Welcome to another episode of Coaching Moments With Ryan D’Aprile from D’Aprile Properties!
Ryan D’Aprile presents Erin Stojakovic from MidWest Lending, a sister company of D’Aprile Properties, to focus on how there are similarities between success strategies of real estate agents and loan officers. Ryan and Erin talk about incubation in lead generation and explain how to move leads into customers. Erin discusses why loan officers should attend open houses. Last, Erin and Ryan discuss the managing the emotions of buyers and sellers and also the value of being charitable.
If you’d prefer to watch this interview, click here to view on YouTube!
Ryan D’Aprile can be reached at 312.590.6416 and ryan@daprileproperties.com.
Transcript
D.J. Paris 0:00
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All right, welcome to keeping it real, the largest podcast made by real estate agents and for real estate agents. My name is DJ Paris. I am your guide and host through the show, and today is our monthly coaching moments episode with Ryan de April. Now if you’re not familiar with Ryan, or if you’re just new to the show, Ryan comes on every single month to give our listeners and viewers a coaching moment and a coaching session. So let me tell you about Ryan Ryan de April is a progressive thought leader focused on providing for all of his agents and staff at depot properties and Midwest lending. His strengths are his motivational skills, his coaching style and his dedication to training. He has 14 offices throughout the Chicagoland area. And he’s also in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan with hundreds upon hundreds of top producers. DAPL properties is a coaching company with eight strategic coaches who work week in and week out with every agent individually focused on business planning, coaching and accountability. If you’d like to take your career to the next level, or if you’re just not getting the attention you need check out April properties visit de April properties.com. That’s da p r i l e properties.com. Welcome once again, Ryan. Hey, thanks,
Ryan D’Aprile 1:54
TJ. Appreciate you having us. And the wonderful and beautiful IRS activists.
Erin Stojakovic 2:00
Hello, nice to meet you, DJ.
D.J. Paris 2:02
Nice to meet you, Aaron. And for those who are listening instead of watching, Erin, tell us that tell us about yourself. You’re on the lending side,
Erin Stojakovic 2:11
I am on the lending side. So I am entering my 20th year of mortgage lending. Oh my gosh, fell backwards into it. My husband is vice president of hospitality and strategic management at the United Center. And back in 99 2000, I was catering sales manager there with him. Both of us were working some long arduous hours. And he drew the short straw, I got to go become a loan officer who stayed working crazy hours. And, you know, fell backwards. I really was looking for a career that would allow us to have a family and maybe present for the you know, raising children. But also make real money. Yeah.
D.J. Paris 2:53
So rope roaming around the United Center, both husband and wife probably isn’t ideal for for raising family. And I my my brother in law, his father was the concessions manager at Madison Square Garden for like 40 years. And so he basically lived, you know, lived and died there. So I could appreciate that. So So lending has given you obviously a great career 20 years congratulations. And obviously this last year, I imagine has been one of your more busy years would be my guess
Erin Stojakovic 3:26
it has it actually is probably my capstone year in that sense. Definitely my one of my highest spheres of production. And just a really exciting time I’ve been with Midwest lending, which is a sister company to do both properties since 2014. And it’s just been so much fun to see these Realtors come into their own and really blossoming and, and growing, we can all work side by side. And as loan officers in this company. We were part of the coaching system. We’re part of the accountability system. And we’re truly partners and co workers with the realtors. And it’s just been really gratifying to see so much success for my friends that have come into the business to join us. It’s been wonderful.
Ryan D’Aprile 4:06
Yeah, you know, and one of the reasons why I asked Aaron to come on the podcast with us today is that a real estate agent or a loan officers skill set on daily routines are almost identical. They obviously partner with each other. We’ll talk about the nuances of that as well. But again, Aaron I met in 2014 and she’s raised amongst the ranks and she was just in Cabo with us last week with the 70 other top producing real estate agents celebrating and loan officers celebrating 2020 And what a great year it was. But, you know, as Erin said, you know, we are a culture full accountability and structure, which is I think, the number one tool an agent needs to be successful in the business. The D word distraction is what takes us off and the distraction is Primarily our own business. But you know, we really partner and work with each other, we’re gonna touch on a whole bunch of different things about the business. One of the things I may ask Aaron and we might talk about as well as the emotional intelligence that’s required, the more you become a top producer, the more emotional intelligence that’s required of you.
Erin Stojakovic 5:21
Yeah, especially in the market, we’ve been seeing, you know, there’s a lot of situations that it’s really important to have a lending partner that understands how you work. I have realtors, who will basically say, only call me if there’s bad news, and I have one to want me to text them every time I get me now, you know, it’s a different level of scalability from what they want from you. As far as communication and with your clients, all the clients are different. And it’s really nice to have somebody that you’re working with, who has knows your work style, and also knows how to help you be successful within your own skill set. So we do a lot of that. Yeah,
Ryan D’Aprile 6:01
DJ, one of the things that Aaron taught me back in 2014, which I’ve incorporated into my coaching, and it was really eye opening in 2014, I had been an agent approaching 10 years in the business. And she taught me about incubation in the lead generation process. And it was eye opening. Yeah. And so I’ll summarize it, but and we give you credit for teaching me on this. And it’s really important for real estate agents understand this. And again, the purpose of every and any podcasts that we do gather DJ, since you’ve asked me to come on here is what information can I relay on to your audience, and help them grow in their business and see it when you light? Right? So let’s just talk about the consumer, let’s talk about the human nature. We make all our decisions, at least 95% of our decisions based on emotions and not logic. And so if you break it down into our, our industry and what we’re in, I’ll prove it to you if we were logical, okay, if we were logical, we would first go to a mortgage lender, and we get qualified. And we find out what we can afford, what we can afford and what we can do. And then we move on to a real estate agent. Aye, aye, have been coaching now for close to 20 years, don’t shouldn’t be coaching now for close to 10 years in the industry for 20 years, have grown for significantly sizable organizations in the real estate industry. And I’ve been teaching this is she taught this to me 2014. And I recently went looked at a home. And I looked at the home before I got qualified. And it’s because I can’t change the strike of a tiger, even myself, because they’re with us. It’s like, I wouldn’t fall in love. And now I’m running around and getting qualified. And it just how it is. So how do you use that in your business? Well, as a real estate agent, you have to understand that’s a huge advantage that you have. It’s a gigantic advantage that the consumer shops with their hearts. And the fact is that they’re going to come to you first. And that’s coaching us coaching an agent of ours. Actually, I was coaching an agent this morning, wasn’t agent marks an agent that was brought to me and said, Can you can you culture, so absolutely. And she was on our dashboard. And I asked her about her pool business and where it looks from and when I mean pool like lead sources. And like, like this stool I’m sitting on, okay, it’s modern, but your traditional would be a four legged stool, I said, your business should have either three or four lanes. The first one should be your network. And then the other should be maybe a farm, maybe purchase web leads, maybe open houses, so on and so forth. And so I said, Let’s not talk about the network, let’s talk about your other sources. And we went and looked at her purchase web leads. And we went and looked at her open houses and categorized in what is called a prospect test. And it was interesting to see the time and effort that she had put into open houses. But the no follow up, right, you know, the two months, the one month and I said you’re going through the motions, and you’re just wasting your two hours because the truth is, is purchasing a home it’s probably an 18 month time period. Yeah, you know, I don’t know the number but about 18 months that say,
Erin Stojakovic 9:39
mystification process too. And some people do it much more quickly. But some,
Ryan D’Aprile 9:43
but you start thinking a lot to buy a home you work on your you know your work with your heart and your motions. And again, instead of visiting open houses, it’s a great lead source for real estate agents out there. But in terms of generating revenue for ourselves is there’s any Sebacean process to that. And as a real estate agent, there’s a right way there’s a wrong way to run your business, there’s a right way to be an ally flow with their network, there’s a right way to farming, there’s a right way to open houses, there’s a right way to purchase web leads. And really having a partner in the lending business is a incredibly strong tool in terms of lead conversion.
Erin Stojakovic 10:22
Yeah, I would agree with that. I feel like one of the partnership benefits is, you know, once I meet the client, or referral, or a person in an open house with you, it’s so much easier to have that, that synergy and energy in the relationship. I’m making them my friend, this is my other friend, we’re all going to be buddies working together to accomplish your dream of homeownership. I always tell them that the realtor sells the dream, I sell the reality, because I’m the price tag essentially. But you know, it’s, it’s really a lot of fun. And we really want to form a relationship of trust and excitement. And that’s, you know, when you speak to the emotional intelligence, we’re helping them through those stressful moments and some of the anxiety inducing aspects of purchasing a home, but also celebrating the wins and getting excited for them and helping them envision what this is gonna really look like in their life. And it’s easier for them to incubate a lead, when you have a partner, because I’m able to, you know, get their income information, go through the hard conversation of credit, and some things that people don’t usually want to go through more than once going through self employed documentation, things like that. And then I’m constantly bouncing them back to my realtor partner. Yeah, and making sure that we are in tandem and working together. And that, you know, honestly, they say that a client can meet as many as 17 Realtors throughout a transaction. They’re in and out of open houses all the time. But I’m going to try and have that one conversation, that one tough conversation, and then keep them for my partner, and make sure that I’m constantly redirecting them back to you, so that we can work together and build our partnership and our relationship as well. Transaction by transaction.
Ryan D’Aprile 12:05
So in you know, when I need a lead, and I work with my, my partner, my lending partner, I know that look, it’s going to take 1218 months, and what I have to do is I have to follow up that lead every two to four weeks, right? Two weeks, it might be four weeks. But I know there’s going to be that radio silent period, that radio silent period is where the loan officers intubated. Right. And then I have a partner to speak with, like, how they communicated? Has it been proof of light, right? Where we asked, how’s it going? Right? They’re not going to share any personal confidential information? Nope, the rich that were chatting. But right now you’re here for them? Because right now they’re applying logic to the process.
Erin Stojakovic 12:52
Sometimes they move on to, you know, a different they’re interested in a different town, and well, do I need to work with someone else, I tried to make sure that no matter where they’re spinning, that they’re always spinning back in the direction of my current. Yeah.
Ryan D’Aprile 13:05
And that’s, that’s what is it’s, I have spoken to the coach, obviously, hundreds 1000s of real estate agents. And you come across conversations, and a lot of agents say to a loan officer, when you give me a lead, and I’ll give you a lead, and I tell the agent, you’re looking at the wrong way. Because there you are the magnet, they’re going to come to you. But you just want to bouncing off to the incubator, it’s how do you work, right? One officer might have one referral to a year max, you’re not working, you’re not using that tool properly. It’s, it’s really, it’s a long term partnership. It’s a friendship.
Erin Stojakovic 13:49
And the benefit extends throughout the transaction. You know, when things you know, as sometimes you may or may not know, they can go sideways a little bit sometimes in real estate lending, maybe out and appraisal doesn’t come in where you want it. My first call is to my partner, and I make sure whatever I’m doing, I’m going to make them look like a hero and informed and knowledgeable and make sure that the client understands that this team has them taken care of. So we make a plan first we talk and we make sure that we are on the same page to protect our client and make sure that we’re looking out for their best interests in tandem.
D.J. Paris 14:27
One of the one of the questions I had I just wanted to go back to something you guys had both said and wanted to just as a tip for our our listeners and viewers which was about the loan officer Aaron, you showing up at open houses and being there to to greet the participants, the people that walk in the buyers, How helpful is that to you know, secure the business when there’s not only the realtor there but their loan officer partner? I suspect that’s something that most Realtors do not bring with them to an open house. US, and I just would love to hear your thoughts. 20 years in the business of how helpful that is, you know, to secure it back. Oh, you’re back. Everything sounds great. Now we’re perfect.
Ryan D’Aprile 15:11
All right. No worries.
Erin Stojakovic 15:13
So I think we’re talking about how a loan officer can help you through the transaction and work in tandem with you to the benefits of process open houses being an open houses. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. So I was answering, it helps secure the business. But also, it’s really good for the sellers to have extra eyes in the house. It’s more fun to to the realtor to have a partner there. You know, for socialization and for camaraderie, it makes for security, for sure. And honestly, when a client comes in, it makes conversation a little more fluid. It just makes it kind of improves the whole overall situation, I don’t go to every open house expecting that I’m going to get necessarily a contract that day, I go to support my realtor partner. That’s my, that’s my goal, I’m there to help keep the house secure, to help have a good time, and make sure everybody’s
Ryan D’Aprile 16:04
safe, you know, for the yellow or the real estate agent, you know, to keep in mind and go into these open houses. And it’s just one of many lead sources where I partner with my loan officer, the key to is are you going to buy it the correct way. And for a real estate agent, its reputation is day in and day out as follow up. And it’s a good 12 to 18 month follow up. Whether it means somebody to purchase web lead, if I meet somebody from from my network, or somebody is referred to my network, and I’m talking about buyers here, I almost said farm but that’s typically listening. So I didn’t say farm, I really like to partner them with them. And then you know, a lot of our coaching and training is about your growth in this business. And you know, a lot of people once they start experiencing success tend to self destruct. And it’s really good to surround yourself with like minded individuals that can help you not do that. And what I mean by self destruct Well, you know, real estate agents and loan officers make a lot of money. And and they do that if they’re doing the right activities in terms of lead generation, they make a lot of money, the money is earned, the money is well earned. And the reason the money is earned is because you’re such raw emotions. In a real estate transaction, your therapist, your therapist, and as a real estate agent, and even more so as a loan officer. There is no getting away from the turbulence of mortgage lending, or the real estate transaction. And so it is us in our number one priority, after a property is under contract, is to kind of keep our composure. And what I like our lenders to do is keep us involved in the transaction, and what’s going on. And as a real estate agent say our clients going to be helping attorneys gonna be yelling. I’ve been doing it for 20 years. So
a lot of hands in the pot. It’s a lot of hands in the pot, a lot of things and bad personalities,
a lot of personalities. But this is why we can pay the income that we get paid. And it’s it’s it’s composed ourselves, and not self destructing. And let back take us off of our daily routine because you live flow consistently, don’t you? Yeah, absolutely. And it’s a very important part of your business.
Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Staying in touch with all my clients and
referral partners, it’s very easy to say I don’t want another loan or a real estate transaction because the emotions are so raw and so vile. But, you know, if it walks like a duck, it sounds like a duck. Right? It’s made up. That’s mortgage lining. Yeah. And that’s real estate.
Yeah, but it’s really you know, when you have a team when you are working consistently with a realtor or and an attorney and a title company that all work in tandem, and know how each other works and knows the role, you can really lock arms and make it a lot less tumultuous and turbulent for the client. It takes a lot of the guessing games and the wandering of communication and who’s doing what nothing’s covered. Everyone’s got their role and their job and it can run like a well oiled machine.
D.J. Paris 19:06
Let’s talk I wouldn’t like to ask about emotional regulation in today’s market. So really helping the client and we’ll talk about buyers because I think that’s most relevant to what we’re discussing today. And how of course rates are very low at historic lows and so people can afford more money is cheap right now which which is great for buyers, but also we’re having an inventory shortage right so there’s there’s you know, properties go on the market and that are immediately sometimes sight unseen, you know, offers are pouring in. So buyers really have to have somebody whether it’s their loan officer or their realtor ideally both helping manage their emotions as they fall in love with the property get out bid maybe they get a cash offer that supersedes their their financing offer. What What should loan officers and realtors be doing to manage expectations and emotional you know, expectations? I have the buyer right now who may be going through multiple properties, getting out bid losing deals, you know, what are some strategies there to keep the client sane and happy during you know, it’s it’s turbulent right now it’s tough for buyers,
Ryan D’Aprile 20:14
it’s honestly, it’s I’ve seen some agents getting really creative on how they’re going to manage the emotions and help keep their buyers Lakhtin and spirits up. Because know, depending on the scenario, there’s a lot of, you know, multiple offer situations that might not go your way. They’re really going the extra mile to try and make the client stand out and advocate for their client. And also, I’m involved much more on the front end, I feel like at this point, I’m talking to a lot more listing agents, you know, upfront to make sure that they know how qualified my buyers are, and what’s going on with my, you know, rock solid client, and helping to try and bridge that gap and communication and make your clients stand out in a different way. Yeah,
and I’ll go over to two exercises that I’ve seen for buyers, that works out well. And the first one, I’ll circle back to the emotions. I’ve seen the practice and actually just put into practice myself on a property that we’re purchasing, multiple bid. situation, and I was the only one to write a personal letter to the buyer. Oh, really, the seller wrote a letter about why I wanted the home. And I was just thoughtful in it and put in and the listing agent. So that’s, that’s one of the reasons why I was selected as a winning offer. So that’s one thing, and it’s going to the emotions, because, you know, my home was part of my family. Sure. And so from selling it, it’s going to be, you know, a part of the equation. So that’s one thing. Another one is, and this is again, for all the professionals in our industry, lenders, agents, attorneys, is and this is a practice that is not, I believe, practiced enough is to under promise and over deliver. Yeah, everybody’s over promising. And at the end of the day, the deals going to get done, right. But we need to learn how to manage the expectations. And so I think transparency, like when I work with a buyer or seller, you know, I always use words. It’s gonna be fun. Yeah, this is what we do. You know, and we get under contracts, and Alright, it’s
gonna be hard.
But we’re going through it together. Yeah. You know, so I really think, you know, taking the model in like, this is a lifelong practice of self improvement. Like, I don’t have it figured out, do you got to figure it out? No.
Are you learning every transaction is different, every client is different, right? And,
you know, so the key to all of us is like I said, self destruct and, and curse off the industry in the business, it is what it is. But there is a payoff. For the price of US pain of the emotional therapists we deal with in the industry, there is definitely a payoff. But let’s continually improve on our skill set. And again, the one thing I try and tell everybody is during the transaction after a certain point when it’s under contract, start under promising and over delivering and over communicating. And then don’t be afraid of your client after the transaction. Everything goes smoothly. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I, you know, I have seen many grown adults, professionals, top titans of industries, act like children during a transaction, and 30 days later, give a referral because they stay in touch with them. Yeah, it’s one of the things that it’s it’s heartbreaking to see real estate agents and loan officers shut down after a transaction where the client yelled at them a handful of times. And quite honestly, the client is gonna yell at you regardless. Because the clients has a certain ability to handle the emotions and they might not be the best at it. You’re the target. It sucks. You’re making a great living from it, but quite honestly, they forgotten about it. Six days, they don’t feel the sting, and personal help personally when taking it when they’re being hurt and rude to you. But so many people self destruct and go into a ball. What are you doing? Ask them how it was two days later. How’s the house? How’s the kitchen? Can I come over and see it? Oh, I just saw I heard you said you’re gonna do this the kitchen. Did you do it? 30 days later? I’d love to come over and see it. And you know what? There’s a climb over? Yeah. It says we’re speaking with a loan officer. So we’re talking more on the buy side transaction. You know, folks, every buyer should refer you at least four transactions a year. And if they’re not, you’re not doing the proper fine Follow up, however I understand, because it’s so turbulence the transaction, especially now, yeah, where your buyer might write seven Office offers. And now you’re the scapegoat.
And they’re, you know, putting these offers on a silver platter, it’s they, I mean, they really can’t even believe some of these offers that aren’t getting necessarily accepted. And it can be heartbreaking
for the poor agent who has the first buyer that’s out and they want to write an offer in at 10% 9% of asking price. Oh, there’s three others, and I know they’re going over, but they’re not going to listen to you. Yeah. Okay, that’s a part of the transaction. Yeah, let them go. Let them lose the transaction, let them get upset with you. But it’s all education process. You’re the teacher, you got to be there through thick and thin. Yeah, you know it well. And
as the loan officer, it’s my job to help you with your emotions, right. So the loan officers, I mean, we’ve got some, you know, you’ve got seasoned agents who have done hundreds and 1000s of transactions, and you’ve got newer agents who are kind of just, you know, entering the business, and maybe, you know, working for the first time through this, the stress and the anxiety that some of this business can bring upon you. And you know, and I feel like my job is to be the, you know, the mortgage Mom, I’m the leader, I’m taking care of them and helping them and if, if they’re not sure the direction they’re supposed to go or anything like that, we really try to help manage their emotions and keep their stress and let them understand, you know, that this is normal. And you know, the business takes a thick skin, and you’ll get over it. And once you go through a few of the transactions like that, really, they get a better understanding.
I’m going to pivot off that for a second. Okay, DJ, yeah, sure. And I’m gonna talk to probably what should be 80% of our jobs as loan officers and agents, as I coach on this is continuing lead generation. I want to ask Aaron about this. Is it tell real estate agents and loan officers as a coach? Well, is it important to be a part of the community?
Absolutely, yeah, I would say that, you know, for me, it’s one of the benefits of the job, because it’s something I just kind of naturally enjoy, you know, leadership roles and being involved in, in coaching and that kind of stuff with kids and whatnot. I have three kids, I’m on the board for Parkridge baseball, and I’m always involved in the schools, and then my kids sports and things like that. And I don’t consider that part of the job. It’s, it’s for me, it’s a benefit, because I enjoy it so much. But it really is part of your network. And part of building your brand is taking an active role in community and, you know, contributing, really giving back to the people who you’re asking for business every day. Yeah.
And it real estate’s hyperlocal Yeah, it’s a hyperlocal. Industry now, Aaron’s a loan officer, and she lives in Florida, and Indiana, Wisconsin, and, and all over, but you know, you’re gonna have your nest egg of business, and it’s going to be local. And, you know, I mean, Ben actually started to coach real estate attorneys. And it’s very interesting that the practices and the philosophies are identical, it’s hyperlocal, your network is your net worth. And you need to be a part of the community, because people are buying community not buying a house, right, of course, you’re buying the house, right? To buy in the community, we’re going to walk the dog, we’re gonna get the coffee, where the kids gonna go to school, you know, what clubs, what boutiques, so on and so forth. And everybody is an ambassador in the real estate transaction, to their community, you can be a real estate attorney, you can be the lender, you can be the real estate agent, you’d be the home inspector. But we’re all ambassador in coaching attorneys, just little sidebar, journeys or school to learn how to fight, right? A transaction here. And as real estate agents and loan officers, we want the deals to go. So it’s interesting coaching, the attorneys could
see that 100% Definitely, so I got my workbook out from and the emotional intelligence side of the transaction there. What we
D.J. Paris 29:02
want to go back to the community idea, and really participating in being involved, whether it’s through volunteer efforts or, you know, other other means of being visible in your community and want to just just on the on the sort of volunteering side, I want to just really quickly talk about how important that is. And obviously, we would never encourage somebody to participate in volunteer efforts if that wasn’t something they actually were passionate about or excited to do. I think people can typically see through you know, shallow opera, you know, shallow sort of experiences, where people are, are participating in community events simply to be seen and to possibly further their own business. But when people aren’t doing it authentically, even if you know as anyone who is listening or watching right now, whenever we witnessed one of our friends, getting involved in an organization or a local community of you know, charity or nonprofit It’s very impressive to us, right? Despite the fact that that, you know, we all are trying to be more charitable and be more philanthropic, the reality is most of us probably feel we could do more. And so whenever we witnessed somebody doing that, it’s very impressive. And it’s something that is a is highly valued in our society. And so it’s a nice side benefit in helping all of your your community in different, you know, organizations, by actually just being seen as somebody who No, that’s not the reason to do it. But being seen as somebody who’s charitable is is a huge high value thing. And it probably can’t be overstated. It is something that that absolutely will help your bottom line over time, even though that’s not again, the reason to get involved.
Ryan D’Aprile 30:46
Yeah, I think we’re really beneficial. I don’t know if Brian knows how influential his strategic location of how he’s designed, the company would work out. But we’re really strong in a lot of luxury markets around Chicagoland, like Geneva, Hinsdale, some really beautiful areas, and effluent areas where you find the generosity of the community is off the charts. And we’re blessed to have a lot of those culture driven leaders, and on, you know, many women, such as myself, who are really interested in giving back to the community in ways that are really, really rewarding to those around them. There’s a strong contribution that can be made to these different areas. And I really feel like you see a lot of our agents and, and other people establishing their brand, but also doing it in such a, you know, philanthropic and altruistic way for the others around them. It’s really a lot of the strong leaders in those areas, I’ve just really touched my heart.
D.J. Paris 31:56
And that should should really be part of your, you know, maybe it’s not a daily discipline, but it should be part of every agent’s overall business plan. And again, not specifically doing it for business, but having organizations that are local that that you can participate in, will ultimately help visibility, you will just you will literally get more business as a result of it. So it’s a win win, because you get to feel good about yourself, because you’re participating and contributing, and other people are gonna see you do that and want to work with you.
Ryan D’Aprile 32:25
Yeah, yeah, it is an obligation that we have. And so, you know, when I say community, a community can mean many different things. And I really want our listeners to just dial into what I’m about to say here is, you could have geographical community, right. But you could also have a shared interest community, pediatric cancer, you could have a cultural community. I was born in Poland and grew up there to, you know, fifth grade or freshman year high school, and I’m here my family’s well and have a Polish community, right. So there’s so many different communities and in one of the things if we want to thrive in life, right, not just in our business, is what is your community, and you can have multiple communities, right? I have my geographical community, but another community is my child’s grade school, you know, K through seven, it’s curiosity. It’s driven by community for the next eight years K through 17 years. Private K through six, but you get, right. And I implore all the listeners here, just like Am I really involved in my community? Or communities shouldn’t be, right? Am I involved in my community of atomic 11 might involve my child’s community and are involved in a shared interest community. And that’s your business. That is what we do to create business. And then the rest is
right and naturally and organically. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I’m attracted to the doers, the people around me who are problem solvers or are making things happen creative. The people who who really are not afraid to stand out in a crowd when it comes to being idea centers or being thought leaders for the process of making the community better, or problem solving things or, you know, helping, and we’ve had a really interesting year, even with the kids being home, you know, and 2020, and COVID, and all these things. And it’s, I’m really attracted to people that are thought leaders that way and the doers and the givers. And so I imagine in business that’s reciprocal, you know, you’re still having that same kind of attraction to people who who are givers and doers and thought leaders. It’s that kind of leadership that helps. Really, yeah, brand your business and yeah, helps brand the business of those around you and gives
you a platform to create relationships, right you know, just gives you a platform to expand your network or deepening your relationships with people in your network, which again, is at the forefront of what we
do, you have met many of the leaders within our company at Charity events and net necessities that is being part of the board of pediatric cancer foundation, which is going
back almost 10 years. Right? And, and you know, and things happen in life comes up. And you know, it’s, you know, I got these three girls, we’ve got everything else. And we have the bear walk on on Lakeshore drive, like, oh, my gosh, I don’t have time for this, right? It’s so much more epic, we go as like, Oh my God, my daughter’s we love it, my friends, we walk, you know, it was an incredible event, it feels so good about yourself. And it’s like, I don’t know, it’s just you got to keep, you got to keep going, you got to keep moving forward. And it’s like getting up, you got to get your feet on the floor every morning and just push yourself. I’m going to circle back to the individuals coaching today and saying, hey, you know, this person that you met in house, have you friended him on Facebook. So Oh, my gosh, there’s so much out of my comfort zone. So you’re gonna have to learn to get out of your comfort zone. There’s nothing wrong with that you met a person, you guys had a great dialogue reach out to each other. She’s on Facebook, send her friend requests. Yeah, you know, it’s a part of it. It’s like, five in the morning, I’m exhausted. Yeah, one foot on the ground.
So being in the business, as long as I have I was, I mean, we were pre social media. So it’s interesting to me, when people have a comfort zone, when it comes to that kind of stuff. Because it’s such a gift, that the ability to connect with others, you know, over social media and digitally and getting to know people in a different way and see their lives. I mean, I feel like in my business is such a gift for me to help. Just develop and deepen the relationships of the people that I already care about. And I want to see, but it’s easy to lose track of in life and you know, not making it too much of a distraction. But we’re just I mean, it’s so nice to have these opportunities for building relationships and developing with others, you know, it’s such a, such an easier platform, I love it,
D.J. Paris 37:02
it doesn’t mean giving up your own personal privacy necessarily, right? Because that might be a lot of people thinking, Gosh, I don’t want to friend these prospects, or even maybe clients, because I want to keep my personal life separate. But you can still really keep a lot of your personal life separate, and still participate on social media. But maybe, as Ryan has said, on many episodes, in the past, maybe the best part of social media isn’t really the content you’re creating or putting out there, although that certainly can be can be very helpful. But it’s really the deepening of the relationships of the people that you follow and participating. So you know, the the person you were coaching says, Well, I don’t really want to friend that person that’s outside of my comfort zone. But the opportunity is, but you’ll now get to see all the cool stuff they’re doing in their life comment on it. And that gives you more, you know, a more intimate relationship over time, you’re participating in their life, whether they participate in your own posts, and everything is up to them. But you’re showing them that that you have taken the initiative to want to be a part of their of their social media life. And that typically, ultimately ends up in a deepened relationship.
Ryan D’Aprile 38:16
Yeah, well, I’m I’m from Michigan originally. So you know, I went to Michigan State and moved here after college. And what a blessing to have this. It ties in with my business because we’re licensed in Indiana, Wisconsin, Illinois, Florida and Michigan. So I’m able to connect with people who would have no idea what I’m doing in life, and write loans for my friends from high school or, you know, their referrals that are moving to Chicago, you know, a lot of second homes in Florida, a lot of second homes in Lake Geneva, that luxury markets blooming. We have a lot of products right now that are jumbo loans that are beyond creative and exciting for some of those, you know, higher price points that we specialize in. So it’s just been a real blessing to be able to let my community and my network know, via social media, all those opportunities that we do have available. It’s exciting, it’s fun.
D.J. Paris 39:11
I would love to ask both of you just as as a way to sort of wrap this up with some daily disciplines that would benefit whether you know someone’s a loan officer, an agent, an attorney, just some and we’ve talked about some of them already, but any general I rather specific instructions about what you could do on a daily basis, like Ryan said, just getting that foot one foot on the ground saying here are the you know, this is
Ryan D’Aprile 39:39
his wheelhouse. You’ve got his number right now,
but you know, it’s it’s great that you know, Aaron here Aaron is one of the most selfless people I know. She’s also a mother and mother’s never put themselves first. And then a lot of the coaching that I do is like at some point, you must put yourself first. You know, we just came from Cabo. meals were taken off on, whenever we come home. But whatever. Sunday, I was watching the flight attendant saying, hey, when the mask falls, put it on your self before you put it on your child. And when it comes to our business, you know, if we don’t put our business in ourselves at some point in the day first, we’re never gonna be able to help our families are the ones we love, right, that we want to contribute to. So a really great daily practice DJ into your question is, is, what is your hour? Okay? And one of the biggest reasons most real estate agents and loan officers struggle is because of the business to get and what happens in the eighth or plat toe. All right, or burnout, one or the other, they plateau or fade out, and you don’t want that to happen. And so what in order to do this started with a satsang, that’s going to happen. Okay, one hour a day, where the distractions of the business that you have is set aside and your business development activities, one hour, one hour reaching out, and let’s talk about what a business development activity is, is sending a text message Facebook message, a handwritten note to your friends? How are you adding significance in their life? Do it for one hour a day and watch your business snowball and watch after three, four or 510 years, it actually gets easier to grow your business, especially if you still have that one hour of routine five days a week?
I would say that’s one of the biggest benefits of Ryan’s coaching is one he’s always reminding us that it’s just taking a couple of you don’t have to. Yeah, always, I always used to eat an elephant analogy, one bite at a time.
What’s the guy’s name?
D.J. Paris 41:56
Brian Tracy. Well, he Brian Tracy did Eat That Frog. But But yeah, yeah,
Ryan D’Aprile 42:02
I say punch it in the face. But okay. Yes, I’m tempted to just punch in the face. But anyway, we’ve got that benefit of him kind of, you know, being the voice in the back of our heads. It’s constantly pushing us in the right direction. And I said to him this morning, it’s really great being somewhere where the true north is always very evident. And what I mean by that is, I know, I don’t feel like when I’m doing my live flow. It is authentic. It is it is a task, right to sit down and to discipline. But it’s so rewarding, because that’s really the TrueNorth of who we are as professionals and salespeople and business leaders. And, you know, we’re in service, a service industry, in my opinion, and just really being able to sit down and think about those around me rather than thinking about myself for an hour and thinking about who can I reach out to who can I make feel good? Who can I have be seen today? Who needs to be heard? Who am I not talked to? It’s, it feels out? Even though it might sound selfish, it’s It feels very selfless, because I’m doing something that I really feel truly is my TrueNorth
you’re adding significance? Yeah, you give them attention again, love, we’re really lucky
to take an hour a day to sit back and be grateful for our friends.
And I just I just implore everybody who’s listening right now you oh my gosh, just do that one hour a day. I’m telling you, there’s more than a time,
but it’s rewarding. In other ways. It’s rewarding in your business. Yes, it’s a byproduct. But it’s so rewarding intrinsically.
D.J. Paris 43:37
If all all of our listeners did for the next 30 days, is you just spend an hour each day and find it. Or if you don’t have an hour, you have 30 minutes. So you don’t have 30 minutes, you have 15 minutes. But find as much time as you can block those out. Don’t allow anything to interrupt that time, however much time you can afford and use that time to deepen relationships as it as Ryan and Aaron said, it doesn’t have to be, Hey, are you going to buy a home next week or this year? Nobody wants that. Nobody wants those calls or messages. But you could, for example, stay in touch asked people how their families are doing comment on their social media posts, send them text messages, let them know you’re thinking about them, checking in with them, see if anything’s changed in their life where they might need a realtor. If you just do that on a regular basis, if you do that for an hour for 30 days, I would be shocked, I’d be absolutely shocked to you, you know your entire network, even if you only know 50 People, which would be like one person a day. But if you can do it too, however many people are in your sphere of influence. I would be shocked if you don’t get at least a couple of either transactions, or the startup transactions or referrals. I would be just completely shocked if that didn’t happen.
Ryan D’Aprile 44:48
Yeah. And you’ll be happy. You’ll feel good. That’s the that’s the thing. That’s the other byproduct. That’s amazing. Yes, yeah.
And to your point and we’ll end there deejays I’ve never seen anybody do that and not be successful. Never, never. I’ve seen people talk about wanting to do it, not do it, come in the business, join four or five different companies and exit the business. But I’ve never seen anybody put in practice and not have success. Never. Yep, I
D.J. Paris 45:17
know Brian Buffini who a lot of our listeners know, he has kits where He sends out these monthly mailers. And they’re not really personalized. They’re sort of a mass produced thing. But it’s a it’s better than nothing. And all he tells you to do is stuffing envelopes, shoot it in the mail. And you’d almost think, well, that’s not very personalized. And it isn’t. But yet it does work. So if you can go that extra step beyond that, and actually connect with somebody’s, you know, with just their life, here’s, you know, and with social media, as Erin said, we’re so blessed to have the opportunity to peek in in an ethical way to somebody’s life and participate and say, Wow, that looks really cool that you were just on vacation in Cabo. Tell me about that. You know, was it fun? You know, we all love to make connections. That’s That’s how we’re wired. And, and so yeah, so for everyone listening, do that for the next 30 days. Let me know if you don’t get any additional leads or business, but you won’t let me know that. Because if you will,
Ryan D’Aprile 46:13
yeah, and honestly, if you think about it, if you think it’s hard to send a friend request or a Facebook Messenger, imagine 20 years ago, and we didn’t have to do when we didn’t have that we’d have to pick up the phone and actually, you know, call someone and talk. I think my husband is the only person who’s still calls all of his friends on his way to work every day. And they’re always like, he’s like the only person I know who calls me just to talk, but that’s just who he is. And he you know, it’s building relationships. But nobody,
D.J. Paris 46:42
I think that’s a really a perfect place to wrap up. And, and Aaron, we should also say, you know, if anyone out there is looking for a loan officer to work with, and, you know, is hasn’t, you know, is maybe they’re doing like Ryan said, where they’re seeing the properties First, there’s they’re searching Zillow, and they’re seeing all these great opportunities, but they don’t really know what they can afford. Or maybe they’ve, and I know when, when I bought a home, not that long ago, I couldn’t believe how I reached out to three different loan officers, which I only knew one personally, and I went just to like websites for the other two. And I was shocked that that only one of the three loan officers really followed up with me beyond like one initial phone call or email. And then they just I just dropped off, you know, whatever system they’re using to stay in touch. And the person I ended up using happen to be the one that stayed in touch with me. So which I’m sure is no surprise errand to you or to any of our listeners. But it’s really important to partner with with a loan officer who actually can take great care of you. So if there’s anyone out there, whether they’re an agent, wanting to partner with you, or or a buyer, specifically, who’s looking to speak with you, what’s the best way they should reach out?
Ryan D’Aprile 47:53
You know, I’m on Facebook, I’m on Instagram. It’s Aaron Stojakovic. It’s definitely a mouthful. And my cell phone is 773-220-9094 I’m I’m you know, always available via text setup.
Are you on Instagram mortgage? Mom?
I am. I’m Aaron. Aaron stage mortgage mom.
Yeah, you’ll find her Google to all the real estate agents out there.
A lot of Tuesday Tips videos, she’s a great partner to have. So if you’re looking for somebody looking for a friend in industry, look for accountability partner. Yeah, he’s a great way to go. I appreciate that.
D.J. Paris 48:26
And they always say if you want something done, right, give it to a busy mom. Right. So
Ryan D’Aprile 48:30
I say that all the time. I think I’m gonna get that into a t shirt.
D.J. Paris 48:35
Busy mom’s never dropped the ball. I don’t know how that’s possible. I dropped the ball all day long. But But yeah, busy moms get it done. Couldn’t agree more. All right. Well, we want to thank Ryan and Aaron for coming on the show again today, as they do ours Ryan does every month and he brings on some members of his team which is always welcomed and fun. For everyone who is listening and watching. please tell a friend about our show. Just think of one other real estate agent or a loan officer or an attorney that might benefit from hearing from top producers like Aaron and coaching sessions with Ryan and send them a link to our podcast. The best way to do it, shoot him right over to our website, keeping it real pod.com Every episode we’ve ever done is streamable right there or have them pull up a podcast app. Look, search for keeping it real podcast and hit the subscribe button. Guys, thank you so much for being on the show and we will see you next time. Thanks. It’s a pleasure.
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