Welcome to another episode of Coaching Moments With Ryan D’Aprile from D’Aprile Properties!
In this episode Ryan talks about mindset and its importance in an agent’s business. Next, Ryan discusses about why one must cultivate habits, accountability and endurance for continued success. Ryan also emphasizes why coaching is essential and how you should think of coaching as an investment in your business. Last, Ryan and D.J. discuss teams and how to get the most out of being in a team.
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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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 regular monthly coaching moments with Ryan de April. Now if you’re not yet familiar with Ryan or you if you’re new to the show, a Ryan comes on every single month to give our listeners and our viewers a coaching moment and a coaching session. Let me tell you about Ryan Ryan’s April is a progressive thought leader focused on providing for his agents and his staff at depot properties. His strengths are his motivational skills, his coaching style and his dedicated dedication to training. He has 14 offices throughout the Chicagoland area and also in Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan with hundreds and hundreds of top producers Day April properties is 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 Jaipur properties. Visit D APR properties.com Welcome once again, Ryan. Thank you DJ appreciate you having me. For everyone who’s who’s watching this and not listening can see Ryan’s got a whole setup. Now with a microphone. It’s very, you have like a nicer setup than me. So now I have to upgrade my I know, I know what I’m asking Santa for this year as a better equipment.
Ryan D’Aprile 2:08
I had our eye, our head of branding, watch our last broad podcast and she said what are you doing? The cameras up your nose. So she took control and all sudden here. Here
D.J. Paris 2:21
the microphone you’re using is actually called a Yeti. And I when I first started this podcast, that’s the exact exact microphone I used to use. So that’s a good one to definitely it’s a great it’s a great mic. Anyway.
Ryan D’Aprile 2:35
So my cocktails in the summertime, that’s,
D.J. Paris 2:37
that’s that’s that’s the other type I am I actually that’s going to be the stocking stuffer. Well, I shouldn’t announce it. But that’ll be it’s already said. And that’ll be the stocking stuffer these Yeti mugs for everyone in my family this year. So those are not cheap. I thought they were I thought this were a little cheaper, but I already committed to it. So anyway, enough talk about microphones and mugs and coolers. So you know, this is you know, we’re we’re finishing up 2020 Obviously a very, very unusual year, of course, for a lot of different reasons. But also, from a real estate perspective, at least here in the Chicagoland area has been, I don’t know a pretty strong year, real estate wise. And of course, we don’t want to undermine Of course, all of the people struggling in all the different ways people are struggling, but real estate’s been pretty strong. So I was thinking, you know, and we were talking about this before the show is, you know, I always love to know, like, what you spend your day coaching and training and you have hundreds of agents. And I’m always interested to know, like, what are you telling people, your agents? You know, how are you prepping them for next year? What are you helping them do? Where are they struggling?
Ryan D’Aprile 3:48
Yeah, I mean, as you said, you know, this was a boom year for us in real estate. Yeah, you know, I’m also in the mortgage lending, I’m in the title business as well. And so all around, you know, I’m just counting my blessings. And I’m very grateful for the industry I’ve picked and and have a lot of empathy for the restaurant owners and the people in the travel industry. And I have friends in both those industries, and it’s tough and it reminds me a lot about 2008 And what happened during the great recession. But, you know, it was it was a it was a record year for us in real estate. And you know, we’re in many markets, right, we cover Chicago, the city we cover the suburbs, Indiana, Wisconsin, and so real estate’s hyper local. So it’s different from the city in the vertical condo buildings to the sprawled out areas are the second home markets that we serve, you know, some areas are flat, some are, it’s a, you know, it’s a seller’s market. And so you know, what we’re telling our agents, it really depends. Now, there’s one common thing amongst everybody is that, you know, in real estate, but mortgage lending for that matter, in fact, any industry that’s in sales, um, where you are, you know, upon yourself in January of the business, you have to have that marathon mindset. And always remember that it is truly the basic and the mundane, that’s going to continually push you forward. You know, and I think the biggest thing that we’re telling our agents like you asked him, it’s really focusing on accountability with them and structure. Right? You know, I love our industry and the freedom and the flexibility that it gives us. But it also is the downfall for the majority of us, I mean, that 8020 rule is hard to escape, you know, 20% of the real estate agents sell 80% of their real estate. And I tell every one of our agents and our loan officers and our title reps that we are coaching, that that is simply a choice, it is simply a choice to be in, to be in that 20%. But you know, you don’t have to go it alone. And that’s why we provide the coaching and the accountability and the structure to help people because the human mind is a funny thing. And it’s not the economy, right? It’s not the pandemic, it’s not the Great Recession that we’re battling, it’s, it’s our mindset, that we are constantly battling, it’s ourselves. Me included in that. And so, we just found in this industry, you know, we’ve vertically integrated our companies, you know, in terms of, you know, bringing coaching in house, you know, the marketing of courses and house, the technology to CRM technology built is in house. And you know, we also integrated lending in the title business part of it, but it’s just such a lone wolf type of business. And it’s been designed like that, and I don’t know where it started. But it is, it’s that it’s, it’s different than most other sales environments, where the safe you are in pharmaceutical sales, you’re selling the company’s product, you know, in real estate, you are the agent, you’re the brand, that’s a great thing. But it comes with a price, you know, and we’ve just invested so much time and money into a structure to give that agent that, that comfort, and that accountability. But the agent has to choose to have it I mean, you can even join our company, and, and not take advantage of any of the things that are available. Because if you’re, if you don’t show up, right, if you don’t show up for your business, you don’t show up to the company that’s there to support you, it’s not going to do any good. So it’ll probably 20% Psychology, 80% performance coaching. And, you know, helping people get there. And, again, the thing it’s, you know, what we’re telling them is that 2021 is going to be a record year, we feel it’s going to be another record year, and you know, these rates are ridiculous. Yeah, it is a great time to buy, is great time to sell and upgrade as well. At the same time. I think you know, when you’re purchasing homes, you should be purchasing home that investment property. You know, when you’re purchasing home, you should be looking and focusing on quality life and what you want to get out of it. And think of it for the long term. And when you’re selling real estate, as a broker, you’re number one objective is to be that person that’s liked and trusted by that network, and top of mind, so that when they do decide to transact, that you’re the person that they call,
D.J. Paris 8:13
Yeah, boy, you just said so many things, I want to just touch on a couple of them, because you I want to unpack some of this. You mentioned you talking about, you know, your really deep properties as a real estate company. But but how you define it as a coaching company. And I was thinking about you were mentioning that this is kind of a funny industry in the sense that, you know, you get your license, you hang it with, you know, whichever firm you’re you’ve chosen. And then yeah, you are still sort of a lone wolf. Now you there’s exceptions, because you could join an existing team. And, and yes, those situations do exist. But for the vast majority of agents, they don’t do that. They started a firm. And I was thinking back to when I started as a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley a million years ago. I was not a lone wolf. And that’s it’s a very similar kind of industry in a sense, but I didn’t, I never felt alone. And I was, yeah, and so the industry.
Ryan D’Aprile 9:03
Yeah, right. Yeah, I’m sorry.
D.J. Paris 9:09
No, no, you’re you’re so right, is that it is interesting, and I hadn’t ever thought of it until you just mentioned it. But this idea that, you know, most of our agents, you know, we don’t see them at our firm, we have hundreds and hundreds of agents too. And of course, the pandemic has made it more difficult for people to come in. But still, most of our agents are our, you know, Lone Wolf’s as well we’re here to support them and train them, but it’s up to them to take advantage of it. And I was also thinking that the same personality that oftentimes is drawn to real estate of course, there’s lots of different personalities that are drawn to real estate, but the outgoing person who wants to work directly with their clients and and help them and you know, meet their needs and find them the best home or help them sell their home is oftentimes that same personality tends maybe isn’t so great at you know, coaching or being you know, or finding a coach or accountability as you mentioned. Um, you know that we all have temperaments we have different personality traits and styles, there’s, there’s things that are easier for each of us in dif more difficult. And if you think like professional athletes, you know, every professional athlete has a coach, and they’re already excellent at what they do. And they still need somebody to hold them accountable and show them how to do things. Of course, you know, it would make sense that real estate agents would need the same.
Ryan D’Aprile 10:23
Yeah, and, you know, there’s so many different platforms out there for realtors to pick from. And, and, you know, I have found through doing this now for 15 plus years is that a lot of them can be a distraction, you know, it’s having a personal assistant, right? We found that there are some people that are made for it, but the majority aren’t. And so, you know, we provide that marketing assistant, that person that works as an assistant to our agent, because, you know, the HR element, the hiring, the firing, take him through the personality tests, and all the things that you know, there are books and real estate written about, you know, you know, do the DISC assessment on this person that you’re going to hire and the personality as well, what kind of person are you? Are you a salesperson? Are you coming to look coming in and, and make some money? Are you looking to be a all around business owner, and it depends on the individual that you are right? You know, and you know, there are a number of agents out there that make a tremendous amount of money and make a great living. And they don’t deal with those types of things. And they don’t want to deal with it, because they know the real hustlers others that deal but they have a staff, but you know, they they’re managing a staff, they’re handling HR issues, hiring issues, firing issues, retraining issues, etc. And so you got to decide, you know, what it is that you want, and then, you know, it really explore and look at all the different options that are out there. And then what’s the point, there’s a lot of big teams out there, and the jury’s still out with me at least, I think there’s a point of diminishing return, sometimes for that. And I’ve talked to a lot of big team leaders, as well, and they see them out of time. And, you know, some of them said to me, they really forgot, you know, they’re almost too far into it. But they got into the real estate business, because they wanted the freedom, the flexibility and the income. But all of a sudden, here, they’re either managing 10 agents on their team, and they’re working seven days a week, and you know, it No, I’ve had a competition to call them or they’re making a similar amount of money as a couple of her independent agents that do less value, but they’re keeping more of it. And, you know, it’s offset with the assistance that we provide them. So it’s a complicated business, it’s a lot, I do think in that Merrill Lynch environment, that financial services industry, there is more of a structure and I think people will tend to be more successful in those business because of it, I think people are more successful with the structure. And that’s why we designed a company around coaching and accountability. A lot of companies where it’s just it’s a numbers game, get people in, get the people are gonna get the people in, and throw it at a wall and see what sticks. You know, anybody can be a success in this business. Angela Duckworth says, you know, enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare. And, you know, we talk about effort, and you can’t coach effort. But you also have to take in consideration that, you know, again, the mind is a funny thing. You know, it’s, it’s, it’s a great tool, it’s a terrible master, and all those cliches that are out there. So we want to try to be that well, that our agents come back to, and talk to and you know, we also say coaching shouldn’t be something you’re afraid of, as well. It’s not like you’re coming into the gym or yelling at you to do another push up. You know, sometimes we’re just going to have a conversation about, you know, what your blocks are, what your limiting beliefs are, what’s holding you back. You know, this the shitsville that our agents go through and the stress that they go through and the stress that they take on with their clients and all that’s going on, and that domino effect. And sometimes when you’re coaching agents, you have to, you have to pause and, and let them vent and guide them through that and let them know what a great job they’re doing. And then and then get back at the next coaching session. Okay, let’s go back to the mundane, let’s get let’s get back your marketing’s running that’s on autopilot. How you doing with your interaction with your network? Is it systematic? Is it habitual, being habitual, in having the right habits is the key to success in life. And I tell my, my daughters that in you, my daughters are still girls, little girls right now and you know, teenagers turning into young women. So I’m not over the board with them. I’m letting them have their bad habits and enjoy their time. But I tried to teach them and they asked me what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. And why I’m doing it a certain time. Because they told me because I’d say guys, it’s on autopilot. And that way I have so much freedom in my life, because I’m disciplined and for all the agents that are out there, you know, what is called? Life flow, being in touch Is and connecting with the people in your network. It’s a very simple formula that I didn’t create, and a lot of people, you know, coach and teach and other coaching platforms, and the philosophies, it’s all the same. If you’re going at a network based type of revenue stream, which I think is the easiest form to go about
D.J. Paris 15:25
the least expensive way to do it, it is
Ryan D’Aprile 15:27
I mean, it’s maybe a little bit longer, maybe six months longer. Sure, but it’s a lot less expensive, and it’s a lot more reliable. You do get to a tipping point, you know, what I do see some of our, our top producing agents, you know, some 30,000,030 $5,000,000.20 5 million 40 million our producers in this company and all their habits aren’t as good as they were when they first started.
D.J. Paris 15:50
Sure.
Ryan D’Aprile 15:52
But it’s because they don’t have to, it’s because they still have the habits. And it’s not the you know, it’s not what we put them through when they were first here. And there’s that tipping point, there’s that snowball, you know, the business gets better every year that you’re in it. Yeah. And it should continually grow, if you’re doing the right things. And you do have to understand that you are in a lead generation business, your number one priority to yourself, and your family is to generate leads. And it’s very simple to generate the leads, just create relationships.
D.J. Paris 16:27
That’s all it is. Yeah, it just create relationships and make sure that those people just know that this is what you do, and stay in touch with them, care about them. You talked about endurance, I mean, everything’s about endurance. That’s why, you know, you talk so much about discipline and habits. And it’s funny. So for most of my life, I am not naturally inclined to exercise, I played sports my whole life, I can I still play, I’m a tennis player. But other than that, that’s I don’t, I don’t, it doesn’t really get me strong and doesn’t really give me endurance, it just keeps me active a couple days a week. So I really wasn’t lifting weights or exercising. And I realized that I was coming home tired, I’m now you know, 44 and don’t have quite the energy I used to and I just wasn’t in shape. And but I hated going to the gym, because it’s really difficult. It’s painful. It’s just not something I like to do. But it’s something I know is important. So finally, I just this year to set I’m getting a trainer and is incredibly expensive as it is for me. And I spent a fortune on it, but it is it’s the best investment I’ve made really this year because I you know, like you were saying, you know, coaching, when you go to a gym isn’t isn’t always fun in mind still isn’t fun. But because I have a structure and an accountability, I’m paying for it, I have somebody who’s going to be there. And that means if I’m not there, then I mean, I’m assuming she probably still gets paid but but I’m wasting her time. So I have an accountability to her also, you know, I it’s not something I really can do for myself on my own. Some people can do it, I just can’t. So I now I’m doing this and yes, it’s it’s a bit of money, but my energy is is higher to where I can now spend that with my friends, family, for my own personal time, what my business, whatever. But I have more energy now. And so it’s a really simple thing, workout, get more energy, and you’ll do more, but I had to hire somebody to do that. And then we’re really talking about coaching. And you know, a lot of firms there is no upfront cost. If you get you know, like your firm, you guys don’t charge fees for coaching. That’s just what you want to do to help make your agents successful. And a lot of firms really don’t have that.
Ryan D’Aprile 18:33
Well that you mean that’s why we’re integrated like like I said about vertically integrated. There’s a lot of great you know, coaching platforms out there from my Buffini to there’s two ferries there’s a mic and a time and by controlling Yeah, right Dad and son. You know, there’s
D.J. Paris 18:49
ninja selling there’s there’s a lead, just selling
Ryan D’Aprile 18:51
what am I thinking? Yeah, and then just selling. And they’re great. I just think it’s important as the brokerage that that’s that should be our ours. Our key differentiator is that this is how we set ourselves apart. That you know, you don’t have to sign up and, and pay for coaching that’s available to you. And on a regular basis of a weekly basis. The only trick is you just have to shut that show up. Yeah. And if you are, like you said spending money on a coach reword that and say it’s investing, you’re investing money to coach and then think about every time you do that, you know, you’re putting you’re putting it into a bank, and you’re gonna get an interest on it, you’re gonna get a return on it that coaching is a wonderful thing. All those companies that I just mentioned are wonderful companies and they provide a wonderful value to their customers, their real estate agents or loan officers who loan officers who are receiving it. And you know, it’s a passion. I think I’m certain of the Mecca speak to ourselves. We’re very passionate about it. We’re very passionate about, you know, kind of having these breakthrough With your agents and, and seeing their aha moments and, and working with them and helping them kind of learn, you know, the mindset issues, but also the skill set, you know, get focused about the lead generation and the life flow and explain the importance of that. But then given the skill set of converting, you know, and how do you convert? What’s your style of converting? You know? And are you have a soft style? Do you have a hard direct style, there’s no right or wrong, everybody has an extra style of what’s your style? And then how do you sharpen those tools? You know, also, when it comes to converting, you know, the different levels of leads, right, you’re, you’re cool, you’re cold, you’re warms, right? You’re, you’re cools, and that’s certainly gonna hire you you’re cold next year, you’re warms certain demand transact this year, what are you doing, in, you know, what, what’s in your repertoire, what’s in your, what’s in your arsenal of tools, to be in front of those people more than a monthly basis, and maybe is that you maybe just simple marketing things, things that are of value. And I’m not talking like a calendar and talking about, like, you know, you know, Case Shiller report broker metrics type of supply and demand, pricing analysis, something that’s going to really add value to them, you could do it for buyers, you could do it for sellers, there’s so much there, and it’s like that one or 2%, that’s going to actually get you over the edge and help you get that deal. So you know, lead generation, as I say, it’s probably the number one most important part of your business, sure, for the agents out there. But you gotta learn how to convert as well. You need to learn how to close you need to learn how to write contracts, that when the contracts, you got to know when it’s a buyers market seller’s market, you need to know on a price high and a price low. Same with your offers. And I didn’t come in with the right offer and so many different things out there. And that’s what you know, we are continually having conversations with about, well, I’m coaching on the coaches, right, and I coach a handful of agents, but that’s what I’m always working with their coaches on and, and calibrating. That’s the other thing is, you know, I met I met a great producer, his disguise, you know, does $25 million of I’m here. And I asked him, I said, you know, how much money we’re gonna do next year? And he said, I don’t know, I’m guessing I’ll do this. I said, Can you show me? He said no. And that’s why we created this software that we have, because, you know, majority of our agents, probably 85% of our agents use our software, the other 15% that don’t, or are probably the typical Coast agents that you know, whenever when they come in, they sign up, but you don’t see them. You know, you could look into their snapshot, and it’ll tell you what the business looks like next year. Import important if you can do it, you know, on some other CRMs, you could do an Excel spreadsheet. But it’s important because it affects your mindset. And when we’re coming right now into the holiday season, and things start to slow. Yep, are slowing. I mean, it’s busy. But you know, you’re gonna start seeing this 50% Drop in business only lasts for two, three weeks. But that has an impact. Right? It’s nice to have that, that, that forecast that that crystal ball into what your business looks like, how much volume is that? How much is that buyers? How much is that sellers? Click on it. That’s who they are. That’s who they are. And then they have a tool or resource to go back. And, you know, like for everybody listening here, and I think I mentioned this
in the last podcast with PETA. We should all be taking stock in our relationships right now when it’s slowing down specially, especially your previous buyers last year. And also the year before, as you get one thing out of this podcast today. I encourage everybody here to look at everybody who purchased a home through you this year. I’m not talking about selling I’m just talking about buying site right now. Right? No, just say during holiday season, holiday season, I was thinking about you, I remember is and finding that home and the first one when we walk into it to the closing table. And I just want to say I hope you enjoy your first holiday season there and love to connect with you after the new year. All right, and you know, rewind that and write that down and send that out. That is where your referrals are going to come from. I mean, referrals are gonna come from your network. And everybody your network knows at least four people who buy or sell a home. Now the question is, are they aware? Right, so 16% of your network is going to transact every year so you have 200 people in your network that’s 32 potential transactions. If they buy and sell that’s now 64 potential transactions. That’s 16% or the other 84% we do our math right, the other 84% of your Network knows for people who are buying or selling a home. Well, the people who are aware of it are most likely people who transacted in the past year. So, you know, I see sometimes you know what, let’s, let’s say that the trend starts. So when you have buyers, right to transact with you last year, stay really close to those buyers, you’re gonna get a good kick in your business, a good boost of referrals from those people who are just home because they’re aware of the four to five other people in their network that are buying them say my realtor is my friend, and he was amazing. She was awesome. Give her a call. And guys, it’s incredibly important. That’s what your business is based on. It’s based on referrals. And basically referrals from your network, then, you know, we hit you know, what we call bird in this business where they hire another agent, right? I tell all of us, myself included, my wife who sells real estate, it’s because he didn’t keep in touch with why they hired somebody else. And he didn’t treat it like a business and what I mean, they treat it like a business, your communication patterns or your communication behaviors. Look, when we tell you to be in touch with 10 people a day. That’s what we’re saying. That’s, that’s, that’s your business. You know, that’s not like a onesie twosie thing you hear at a seminar. It’s like, treat it like a business be involved in notated. Somebody, just tell me like, I don’t like to record it. Well, you’re not doing your job. And just, that’s fine. You know, you don’t have to, you can do what you want. But if you want to be like this group over here, I highly recommend that you record it. Because how are you going to know four weeks from now? Who the hell are you communicating with? Your you know, you’re on accident, you’re not on purpose, right. But to the agents who had said that, you know, we get burned going back to that point. There are people in your network that have bought or sold a home, they didn’t use you to purchase a moment didn’t use you don’t burn the bridge, send them a nice, no, hey, I was just thinking about you. You guys are spending your first holiday season in your new home. And I just want to wish you all the best. And you just something like you just couldn’t cross my mind. Just stay like you. I know you guys bought your new home, I hope you are loving the first holiday season. You know, what do you think they’re going to do when they get that note from you? And they don’t get that note? From the agent that represent them when they purchased the home? What do you think those referrals are going to go? Do? I really take for referrals and from that hit person and get that one transaction I’d like to get all five are really good for referrals and that one transaction, you have a tendency to be short, sighted, short sighted term. And this is an expression I’ve said on the podcast and I read it somewhere else. Everything that I’m telling you guys here, I’ve read somewhere. But um, you know, we overestimate what we can achieve in a year and we achieve in a decade. We overestimate what we can achieve in the year and we underestimate what we can achieve in a decade. My company is truly probably eight to nine years old. I mean, I got in the business in 2005. It was really in 2010, I thought I wanted to start growing my real estate company in 2012. I said I’m gonna commit to growing this real estate company, I’m gonna leave sales and dedicate all my time. You know, eight years later, you know, we’re approaching a billion dollars in sales this year, amongst all 14 of our offices, you know, two years ago, or two years after 2014. It wasn’t like that. I think we had a first clinical Summit. In 2014. We we had 60 guests. And this year, we’re flying 60 people down in Cabo for their black Iord and their sapphire Circle Award.
But I was you know, long term minded I was I had a vision, and I wasn’t focused on immediate gratification. I’m impatient. I’m incredibly impatient, incredibly anxious, I get a lot of issues I can tell you guys about I have all the issues that you have. Because we all share it. I am you and you are me. It’s all the same. We’re all battling the same mindset issues. But you know, give yourself a chance. To Taylor, repeat that to yourself that we overestimate oops Jr. We underestimate what we can achieve in a decade. It remember the biggest reward and this isn’t some you know, phony baloney bullshit. I’m saying the true reward is the journey you’re on. And the person you become, right. Who I am now is not who I want to be a year from now. I hope I continually grow and who I was eight years ago is not the guy is talking to you right now. I’ve learned so much. I learned a lot from my failures. But I learned more from getting up and pushing through. I’ve been punched in the gut. I’ve been stabbed in the back and all those things have happened to me this happened everybody else. But I’ve made a decision to learn from it. And it is really that that book that Angela Duckworth wrote called Grit. You Guys, it’s a, it’s a wonderful, wonderful read that you should read. And then you should pass along to somebody that you care about your child’s way that you love a family member. Explain to them like this is really what success is about in life. And success isn’t defined just on money and income. It’s defined in a whole, a whole variety of things. And she covers this in the book. Have you read grit? I have I have. I want to another tangent.
D.J. Paris 30:29
I forget what? That’s okay. Actually, I think your microphone, your mics. Good. But we’re hearing an echo. So can you check your computer because I think the the speaker change because I’m now hearing myself coming through.
Ryan D’Aprile 30:44
I’ll tell you what it is. It’s nice. So
D.J. Paris 30:50
there we go. Much better. Everyone just hang tight while we figure this up.
Ryan D’Aprile 30:57
Yeah, but I can’t hear you now. Oh, you can’t hear me at all. Difficulty? No, I can’t hear you. So I think what I’m gonna have to do is me. Yeah, that’s fine. Now, do you hear an echo again? Nope. We’re good. Okay. These new air pod pros there,
D.J. Paris 31:16
grab them as well. Yeah.
Ryan D’Aprile 31:18
Do you have this issue with your prep rows?
D.J. Paris 31:20
I have some connection issues. Yeah.
Ryan D’Aprile 31:23
Yeah, I’m having this echo issue all the time. And it’s these things? And I don’t know if there’s a reset. So was it just jumbling along with a bunch of Oh, no,
D.J. Paris 31:31
no, no, you sounded fine. I just whenever I talked, my, my voice was coming through. So I just wanted to, to, but no, I think everything you said was was really helpful. Specifically, you know, the idea of just everything’s habits, everything is disciplines. And, and you know, this is
Ryan D’Aprile 31:48
you can do this. That’s one thing I try to get across everybody. Anybody can do this, the biggest battle is yourself.
D.J. Paris 31:56
Yeah. And this is also the time of the year to get really honest. And if you struggle with accountability, which, by the way, most of us do, you do, I do, all of us do. And in some capacity, we’re good. We’re, it’s easy for us to stay consistent with certain parts of our life and other parts of our life that are not, you know, something we’d like to do or something that’s enjoyable, we’re going to put off and we’re not going to hold ourselves accountable. And that’s why having a coach and having you know, people around you that that can keep you on track. Of course, they can’t do the work for you. But what do you have accountability, I would love to see statistics around just accountability in general, because it’s just got to be amazing. For production, for for any type of production, whether you’re in real estate, or you’re an athlete, but having somebody that just says, you know, you’re supposed to do this now, even if it’s, you know, you wake up today, and oh, I need I know, I know, I need to, you know, reach out to 10 people in my database, and I won’t go to bed until I do that.
Ryan D’Aprile 32:57
And that’s one of the pros for a team, right. And even the team leaders that sometimes they seem like, well, you are doing all of this, you’re working harder with this, quote, unquote, this team that you have, and you’re not really earning, but on the flip side is that team leader has accountability, because the team leader is responsible for those agents. So, you know, but you don’t have to do that. I mean, it’s some people are made for it, some people must do that, it might, it’s the best thing for them to do that. But it’s, it really comes down to and you’ll see teams are successful because of that. It’s because of the structure and you know, get in coach, get an environment get where you’re meeting with somebody regularly, and you’re going over and guys, you’re gonna go over the basics. Um, you know, it’s, sometimes everybody comes to coaching, they want to learn a new trick. And, you know, you watch Tiger Woods practice, you know, 10,000 swings, you know what, it’s not doing, you know, tricks with his five iron or not you just doing the same muscle memory? Yeah, that’s what he’s trying to get. And that’s why he and Phil and everybody else are so excellent. I think I’m back in my dates of the best golfers who was at Dustin Johnson this year.
D.J. Paris 34:14
I don’t know. I don’t know. I actually funny enough. Just as a quick aside, I had tickets to the Masters this year, or no? Yes, this did well, they did. I don’t think you know, they didn’t allow but I actually was selected for the lottery. And then I like the one year I’ve been trying to get tickets every year and this year, I got it and then they didn’t have it. So go Yeah, but But you’re absolutely right about, you know, and you talking about teams and teams are so you know, talked about these days. And and I’m starting to think I wonder if a lot of times you’re talking about the structure of a team and having some accountability and having a leader that you can go to oftentimes is probably great for brokerages who really don’t want to do a lot of coaching or training.
Ryan D’Aprile 34:59
Well that’s why you see a lot of brokerages promoting teams, it does take a huge burden off the off of a brokerage. You know, there are brokerages that write books about a team. And it makes sense because that’s how their business model is, is set up. It’s that multi level marketing type of model and and the team environment takes a tremendous amount off. And we have teams here, we got big teams here. It just depends, it’s you got to you got to explore what you want what you’re looking for. But yeah, that team leader, that team leader takes on a big burden.
D.J. Paris 35:30
Yeah, and oftentimes, I imagine a lot of, you know, individual producers that get to a level where they feel that they should start building a team, then they find themselves interacting a lot less probably, with clients, with their customers, when they Well, they might find they may or may not want that,
Ryan D’Aprile 35:45
you know, yeah, exactly I have, I have an agent that we are starting to build a team from. And, you know, the reason we’re starting a team is cuz he’ll sell 67 units this year. And, and, and he just, you know, just hit $20,000,000.06, seven units, average price points to something and physically can’t handle it anymore. And, but he’s a pro at live Flo, um, a lot of teams out there. Team leaders start teams, because they want other people’s sphere of influences in there, sure other people’s networks in there. And like, it’s not the best mindset to go about it, you should go about it, where you have too much business, you need to hand it off. And then you’re going to coach them to do what you’ve done. And that’s how your business grows. And so I’ve seen people go about it different routes, I think it’s one of those things, that agents who are looking for teams to be on teams, you really have to ask the right questions, and check the business and where is the majority of business coming from and again, you know, if the majority of business is coming from a network, I think you’re joining a great team and majority of business is coming from Zillow, purchasing AdWords, or there’s just not the business there. The team leader might be looking to get you on their team just to get into your network and to help them grow their business as well. So and I didn’t mean to make this, this podcast about that. But those are things there’s a lot of important questions that you need to ask about. If you’re going to start a team, why you’re starting a team, or you’re going to get on a team? Why are you going to a team? Who is the team leader? And what is their why?
D.J. Paris 37:24
And I think probably the vast majority of the reasons why new agents will join an existing team. Well, there’s probably two major reasons but one is going to be lead generation if that team is promising. You know what, in whatever way they’re going to distribute leads down to the new agent. There’s obviously that promise, which solves a tremendous fear for a new agent going, how do I build this business? You know, how do I do this? Well, we’ll help solve that for you because we have an overflow of leads. And I would encourage everyone who’s exploring those options to just be cautiously be cautious about that, because a lot of teams will promise all sorts of things, which may or may not turn out to be true. The other reason that people might want to join a team is for probably the best reason of all is mentorship and coaching. And you know, if that’s something that your current firm is an offering, and of itself with all the fees you’re paying them, then yeah, maybe it doesn’t make sense to look at another firm or team. But if you’re looking just to solve the lead issue, and again, not everyone is good at lead generation, but you can learn that skill. And it’s really, as Ryan has said, time and time again, it’s about relationship building. And if all you ever did was deepen the existing connections you have and if Ryan’s numbers are accurate, with a 16% of the people, you know, are going to transact in the next 12 months. Well, you are going to get more of those deals, if all you focus on is deepening those relationships. And by the way, closing 15 deals in your first couple of years is a pretty good year for a newer real estate agent, or adding 15 or 16 more deals to your existing year production is really good and it’s going to
Ryan D’Aprile 39:04
be 15 deals if your average price points $500,000 is a hell of a year. Yeah, if you’re a 10 year veteran in it as well. It depends on your price point where you are. Yeah, absolutely.
D.J. Paris 39:15
Yeah, so it’s one of those things where you know, we sort of circle back to always to habits you know, and and not operating from fear if you’re if you’re somebody who’s an agent and you’re struggling right now well you know, our heart goes out to you you’re not alone lots of people are struggling and usually the struggle is related not to circumstance but to habit. The disciplines and yes circumstances are gonna knock you down in the moment Ryan has been through them, I’ve been through them I’ve had a lot of similar experiences Ryan that you’ve had, and at the same point, I can still wake up every day and decide what I wanted what I’m going to do that day. And I can you know, starts with like, what I eat for breakfast and starts with like, Okay, what do I have to do for work and, and, and a lot of that stuff doesn’t come naturally to me. So I have to people that helped me with that they don’t they’re not assistants that do it for me, there are people that go, did you do this today? And if I didn’t, then they’ll say, Okay, well, why don’t we do that tomorrow. And, you know, I still ultimately do everything. And most realtors out there who are practicing, they’re doing most everything themselves too. But having somebody that can just help guide you along the path and check in with you. And like you were saying, for some of your top producers, who are their habits, you know, aren’t as aren’t as sick, or they’re not as disciplined as they once were, you can then say to him, Hey, let’s refocus on that. And let’s see what happens.
Ryan D’Aprile 40:33
Exactly. So I think TJ, that kind of wraps up for today, I think what we’re going to cover,
D.J. Paris 40:39
yeah, and wraps up for the year as well. So, so this was, what an interesting 2020 20. And, you know, it’s one of those things where, where we know that there’s a lot of agents that this maybe was their best year they’ve ever had. And we know, a lot of agents were, this was a really challenging year to for real estate. And I will and Ryan and I will tell you the difference between the people who flourished and who didn’t, generally speaking, some people could just get lucky, I guess. But most people just probably, like you were saying had better habits, but better disciplines, and 2020 One’s the time to to, you know, cultivate some of those habits. And, and it’s a marathon, like you started saying at the beginning, it’s it’s endurance. And,
Ryan D’Aprile 41:19
yep, go ahead. And the people that got lucky, just have generally probably a natural tendency to have a good network, and good social abilities, and they might be more of the sharper, closer were, you know, they’re not going to ask for the sale, they’re going to assume the sale, you know, and those are two different skill sets that you can learn, and master. But those, again, those lucky will have some natural tendencies, but anybody can have them. If you treat this like a business, and you focus on that relationship, building time, five days a week, and then all sudden, you’re gonna find yourself, the lucky one. And, and that’s what Angela Duckworth calls flow. And that flow doesn’t occur, you know, at the same time, that you’re doing what we call live flow, right? Ninja calls live flow, being in flow with your network, that 10 touches a day, systematically five days a week, that’s not, that’s a different type of flow that Angela talks about the flow is, all of a sudden, I got, I got five active buyers and working with I got seven, I got seven active listings, that’s flow, it’s a different type of flow, that flow is a result of the grit of you doing the mundane activities day in and day out, and really need to do it for 24 consecutive weeks, 24 consecutive weeks to see the tipping point. And then you’re gonna experience that flow in your business.
D.J. Paris 42:49
Yeah, it’s it’s always about this the small effort that is done consistently over time that generates the big results. And you’re right, that that snowball effect does happen. And it happens in other areas of life. It happens in relationships, it happens in health, it happens in finance, and obviously in business as well. So let’s all focus on habits for next year. And well, we should probably focus on habits forever, but it’s a new year new you, which is the I’m sort of sick of that expression, but it is it is time to possibly reinvent yourself and you don’t have to reinvent in a big way. Just try to add one or two small habits. And if you say well, okay, you know, my goal is to get an extra 30 sales over the next year. Okay, well, how many touches do you need to do a day to get you know, to reasonably, you know, we’re again, we’re really saying is how do I deepen more relationships so that more people think about me, so I can get 30 additional sales? Well, that’s going to be about you know, making sure that you’re you’re staying top of mind by staying in touch. And it’s, it’s it’s not difficult, but it No, it is difficult. It’s simple, but difficult. So just like working out, it’s simple. We all know what to do. But But doing it’s the hard part. And if you can just get
Ryan D’Aprile 43:59
yourself to do it. Yep. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Guarantee Exactly.
D.J. Paris 44:03
Awesome. Well, what a great way to wrap up 2020 Congratulations to Dr. Paul properties and all and, and all your other businesses and all the success you guys had. And thank you from behalf of the audience for being on for years now. You know, you are always here, you’re very loyal to the show. We appreciate that. And hopefully, we’ll have some even big things to announce next year with some additional endeavors that your your interest that you’re involved in. So definitely keep the audience abreast of that. And so yeah, we will see everybody of course, you know, we’ll keep we’re gonna keep going. And by the way, this podcast is is a true measure of endurance it it is. It is not something that I did once did one episode and it I mean, I think I had I don’t even know how many people listen to the first one, maybe four. And that was about it. And so here now we have 10s of 1000s of listeners. And it’s not because I’m particularly a good host and and it’s not your He’s gonna get well, I appreciate that, thank you. But I’m not such a good host that I’m winning all these people over, but I’m just putting out consistent content. I’m trying to get better. We have great guests like Ryan on, you know, regularly and then all of our one off guests as well. You know, we’re getting better guests and not even better guests, but we’re getting even bigger guests all constantly now. And again, I’ve been doing this for four or five years now. And it’s just consistent thing and it doesn’t make me special. I can just somehow get myself to do this. And everyone who’s listening can add any of these sorts of disciplines into their life and, and you’ll see some big, big results. But it does take a while. So I wish life was a sprint, but it seems to be the marathon. I do I’d be much my life would be a lot. Well, it probably wouldn’t be easier if it was a sprint and but it seems like it would be easier. So we’ll continue running the marathon. Ryan thanks again. And for everyone who’s listening if you are in the Chicagoland area if you’re in Michigan, Indiana or Wisconsin to April properties would love to chat with you if you’re not getting that coaching or the support or you’re just looking for a change. You know, give them a call, give them a ring or shoot over to their website D APR properties.com see what they’re all about. You know one of the cool things that they do that really I mean, I obviously don’t know how every firm in the Chicagoland area operates because Ryan and I are both sort of Chicago based. But most of the firms I know do not do it do properties provides for their agents which is a lot of the marketing and a lot of the coaching you know a lot of firms promise those things but the apple properties actually delivers it and that’s why they’ve become so successful. So if you’re interested in looking to see what other firms offer do properties is a good good bet and find them on the apple properties.com Or just message our show we can get you in touch with them as well. And it also for everyone listening before you go please tell a friend that helps us continue to grow think about one other agent that could benefit from hearing this coaching moment episode with Ryan send them a link to our show, even if they’re not in the real estate business but they just want good coaching because they’re in some sort of industry maybe it’s mortgage or real estate or financial services or anything where where they are looking to grow their business or they’re just an entrepreneur and are and are struggling or just want to take it to the next level and send them a link to this episode. We appreciate it. Ryan we will see you in 2021 Thank you Thanks for consistently being on our show. Thanks DJ.
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