The Art of Authentic Client Relationships and Market Mastery

It's good to see everybody today this is exciting , great . I'm going to give a quick introduction , but I want to ask , before I give introductions thumbs up that you liked the outcome of the game last night . It was Super Bowl last night . I have to admit I had to find out the results . So what about for those here ? We liked it .

Thumbs down , we didn't like it . I was happy with it . I like it . Whoever wins , congratulations , that's always good . But yeah , there was no way on a Sunday night . I would like to put in a vote . I don't know about you all , but can we move it to three o'clock on Sunday or even a Saturday evening ? Thumbs up on that one too . Thumbs up on that one .

Well , great . So the topic for today is around having a system for success , and I probably had a fancier name for the topic , but , gary , I'm going to throw it to you in just a second . But , gary , you are a quotes man and I know that you always like to have your quotes when you're given a presentation . And I have a quote for you .

I was listening to a podcast recently . It was Peter Atia , who I love his podcast , and he was interviewing James Clear , who is the author of Atomic Habits , and he said this and it really has stuck with me , which is goals are for people that care about winning .

One time Now , I love business planning , all of everybody here loves some good business planning but then he said this systems are for those that care about winning over and over again . And , wow , that really hit me .

We're in a people business and we're in a relationship business and we want to provide the utmost service , and what better way to do that for our clients is to make sure that we're not by accident and how we care for them . But we have a system and a way for doing it .

And not only that , but when we can have a system and a way that we do it over and over again , we can provide great service and have a good quality of life . And so everybody that is on here , we're all ninjas , yay . So we're having a little bit of a ninja conversation . Gary , what do you think about today ?

I can tell you that Maggie , obviously well-prepared , gonna do a great job , passionate about ninja , and I think one of the reasons that I've been so excited about this particular episode of Tate Talk Live is just the excitement that I think comes from getting the ninja program throughout the entire enterprise and I know that Vivian and Neil are gonna talk about how

it's been such an integral part of the culture and the DNA of the Asheville Mountain region and , while many Allentate legacy folks have participated , really making it a part of the DNA and the culture and as you talked about with your quote , by the way , I will share that many , many times kind of reminds me of Jerry James at Rilder Summit the importance of

owning your business and not renting it , and I think that really resonates with me . And as I spend time in the Asheville Mountain region and more and more time with Neil , it just becomes apparent that the consistency of success of the entire organization . Really , this is a pillar and a foundation , and I'm just really excited to be on this particular panel .

It's great to have people join us . I see all kinds of viewing parties happening out there , so thanks for having me on , Maggie .

If you do have a question for me or for any of the panelists , please put it in the Q&A so it doesn't get lost in the chat . If you put it in chat , we'll try to make sure that we see it . So I'm gonna start . I have this broken down in kind of four parts . When I think about Ninja and the process of Ninja , in my head it's four major parts .

One is mindset . How do we control what's between our ears every day ? It's something that has to be nurtured . It's not a one-time rah-rah event . So how do we control what's between our ears so that we can stay focused , stay motivated , stay passionate about what we do on days ? Frankly , that maybe we don't feel like it . So that's our first topic .

Second is gonna be flow . If you've been through Ninja , there's a saying flow fixes everything , and flow is about being in relationship with other people and the importance of having a system that can help you with that flow .

Then the last two go hand in hand and one is having a good system of working with buyers so that they feel taken care of , they trust you through that process , they see you as the trusted advisor , they see that value . And then the fourth topic is working with a seller . What is your process ?

Do you have a written process with working with a seller and the importance of that system , showing your value , being able to repeat it and even in having a process and a system in place , still having those placeholders for how you're gonna customize it for that seller ?

Now let's start with the first one , which , if you know Maggie , you know this is one of my favorites . It's also one of my favorites because it helps me to be reminded on a regular basis that I have to be committed to the process of nurturing my mindset .

And over and over again , when I get to talk about this every month with our agents , with you all , I'm reminded again . What do I need to go back and tweak , what do I need to go back and spend some time on ? So we have Neil Hanks , president of Allentate , beverly Hanks . So , neil , I'm gonna toss this one to you first . Whether you call it mindset .

It's not always positivity , but it's just keeping your mindset in that focused place . For you personally , what do you do to nurture and focus in on your mindset , to keep you where you need to be ?

In my mind , you know , it's much easier to focus on skillset and actions related to our business . Oftentimes , then , it is to kind of focus on the foundational aspects of mindset .

So , you know , the good news is is that Ninja is a system from start to finish and it tells us what we need to do , and one of the first and , I think , greatest things is gratitude .

So you know fortunate to live here in these beautiful mountains and when I'm in my car , you know , 95% of the time I'm on the phone , but I try to remind myself when I'm not to look around and just be grateful , you know .

So , finding times throughout the day , starting the day with gratitude and then finding times throughout the day to reflect and be grateful and say your gratitude , is big for me because it just reframes your mindset . And then the second big thing that I try to practice , as Ninja tells us , to start the day by reading something positive .

And whether you're a spiritual person and you use that as your positive reading materials , or if it's business related or health related or whatever it may be , I try to start by reading something positive in the morning . So you know , after your gratitude and you're having that morning cup of coffee , to read something positive .

You know , and often these days I'm listening to something positive , because a lot of there's just so much good material out there . And then , lastly , those are kind of morning routines , but I subscribe to a number of different authors and you know blogs and that kind of thing that provide positive content that I like to listen to .

You know , when I'm walking my dogs or when I'm riding in the car , I'm often listening to a blog post of some sort . And then , as I mentioned , I'm subscribed to a bunch of different email authors that you know that hopefully send me the right kind of energy that I'm looking for throughout the day .

But when I really went through my first Ninja installation in Fort Collins it resonated with me to my core and we came back and kind of changed our entire training program around it .

And I guess the thing that you know just from the foundational goal of Ninja , which is to increase our income per hour so that we can have a life right , and that resonated with me from the very beginning , because we worked so hard in this business that one of the hardest things is creating a balanced lifestyle , and so that resonated with me from day one and

we've really tried to build , you know , our company around that philosophy that you know , you don't live to work , you work to live , and we want to enjoy not only where I work , but the times that we're not working as well Wonderful

. Thank you very much , Neil .

But if you would , neil , if you don't mind taking a second and typing up some of those suggested podcast books or even blogs that you suggest , if you think about it , to type out a few of those you didn't know you were going to have homework while you were here . I'm going to come over to Jennifer Parsley Hubbard next .

Jennifer is on Team Honey Cuts in the Concord office in the Charlotte region . We had a great time , was ?

So , jennifer , I know that you've been through ninja selling and I've seen it in action with the team and with you and a lot of how you live your daily life , and there's days when it gets a little bit busy , it gets a little crazier , stressful . What is it for you , jennifer , to really do to nurture your mindset ?

I have a lot of food sensitivities and so if I eat something and it actually has one , either it was a positive or a negative kind of reaction in my body and I really likened mindset to that too . Right , what are you putting in ? And then gosh , sometimes we don't realize what's coming out and why is that ?

And really , kind of starting from that , foundationally For me it's sleep . I need more sleep than anyone in my family and recognizing that I have to take ownership of that and I have to make that decision and set those boundaries for myself . And I like what Neil was saying .

I believe if you start your day in a certain way , it will 100% kind of dictate the way . It's not gonna dictate the way that your day goes , but it will dictate the way that you're able to respond to how your day goes . And so , as he mentioned , I'm a big gratitude . I write them down .

That's one thing that Maggie taught us for sure , and Ninja taught us , and I do think there's a big difference . So , simple gratitude journal and one of the other things , the affirmations , absolutely . But one of the big things that I've been working on and we've been working on as a team , because we even implement that on a team level .

So when we start , we open our team meetings , we do gratitudes . When we open our team meetings , we do a lot of quotes .

Gary and I both are big quote people and one of the things that we've also done is really started to look at our boundaries and where I think Neil , you kind of said it how are we spending our time , how are we and not just from a business perspective , but from a family perspective and from the things that we're doing .

And so one of the things that we're really working on as individuals , but together , cohesively , as a group and a team , is helping each other set those boundaries but also keep those boundaries , and then that kind of allows your mindset to hopefully be a little healthier at the end of the day .

So those are the things that we're working on right now as a team and individuals .

I have only known you for what ? Year year and a half now and I know that Vivian is all it's important to have the fund-cation , so I hope I'm not giving away your mindset , and family is very important when it comes to mindset we have that word , but really it's the overall wellbeing emotionally , physically , spiritually , mentally , if I didn't say mentally .

What is it for you , vivian , that you really pay attention to and is important to you ?

And you've heard what if tomorrow you only get the things that you express gratitude for this morning ? So start with little things . The other is that for real estate .

For me , because of the life path that I've been in , real estate is my career , but it's really my mission field , and so what I do is I live in abundance with that mindset and think that I am blessed and so love that I have a career that gives me the flexibility to really listen to people , because people are going through change , good or bad , and so if

you can focus and not multitask , then I think that that helps your mindset , because if you can help somebody , you're really helping yourself too .

So that would be my suggestions of the why there was I don't have a quote for you guys , but there was a study that said that if you only spend nine minutes a day with children , you can make a positive impact on their lives .

That's three minutes when they wake up , three minutes when they come home from school and three minutes at dinner or before they go to bed . So the saddest part is it's encouraging parents to put down their phone and all their tech stuff and just eye-to-eye focus with people , and I think it's the same with our clients .

Don't pick that time to multitask when you're talking to another human being .

Gary , for you , what would it be ?

I just added a little note here a growing gratitude , you know , start the day . That's part of the own the morning . I had added ending the day with those same gratitudes and I just picked up with Neil . You know , take some time during the day to appreciate the surroundings , the people , the experience you just had .

You know , obviously we're in the middle of awards , which is , you know , really really inspiring . And so , you know , I think really be present certainly makes sense . I think exercise hugely important for me to stay where I need to stay . I don't do it as often as I'd like , but I think often enough to keep my mindset where it needs to be .

And then , you know it's interesting . I just read the book list Neil put out One thing that I've done probably for five years is really really , really adhered to the book , the Four Agreements , and that has fundamentally helped my mindset .

Four Agreements be impeccable , with your word , don't assume anything not easy to do , don't take anything personally not easy to do , and just do the best you can Like .

If you think about those Four Agreements , I will tell you that that has been the one thing that has probably made the biggest difference for me in making sure that throughout the course of the day , regardless of what comes my way , the mindset's able to stay pretty steadfast .

Also for a good morning , if you haven't read the Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod is a great way to start the morning . We look at the Ninja Habits . Ninja gives you a system of habits that if you focus on daily and weekly , then they'll really help you to succeed . And the first one is the Starting your Day with the Gratitudes and Affirmations .

So a good morning routine is the way that I like to summarize that one . And then the second one is the Stay Up and Show Up and Stay on your Agenda , which I love . That . That is one of the habits , because if we don't show up , we can't do any of the other things .

One other thing with Gratitudes that I've tried to focus on myself more is taking it just , not just in my head , but taking it to the heart .

So when you have a gratitude , something that you're , we might say verbally I'm grateful for my husband cooking dinner last night , and take that instead of closing my eyes and actually remembering the experience of having dinner together , and it really takes it from your head to your heart . It helps you physically .

You start I always kind of feel it in my shoulders and it tingles through my shoulders of feeling that gratitude .

When we can start our morning with gratitude , it helps us to see more positive throughout the day , and when we can close our evening with Gratitudes , it helps us to focus on the positive that we had throughout the day instead of maybe some not so great moments . Excellent , thank you all so much .

I would love to hear from everybody in chat on some of your morning routine activities in ways that you say , in the way that you have Gratitudes , beth , I would love for you to Beth Curley , if you had a question , go ahead and put that in chat . Or if you have something else that you want to add , that's great .

So , from mindset Neil said it well which is we can't do any of the other skill set in actions if we don't focus on that , but let's move into the others the skill set in actions , and let's talk about flow .

I said earlier that phrase of flow fixes everything and I know , neil , from seeing what you do and how you've really supported agents and having good flow can you talk a little bit about ? So , first of all , what is flow ? Let me say

what flow is . Flow is really that intentionality of staying in relationship with people on a regular basis so that you can see when there might be a time of need , where there's a real estate need , so that you're there for others and you really know what's happening with them .

So , neil , when it comes to flow and not , there can be live and non-intentional , but also there should be , as a part of our business , some intentionality about our system for flow . Can you talk a little bit about the history and that you've seen and how that is important ?

No matter how much our industry's changed , how much technology has changed , what we do it's still a very personal business , and all the statistics still show that consumers overwhelmingly choose to do business with realtors that they know , like and trust . So how do people get to know us , how do they learn to like us and how do they learn to trust us ?

It's all about spending time with people being engaged in our community , and the best type of flow is face-to-face . So if we know that that's one of the cornerstones of our business , then we know we have to be intentional about it . Right , if we're gonna be good at it , we have to be intentional about it .

So , and then , secondly , I think to be effective at anything marketing , advertising , flow you have to be consistent , right ? Consistency is key .

So having a process or having a system , or whatever you wanna call it , that makes sure that we're consistent in our interaction with others , you know , face-to-face interaction , telephone interaction , email communications , marketing all of those things social media are a part of interaction with our sphere of influence for our customers and clients .

So it's important that we have a plan for that and a process that allows us to do it in multiple ways . Ninja teaches us that there's all kinds of different personality types , so we've got to be intentional , we've got to be consistent and we have to do it in a number of different ways . So that's the reason why .

That's why we have to have systems and processes , and so you know a lot of our agents . Vivian's very good at having developed great processes for everything from flow to the listing process and the buyer process as well . And then one of the things that we focused really significantly on was making sure that everybody on our marketing team understood flow .

From a Ninja perspective , you know what does that mean so that they can support our brokers as we develop content for them to share and as we put together things for them to use . We want to make sure that it kind of fits into , you know , our desired process for flow .

Sometimes I hear I'll run into an agent like man , things are just not busy right now or I'm not seeing the business and they're looking for the new shiny object . And the phrase flow fixes everything means get back to the basics , get back to your people . Is that where you are ?

Are you chasing the shiny new object when you need to be focusing on the people that you already know ? And there's , you know there's several of the Ninja daily habits and weekly habits Reviewing your database weekly .

I love that one because the intentionality there is just to help our minds to remember people , so that as we come across different things in our daily activity , it helps us to think oh yeah , peach milkshakes just came out at Chick-fil-A .

And I remember when Jennifer and I were out looking at property and I can call Jennifer and say guess what time of year it is . It helps us to remember people and have them top of mind , focusing on your hot and warm list every day helps us to again keep those folks top of mind . That's what I love about some of those Ninja habits .

When we talk about flow and that system of flow , what are your committed live flow meaning when you're going to be face to face , hopefully in voice to voice . Live flow is really the best , as Neil said , to be able to stay in touch with people . That's where the relationship happens and you build there . And then also auto flow .

So auto flow is having that system in place . That is not it's happening on its own , whether it's your personal marketing plan that you have in place . So I want to ask Jennifer and Vivian Jennifer , let me ask you first . I know that flow is important . I know that community involvement is really important in you or very intentional .

What would you say are some key flow activities for yourself and then also for your team ?

And she says there is no shiny up , right , there is no key , it's hard work . And we really sat down and simplified also everything that we were doing , because at Tate you guys love to give us all of these amazing tools which we so greatly appreciate , and then sometimes we have to say , okay , wait , how does this fit within what we do ?

We believe that if it's worth doing , it's worth doing it well , right ? So we kind of base it on those two things . And one of the things that we looked at last year were our events .

Team Honeycutt has had many community events for many years , but what we did was we also backed up and said are they servicing every piece of the audience that we have , every type of client that we have ? Some have children , some have grandchildren , some don't have children , right ? What are we doing ?

And so we boiled that down to four events and we do them really , really well . I mean we put time and effort and energy , but we stick with those four and when we start to say what if we added a fifth , we say we do these four .

Well , right , not that there's not always time for change and doing that , but I think I do think that sometimes where we can get out of flow is when we try to do too many things . And one of the other things that we do is we do birthday cards . Every month we have between 100 and 200 birthday cards that we send out .

It's semi-auto flow , right , we have it in a spreadsheet , we add our new clients , but then on our home anniversary cards , the same thing . Our agents walk in and they have a stack of home anniversary cards for March and they write out the address . They write out you know . So it's the personal aspect that stays with it .

Because I think sometimes where we can get caught up is when we think about flow . We want it to be organic , we want it to be .

You know , for me , when I think of the word flow , I think of the word connection , and so sometimes connection can mean well , maybe it's not a newsletter , but it is a newsletter , right , we have a monthly newsletter that goes out , but the stories that we have in our newsletter are very heartfelt and , of course , we include market stats and data right , so

that art and science , I guess , is what you always teach Maggie Wright and what Ninja says . So I think staying in flow , it's not only just the activity , but it's also the way that you present the activity , and the community aspect is 100% what's foundational for us and all we do .

So we started saying I what is it that we're grateful for the successes of 2023 ? And I did not give any directions . What I was looking for , the amount of business that the team did was never on the list .

It was all of the community involvement , people that you were grateful for , and all of that success really showed the flow and how important people are to you , to the team . So that was was really neat to be able to see that . So just wanted to tie those two together . Vivian , what about you ? You're ? You're a flow person . You're a big flow lady .

Talk to us about it .

So just to say , hey , I just saw a house down the street from you , so I look for real estate to reach out to give interesting tidbits . Never say do you want to sell or buy just for that . The second thing that I do , that people have heard before , is that I end each day in a grocery store .

There are several right around our house , and so I've been in work all day , and if you shop to your local grocery store , you can always run into somebody . So some people use the gym , I use the grocery store that's there . And then the third thing I want to leave you with is what's this week

? It's a Valentine's Day , so it is a perfect opportunity to be authentic , you and so last year what we did is , rather than do the Thanksgiving pies , we did Valentine Tarts by a local bakery here and it is a wonderful way to reach out to those that had life changes .

If you know somebody who is was married and is not anymore , or who unfortunately lost a spouse or who lives alone in their child , just went to school , go buy a couple of flowers and a couple cupcakes and just do some quick handwritten notes and sincere and and drop them . Now .

The best one that I had last year when we did it is a gentleman who couldn't be with his wife for Valentine's Day . So when I sent out the order form you know , he asked if there was any way I could bring both his wife and his daughter a cupcake . And so it's just .

It's a good way to just touch somebody's lives and be in flow with them , but be authentic . So I expect somebody to bring me a cupcake tomorrow for the next day . No pressure , no pressure . Somebody bring me a cupcake now . Oh that's so good .

I enjoy the grocery store . It's nice and relaxing and I have to say I know that some folks really love the real estate . After the coffee get on and if you're staying up to date with what's happening , it gives you a reason to call people that you know . I love that , gary , don't you love that ?

You inspired me a moment ago , by the way , maggie would be remiss if I didn't find a quote that I would share here as a panelist on Tate Talk Live , and I think it does speak a little bit . So I've shared this variety of places over the past couple months .

Hussain Bolt , the 100 meter runner , says I train four years to run nine seconds and people give up when they don't see results in two months , and that really speaks to the importance of flow and a consistent see in which we accomplish that . You know , so often in our business we look for instant gratification and it just doesn't come .

You know , you've got to be intentional , which has been the word shared multiple times today .

I think this was right at the LRE convention and everybody was going home and there was two agents in the same office on the same day that I got very different responses to . One agent was ringing his hand his hands , that's it . Real estate's over . We have to go find a new career . I don't know what that agent's doing today .

Another agent said what an opportunity , vivian , to call everybody I know and that's what they either calling or texting everybody they know just to say , hey , how are you ? So some with this live flow is really seeing . Do we have regular , systematic , as Vivian said , ways that we look to be in flow that are also genuine , and that is important .

So we can have a system , but it also can be genuine , and that's important . That is kind of the front end , which , to me , is a lot of the heart , and this is heart too , but it's getting our head right and our heart right to be successful at what we do , so that we can make sure that we're . You know the why that we have .

That gets us up every day . What are we doing to support that why ? It's not always just to help people , because sometimes people aren't always amazing and it can make you frustrated . So what can we do to reduce that frustration when every time and so I'm gonna talk business for kind of the second half Is that okay with everybody ?

If we talk business a little bit more , we're gonna switch gears and really get into the buyer and seller process ? There's never been a time more that I've seen the importance of ninja selling .

I said this to Neil last week when I saw him and that is when we have the NRA , nra that's not right the NAR , n-a-r lawsuits that are happening , those that are ninjas , that are truly ninjas . It's not scary because we already know our value .

We're already having those conversations , we already have that system in place and I want to spend a little bit of time on that .

So we're not going to get into all of the details of the buyer process and the seller process , but what I want to ask everybody that's on the call right now if you took one minute and you can do that while we're talking but what is your system , what is your buyer system .

From the time that you get a phone call until you go to closing , what are the things that you do every time ? You may have a system and you don't even realize it . You have the same phrases and expectations that you said every time , whether it's a good system or it could be tweaked a little bit .

Hopefully you have a system that you're not flying by the seat of your pants every time , because that's when we can make mistakes , we can miss things . And on the seller side , from the time you get that call until the time that you go to closing , meeting with the seller , marketing , giving them maximum exposure , what is your process ?

And then look at that process and ask yourself what have I been meaning to ? Update , tweak , make better , systemize more ? And then from there , what do I have that I'm showing or I'm giving to the client in both the buyer and seller process ? Does that need to be better ?

And then anybody that's involved in that process , where do we need to have better communication , better systems in place so that they can help to execute ? Because we have a big team that we're project managing when we're going through the buyer and seller process . So that's where I'm going to start . That's . That's for me , where it's important .

When I was an agent , and even in the job that I have now , I remember the last year , gary , that I was in the business as an agent . It was my most productive year and I took four separate weeks of vacation two out of country and two in country , and maybe a couple of them .

I did a little bit of work , but I did a lot of vacationing , and it was also the year that I had the most peace of mind , and it was because I had systems in place . So for me , that's where I've seen systems really work , gary .

When you think about systems , when it comes to working with our buyers and sellers , especially in today's markets , what's the importance there for you ?

So a number that we've shared a couple times over the past couple years is every buyer and seller in the past 36 months , 91% of the buyer and sellers have used real estate professions .

When you think about that , at a time when they have access to all this information , but they need us more , and we've all heard Pat say the consumer has never , ever , ever needed us more . So I think number one is don't think for one minute that the consumer is going to shift and not need us .

So that would suggest to me all the more important reason that I've got a consistent system and process so that I can be as effective and efficient when I have those opportunities .

I think the second set of numbers that I think are incredibly telling and compelling are the NAR stats . Again , jared James , I think , shared at the realtor summit 30 days after closing , 91% of buyers and 91% of sellers say I'll use my realtor again , and unfortunately that is a 13% actual number .

And I go back to the mid 80s when Neil and I started to sell . The average consumer was buying or selling every four to six years . Today it's every nine to 11 years . So I think about it from a data perspective . If you believe those numbers , boy , isn't that a compelling reason to define and develop your system ?

And then the other thing that I would say is , in addition to consistency , the ability to customize .

I think it's really important that we customize the experience for the buyers and the sellers after we've been super curious in our questions , that we ask them to determine their motivations , what's important to them , who's the decision maker , how do we want to be communicated with ?

So I really believe I wrote down here in preparation Our industry , unfortunately , is a little homogenous and there's a lot of consumers out there that struggled discerning between good and great .

Because we are in a relationship business and I think the more consistent system and process and the last thing is I would suggest to all of us is challenge the system and the process that you used last year . Don't necessarily change it , but challenge it and tweak it if it's necessary .

Jennifer already talked about , instead of six events , we're going to do four events . Those are things that will make us far more effective as we build our business , go forward .

When we can have clients that have clarity , then they are going to have more confidence and when they have more confidence , they're going to be able to make a commitment . And you know we are here to help to solve problems .

I heard this on Thursday when we had Winner's Edge celebration , and that was we're here to give our clients the choices and they make the decisions .

So to Gary , to your point , we're asking the right question so we can really understand their needs , but we need to make sure we have a system in place of the questions that we're going to use so that we can help to give them clarity .

And if you have a client right now that you were frustrated with maybe they're frustrated with the process you're seeing the right houses but they're not then maybe it's time to do a reset , and that is okay to do a reset .

I've heard some agents before that that's what they said and we really want to stick with it , but it's okay to reset and make sure that they understand that who , what , when , where , why and how , and do they have clarity in all those places ? So , in today's market , we're going to get really specific Niel's market on February 12th of 2024 .

So for anybody that's watching this , that's that's where we are right now , right now . So , niel , when we look at it from a buyer perspective , where would you say that buyers need help with clarity in the buying process ?

You know everywhere , every magazine or newspaper you pick up , it's all over the media . So people are asking me , and , I'm sure , all of our brokers how does this impact you , right ? How does this ? And what they're really acting and asking is how does it impact me , right ? Does it ? Does it change how I engage in real estate services , or or ?

more importantly in a lot of people's minds , would I pay for real estate services ? So I think the biggest thing that we've got to get really good at is giving clarity to consumers about our value proposition , what what really good brokers do and the difference in between really good brokers and everybody else you know .

I think if we can help provide that clarity to buyers and sellers , that's one of the most important things that we can focus on right now , and then the you know . The second big question that everybody is asking that's embedded in that first question is you know , what does this mean from a compensation standpoint ? How do you get paid ?

Why should I pay a buyer's agent , etc . Etc . Etc . So I think the big questions relate around value and compensation , and we've got to be really good at providing clarity on both of those issues right now .

Gary , I know you've been talking about the SWOT analysis , and what do we do with those things that are perceived threats ? The best thing we can do is make sure that we're well educated on them . Steve Harney had that quote that I love , which is good agents understand what's going on and great agents can explain it . We can't fix it necessarily .

We can influence it , but what we can do is make sure that we're educated on it so that we can speak to it .

Well , jennifer and Vivian , I'm going to talk a little bit about what you do in your processes when it comes to the buyer process , to make sure we're all on the same page and we talk about the ninja processes having an intentional conversation and looking at houses , setting those expectations . What are the systems that you use every single time ?

Is there a package of information that you're providing for them up to upfront , explaining what your process is and then taking them through that finding that 80 , 10 , 10 house . I love that .

There is no perfect house , but a home that's 80 percent what we're looking for , 10 percent we might have to change and 10 percent we might not be able to change all the way through the closing . What is your process ? Vivian ? I'm going to start with you when it comes to your buyer process and your ninja process .

What would you say for the agents that are here ? What are some of your success tips that you take from your buyer process that you would share ?

I have a buyer notebook that I include in the email that I send , but I tell them don't to print it because I have a binder that they're going to get at the first buyer meeting , the consultation , so that I can save them time and money and frustration in the competitive market .

Then the second step is to set that appointment to bring them into your office where you're the professional . Present the book , present the gift , do the ninja exercise that you have , make sure that they are ready to buy , that they have all of the mind and the tools to move forward before you throw them in the car and become the taxi driver .

Then listen and make notes . The power of the pen is that you write notes . I use a showing specialist a lot of times so I let them know that there's different ways that they'll see property . They'll see it online , that somebody else may show them property , that they are ready . I let them know the tools that day .

I expect them the next day to come back with questions or the next time we meet , where they have their notebook and they can highlight the things that they didn't understand . What backfired on me is the plan to be talk After you've been out with them for months and this is Neil can laugh , because this is my son . He's been looking in Charlotte .

He made six offers , all a rascals price . Didn't get any of them left the market . I finally had that . Okay , what's your plan bit ? Are you going to continue to rent or are you going to move to a different area in Charlotte ? What's your plan B if you don't get it ? Surprise , surprise .

Their plan B is that they're moving to Greensboro After they open their mind to think that they couldn't afford what they wanted . But they work from home . They spent one day in Greensboro and , as of yesterday , we are under contract in . Greensboro . A lot of what you can do is use their words back to them and help them process it . That would be .

The system is always in place .

that . What would you say is a challenge ? Is there a challenge that you run across ? Either it's a challenge for you personally or a challenge that you've seen during the buyer process .

The other thing is with the phone that we love to text so much rather than send a text , send a audio of your voice so they can pick up on your enthusiasm . Hey , this just came on the market . I ruled it out for you guys because of this , this and this . But you take a look at it but , based on your information , it's not right kind of thing .

Then just ask them . I foxbash . I know , according to the media , this guy is going to be falling , but we have not seen Penny Hennie running around with devastating news . If that is what you're truly waiting for , is prices to drop . What's your plan , bay ? I love that , that's good .

It's interesting when we connected up with the gentleman that works there . One of the things he started asking us was so tell me what you do for work ? Do you have kids ? Do you have grandkids ? He started this , and I'm like I wonder if he's a ninja right ? What it made me realize , though , is I don't buy . I don't sell and buy cars every day .

For him it was a very natural process , and some of the words that he was using the language I had to kind of back them up and stop them and say , okay , can you explain that a little bit more ?

That really reminded me of the importance of a process is not just what we do and how we do it , but it's how we explain things , because I think a lot of times , we get in our world and we're throwing around due diligence and earnest money and acronyms and this and that and what . For us , we have a buyer book that literally goes through every single step .

I know , as I'm turning those pages that I'm not going to forget about using , let me explain to you what due diligence and earnest money might be , or wherever we're at in that process . I think that that levels you up as a professional and it makes sure that the connection is there and you establish that trust from the very beginning . We're the same way .

We have a lot of emails that are , I won't say canned , but , like what Vivian said , they're prepared and they're ready to go . I know here's where I'm going to put a recap , because for us and for me personally , it's very important for me to make sure that what I heard you say is what you actually said , because sometimes that can get lost in translation .

One of the biggest things is coming in and doing that buyer orientation .

I think that's the critical part and I think that's also part of the challenge that I have , or that we see , is people don't want to do that , they don't want to slow down , I know , but there's the house and I just want to go see the house and you really have to try to help them understand .

This will actually speed up the process if we just sit down and we go through this . And to Vivian's point , a lot of times when you stop and go through it and they're like well , this doesn't even work for me anyway , and you're like right , that's kind of why you hired me , right , because this is my first house .

This is not my first house this year , so we're great , we're going to , like you said , and you're empowering them to remind them , you make the decisions and I help you with the tools .

I don't like it when I hear people say that buyers , they sometimes they just don't know , and so when we're paying attention to what they say , or maybe what they're not saying , or watching their body language and they don't want to hurt our feelings because we've done all this work to get all the showing set up , or they're not liars , but maybe they just don't

know and they do depend on us to say time out . This is a different direction . I love , vivian , that you did the voice . It's not voice to talk , but you're giving a , they can hear your voice and you're explaining . I saw this house and this is why I don't think that it would work for you , saving everybody time and some heartache there .

So that is really good , jennifer , is there anything that you can think of that in the past six to 12 months as a team , that you've worked on updating in your buyer consultation , your buyer process overall ?

We have also taken the buyer agency agreement and went through and made highlights of certain areas . So that's the sample that we give . The sample actually has highlights . So as you're going through it , you know that you're hitting and again , like to Gary's point the consistency and we know that we're hitting those points . The same .

We've also created a buyer investment sheet is what we call it , because one of the things that we found when you go into a seller , you're always given them the net seller sheet . Let me tell you what . But from an buyer standpoint , we say let me explain to you what your investment is going to be when that investment comes .

So when the brokerage fee came , we added that brokerage fee . We felt like that's actually when we created it . We felt like that was a perfect time to be able to say let me explain to you what this investment is and where it comes in the process . So those are some of the things that we've changed over the last six months .

I think we all agree that we need to have a really good seller process With a pre-listing interview with a seller to understand , have a good pre-listing package of information what is your process in the meeting and then getting them the marketing and getting them to closing For sellers right now .

When we talk about clarity , where do sellers need the most clarity right now ?

They need clarity on month supply of inventory . They need clarity on businesses coming into the marketplace . So I think sellers today need great clarity , number one on the market , but also , I would also say , great clarity on the things that they need to do to get that home marketable .

I think , regardless of what they think , I think that whether it's staging , whether it's declutter , whether it's a combination thereof , what we know is that there's three buckets . I think there's a bucket of listings that are empty , which are the listings we need in an inventory challenged environment .

Then there's a bucket priced exactly right and mint condition , and that was the 14 offers David Diehl told me about last week , or the 18 offers I heard about at the awards .

Then there's this other bucket where , in the journey , we weren't able to provide the clarity for pricing , we weren't able to provide the clarity for condition , and there's a bucket of listings sitting 50 , 60 , 70 , 80 days .

So our job is to provide the clarity , so we put all the listings in the middle bucket and then fill the bucket from an inventory , which is really our ability to go out and through flow , educate potential buyers that it is a good time or potential sellers that it is a good time to sell . So I think , market conditions and condition of the property .

But are you putting the systems in place so that you can win over and over ? So you have your goals in place , but , as you go through and you're reviewing your strategies , here's what I want you to do .

So every 12 weeks , which is our 12 week year , not only you have lead generation strategies , but the other two big categories that I really want to make sure that you have .

Something is when you're reviewing your systems , what is at least maybe one to five different system that you use that you need to put in place , that you have those as your strategies and tactics that you're working on , that you're tweaking , you're giving attention to , and once you have those strategies in place , do you then need some educational strategies ?

That you need to really sharpen the saw , that you need to go back and learn more to be able to listen and explain and practice . So bringing in the two additional systems of what are you using for your systems and then how you can educate yourself to become really good at it . So we're excited .

We do have a Ninja selling opportunity coming this fall in September , so be on the lookout for that . I think our dates are September 3rd through the 6th will be up in Asheville again this year . So that is a mark , your calendars , and , as you can tell , we have great success with it .

And the big thing is , those that are gone through Ninja do it again , and again , and again , because we need to always be reminded of and continue to sharpen that saw . And then we will also have 12 week year check ins . That we'll do at the end of a quarter in order to be prepared for the next one .

So we'll have one coming up towards the end of March and I'll be talking about those strategies so we can focus on that . I want to say a big thank you to all of our panelists .

This was , this was fantastic , and I know , and what I love is that we had some really good takeaways to help our agents to build their confidence , to build their competence so they can go out and take really good care of their people and live a good life .

So , gary , jennifer , neil and Vivian , I thank you very much and I look forward to seeing you again very soon . Thanks everybody for joining us and see you next time .