. This is a great strategy for taking lessons learned and applying them immediately. Some of the biggest wins he’s had have come out of those implementation retreats. A coach challenged him to attend conferences without his phone. He realized it was never going to be the end of the world if he couldn’t get to something immediately. Go to a mastermind to get your one critical nugget. Jeff loves going to masterminds for the relationships. Build as many relationships as you can because you never know what will happen. These successful people want to support and want to be involved. Successful people are always accessible. If there's someone you look up to and you want to spend more time with them, find a way to bring them value. Sam shares the magical question you should ask superstars when you get the chance to meet them. You’ve got to be a giver before you’re a taker. Sam describes what The Closing Table is all about. If you want to be with people who are winning on a higher level, The Closing Table might be the room for you. They discuss syndication as an investment strategy.  Syndication is when a group of people pool resources and money to do projects that are bigger than they can do on their own.  Look at what you can do when you have the right mindset.   3 Key Points: Level up with stronger relationships. Follow up conferences or masterminds with dedicated implementation sessions. Successful people are always accessible.   Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Sam Khorramian LinkedIn, Facebook  The War Room The Closing Table Digital Marketer   Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group

During this episode of the Lab Coat Agents Podcast, host Nick Baldwin speaks with Mike McCann, the  #1 agent in Philadelphia, about culture, systems, work-life balance, and the school of hard knocks. Mike is an incredible example of someone who values building trust through cooperation. His success will inspire you to think about how you can serve others with a positive attitude.    Episode Highlights:  Mike McCann was born and raised in Philadelphia. After working a series of different jobs, he became a realtor at age 27. He had no training, but taught himself. He learned how to be a great realtor by attending events, watching top agents, and reading as much as he could.  By his third year, he did ninety transactions and became the #1 realtor in Philly. Going to events is crucial to building your business. He said to himself that he wanted the best reputation in the marketplace among the real estate community. He also wanted to be known as the most educated realtor. He went beyond his own marketplace for knowledge and inspiration. He has always prioritized giving back. When you’re building your business, you’ve got to try to get along with the agent on the other side of the deal.  He responds quickly and thoroughly. He provides tools to the other agent to help them close the deal. The key to success is your reputation among the real estate industry. Ego can get in the way. Be positive with your clients and the other agents throughout the process. Mike’s team values family first and then business. If you don’t have an assistant, you are one. Mike provides his system for taking the risk out of hiring an assistant. Mike shares his criteria for hiring assistants and agents. Hiring correctly is the most important thing. Mike describes a regular day in his office. No matter how good you are, you need to meet people. Mike stresses the law of averages. He likes to have 3-4 appointments each day. He was always ahead of his market. He hired an assistant before people hired assistants. He had a website before most agents had websites. Mike describes how he stopped working weekends to prioritize family time. Facebook has been an incredible source of referrals and direct business. Mike is grateful every day. He has learned to compartmentalize negative things and turn the other cheek. Helping people helps you more than the people you’re helping. Nick and Mike share the books they’re currently reading. Compare yourself to yourself. There’s no one definition of success.   3 Key Points: Cooperation is essential to building your reputation and your business. If you don’t have an assistant, you are one. Choose to be grateful every day.    Resources Mentioned: LCA Marketing Center: LCAmarketingcenter.com Lab Coat Agents: LabCoatAgents.com Mike McCann website, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube  The One Thing (book) The Millionaire Real Estate Agent (book) Edison: Inventing the Century (book) Objections (book) Fanatical Prospecting (book)   Connect with Lab Coat Agents: Lab Coat Agents on Facebook Lab Coat Agents on Twitter Lab Coat Agents on Instagram Lab Coat Agents Facebook Group